Rob's Birhtday 2013

Rob joined  his family and friends to celebrate another Birthday with a visit to Paphos. Our first stop was the Pingouino cafe for a couple of drinks, we then moved on to the the Imperial Chinese restaurant in Paphos for a lovely meal.

Official announcement of Lee and Sarah's engagement in the South Wales Echo as Inserted by Ma Flav........Nice One.

Non Smoking Year

Today marks One year since Mandy had her last cigarette.She has just worked out that she would smoked 7,300 cigarettes this year and she saved some 1,825 Euros, but most of all her health and lung capacity has improved.




Now that we are getting some lovely Spring days, it was time to stand on our back wall and take a short video of the surrounding area overlooking Pissouri bay.

         

Sarah and Lee's Engagement and a visit to The Dam

As the rains cleared we decided to take a trip up to the Asprokremmos dam which is only a 15 minute drive from Pissouri. It was good to see the reservoir so full that there was overspill.

  Congratulations to Lee and Sarah.

News reaches us from Cardiff UK, that Rob's cousin, Lee, asked his lovely girlfriend, Sarah, to marry him, she accepted and we send them our best wishes. The photo below was taken at a local beauty spot just outside Cardiff yesterday when Lee popped the question.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the World, Lee's Sister, Lisa, continues her adventure in Australia, she has now reached Brisbane.

Baby sitting and a Ruby Wedding

The Weekend started off when we were asked to baby sit for our Friends, Sheena and Bryan's Grandaughter, Holly.

We were told Holly went to bed every night at 7.00, but of course this particular night she decided to stay up until 11.00.
It was a fun evening and now Rob is addicted to The Mickey mouse club on the i pad.

On a blustery Sunday Morning we went for a stroll on the sea front at Mandria,
with a stiff wind blowing in the rollers we worked up an appetite and made our way back into the village of Mandria for lunch at the Klimitaria taverna.

On Sunday evening we went to The Two friends taverna in Pissouri, we had kindly been invited to Sheena and Bryan's Ruby (40th) Wedding anniversary dinner Party.

The guests were served with a lovely meze meal followed by a few humorous speeches and a game of "Mr & Mrs" between the happy couple (who knew Bryan was a Ferrari ? ) 

The guests were then served champagne to toast Sheena and Bryan before dancing the night away. Rumour has it, that certain seating cards were changed, but No evidence of this exists.

Comedy at the Giraffe & Bonnie at The 1911 club

On a chilly Friday evening we made our way down to The Giraffe pub in Pissouri to watch their night of Stand up Comedy.  Liverpudlian comic, Jed, had the place roaring with laughter with his unique brand of humour.

On Saturday we trundled down to the 1911 club to see the singer "Bonnie" perform in front of an enthusiastic audience 

Happy Birthday Mandy

                                 Time to wish my Lovely wife,  a Very Happy Birthday.

Mandy's Birthday Lunch in Nata

To celebrate Mandy's birthday we went up to the Periklis tavern in the village of Nata. This is one of our favourite restaurants in the area with lovely, well priced food and there is always a warm welcome.

  

             

With the wood fire crackling away we were served with a wonderful meze (mixed dishes of Cypriot food) and the birthday girl was also surprised to have balloons, birthday cake, Champagne and her very own violinist to serenade her on her special day...well 3 days before, but who's counting ?

A friend sent me this superb photograph of the Island of Cyprus taken from space.

Colder weather , Snow in Pissouri and The Android

The weather has turned decidedly colder in Cyprus this week with a good covering of snow on The Troodos mountains. On Tuesday night we had a dusting of snow here in Pissouri and the temperature fell to below freezing.

Photo credit

This week we bought the Android 4.0 mini PC, this clever gadget is only the size of a small mobile phone and snaps into the back of the tv turning it into a smart tv. The main reason we got this gadget was for us to be able to pick up live tv via the Internet and so far it has worked a treat.

The Strike is off , Rhona's New Year do and Hypnotism

Well,  the Petrol strike is over, less than 24 hours after it began, cynics may say that it was just a ploy to get motorists to fill up and boost the takings of the garages at the start of the Year......in Cyprus ? Perish the thought.

Rhona was kind enough to invite us, and around 60 other guests, to a New Years buffet at her house.




















Later that evening we popped over to the Giraffe pub where they were having a comedy/Hypnotist evening. All manner of high jinx as some of the regulars were "put under".

Next day to shake off the cobwebs we, along with Steve and Mary went for a long hike along the Cape Aspro coastline.

Bank closure, Tax rise and a Petrol station strike

Well not a great start to the New year here in Cyprus, first of all we have heard that one of our local banks  in the village is due to close in 2 weeks time, so we have been down to another bank today to open new account.

Value added tax in Cyprus has risen to 18% and Petrol (Gas) has risen today by 7 cents per litre, but that won't affect us because from tomorrow we have just been informed that an Island wide strike has been caledl for all Petrol (gas) stations, so they will be shut until further notice.

We are told that the reason is that operators have demanded a freeze on new licences until parliament passes new legislation to regulate the market.

New Years Day

A Happy and Healthy New year to all our Family, friends and visitors to the Blog

                        

                                    

New Years Eve

Another New Years eve rolls around and we trundled up to The Hillview restaurant to see in the New year. A lovely buffet was served and the guests danced their way into 2013.

and finally....... a Heart felt message from the Lady of the house.....

Diving at Pistol Bay

On a beautiful clear day with a flat calm sea, Rob, Steve and Alan decided to go diving at Pistol bay which is situated North of Paphos.  The recent good weather in Cyprus meant that visibility was superb. This site has a rock strewn bottom with several swim through arches.
The Sea temp was 19 degrees and we saw several fluorescent jellyfish.