Cari's 4th birthday, The Grapes and Filiotis

 The week started with Cari celebrating her fourth  birthday in the UK. The first thing she did  in the morning was  to open her gifts. Later on in the day she joined her friends at Soft play before having  a  birthday  meal.

On Thursday evening we joined a few friends for a visit to The Bunch of Grapes restaurant in the heart of Pissouri village. The restaurant has a very picturesque courtyard and the food and service were excellent.

On a breezy Saturday  evening we decided  to pop over to the Kyrenia beach restaurant  and enjoyed  a lovely fish dinner as we watched the paragliders sweeping across the waves.

On Sunday we drove over to Mandria with Jane and RT. We stopped off for lunch at Filiotis fish restaurant where they have a covered outdoor area overlooking the sea.

We then popped over to the Mandria beach bar and spent an hour watching a band called "The Dogs"

The Hillview and Peppa pig

 On a balmy Saturday evening, we strolled over to one of our favourite restaurants in Pissouri,  The Hillview.  The view of the village, the Valley and the Mediterranean sea from our table is still stunning even though we have seen it many times. The staff were engaging and professional and the food was simply superb.

           

Back in the UK, Lisa and Lee took the Cool kids,Cari and Jude, for a day out at Peppa pig world. The kids had a fun day meeting the characters, going on the rides and enjoying an ice cream.

Sunday in Larnaca

 We decided to spend Sunday just simply relaxing,  we began the day by walking along the beach on the shoreline.  We then hired a couple of sunbeds to catch a few rays. We had a light lunch before returning to the sunbeds for an afternoon snooze followed by a well deserved ice cream.

Our evening  started of at the Helicon roof bar,we enjoyed a cocktail and once again watched the procession of football fans parading around in their decorated cars, tooting their horns, letting off fireworks and generally celebrating. 

Our next stop was at  the Devinci bar to listen to some  live traditional Cypriot music.

We then made our way over to The Belfry restaurant for dinner. This restaurant overlooks  St Lazarus church,  which was spectacularly lit up, giving us wonderful back drop as we enjoyed an excellent evening meal. 

The local football celebrations reminded us of our time on the island of Zakynthos in 2004 when Greece won the European football championship and the wild celebrations that took place that night. 

Saturday day in Larnaca

 On the second day of our short break, we drove over to the village of Pyla. This is an interesting village because it is situated in the UN buffer zone and still has a mixed community of Greeks and Turks. On the mountain top at the rear of the village sat Turkish military out look post that overooks the border.

We wandered around the small village square which has a mosque and The Plyla tower which was apparently built by the Venictians in the middle ages.

 We then popped into the Platia taverna for a coffee and were impressed by the  bar  in inside. They also had a chatty parrot named Rio.

We then drove over to the village  of Lefkara which sits on the lower slopes of the Troodos mountains.  The village  is famous for its lace and silver work.  

We wandered around the narrow , picturesque streets  and stopped off to buy some hand made biscuits which had the local lace patterns iced on them.

We then headed back down to the coast and made our way to Dhekelia beach where we stopped off at the Mer bleue fish restaurant  for a lovely lunch.

In the evening we returned to Larnaca and took a walk over to the old pier over looking the marina.  

We had a quick drink at the bay  tree before a visit to The Tudor rose bar.

This turned out to be something of a surprise as we sat in a lovely courtyard  and enjoyed  a meal and a glass of wine.

At the end of the  night,  the local football team, Anithosis, won the Cypriot football cup final. From our balcony we could see thier local stadium as  fireworks exploded into the air for hours on end. In  the streets below us the fans cars poured along the seafront sounding their horns and letting off flares in celebration. 

A weekend in Larnaca

 Taking  advantage  of our new freedom from the Covid  restrictions,  we decided  to have a weekend away in the Cypriot town of Larnaca. 

The drive from Pissouri takes about one hour twenty minutes and the highway was fairly quiet. 

We booked into the Les Palmiers apartment complex which is situated right on the seafront overlooking  Finikoudes beach and the Mediterranean. 

On a beautiful evening we took a stroll along the seafront upto the fishing shelter. 

We then stopped off for a drink at the Meeting place before enjoying a superb meal at the Lebanese restaurant, Maqam Al Sultan.