Autumn arrives and a Robbie Williams tribute act

 Mandy, along with Tania and Pete drove over to the Sapphire bar in Paphos to see Tony H perform his tribute act to "Robbie Williams ".

A good night was had by all who thoroughly enjoyed the show and company.

Autumn arrived in Cyprus with a bang in the first week of October. We were hit with cooler temperatures, high winds and some heavy downpours of rain. 

Due to the cooler weather, Rob pulled on his old hiking boots and went for some early morning walks.

We are so lucky to have this wonderful countryside right on our doorstep. 

Jude hits 8, A report from from Prague and Race day

 Back in South Wales,  our best boy Jude, celebrated his 8th birthday with his Sister, Cari, with a day out to Western super mare.

Following his trip to Prague as a winner of the football draw in Limassol at Sunday's league game, Pete sent us a report on his trip to the Czech republic following the Aris Limassol match in the Europa conference against Sparta Prague.

Although the game finished in a 2-3 defeat for our boys in green, Pete had nothing but praise for the way Aris Limassol football  club  organised the trip.

On a warm September, Sunday morning we joined a coach trip from Pissouri for a day out at the Nicosia horse racing. By the the time we reached the capital the temperatures had hit the mid thirties.

Sadly we had no luck in the betting stakes, but with good food and wine and our table full of laughter, a good day was had by all

Local Football Derby and A Golden anniversary

Our friends and neighbours, Mike and Tina, along with several friends kindly invited us for a meal at The Hideaway restaurant to celebrate their 50th, Golden anniversary. 

With lots of laughs and some fine food at The Hideaway taverna in Pissouri square, a cracking night was had by all. 

 Rob joined Pete and Tim and drove over to the Alphamega stadium just outside Limassol to watch the local derby football match between Aris Limassol and Pafos FC.

The game was a scrappy affair that ended up 1-1, the highlight of the match was the equalising goal by Paphos, which was a stunning, 30 meter powerful volley.

Before the game, Pete was lucky enough to win an all expenses paid trip to Aris's next Europa conference game v Sparta Prague in the Czech republic. Pete managed to catch a tee shift that was launched into the crowd by the club's mascot and hidden inside was a winning voucher.

We hope Pete has a great time in the Czech republic.

I am sure that we will  get a full report from our Prague correspondent on his return to Cyprus. 

An Anniversary celebration, fires and Avdimou

 On a beautiful, late Summer's evening we popped down to the village in Pissouri to celebrate our 19th wedding anniversary. 

Our first stop was a George's bar for a quick drink in the village square. 

We then made our way over to The Bunch of Grapes restaurant where we had a truly wonderful meal. This restaurant always has a superb welcome from the excellent staff and a truly wonderful menu.

On Friday evening we nipped down to the Pissouriana hotel for a quick drink, we soon saw a huge plume of smoke rising from the old Ostrich farm from across the valley. 

We the saw the fire fighting planes and helicopters flying over the scene dropping their payloads of water that helped to fight the fire.

Along with Steve and Mary we then headed over to the village of Avdimou where we had a lovey, meal  at the Antonis Tavern

For our final port of call, we ended up on Pissouri square where they were holding the final "Cyprus night" of the season. 

Cape Aspro Cliffs and Europa Football in Limassol

Another Thursday and another night of Euorpean knock out football. This time Rob and Peter went to watch Aris Limassol against SK Slovan Bratislava in the second leg off the play of of the Europa League.

Limassol were trailing 1-2 from the first leg but turned on the style and beat the team from Bratislava 6-2, to proceed to the next round of the Europa Cup League.

They Now face, Glasgow Rangers, Real Betis and Sparta Prague.

A couple of Canoeists sailed out to the Cliffs of Cape Aspro, which lies just off Pissouri Bay and took some superb shots of the Cliff faces.

A night of Football in Kolossi

On a very humid evening,  Rob and Pete drove to the Alphamega stadium in Kolossi to watch the Champions league Qualifying game between Aris Limassol and the Polish side, Rakow Czestochowa. 

We mixed with a few of the Polish fans before the game and had a chat about football.

This was Rob's first visit to the impressive new stadium with a capacity of around eleven thousand. 

It was an entertaining encounter but sadly the home team were not at their best and the Polish visitors ran out 0-1 winners. Their second half winning goal came via a superb free kick by Tudor. 

A visit to Vouni

 

On a warm Sunday morning we took a drive up to the village of Vouni, which lies in the foothills of the Troodos mountains. 

The village of Vouni is known for its cobbled streets and wooden balconies. 

Escaping the morning sun we sat in the shade of a coffee shop in the village square for a cooling drink. The square was busy with local families enjoying their time off. There were also a number of old guys playing backgammon. 

We the took the short drive to just  outside the village passing numerous stalls where a celebration was taking place outside the Church of Agios Georgios.

We then strolled over to the Vouniotiko taverna where we were warmly greeted and shown to a table overlooking the local hills, dotted with vineyards. 

We then enjoyed a Sunday lunch of Keleftico and souvla, washed down with a very nice glass of wine.

ELO tribute Band "The Encounter" and Welsh rugby

 

On a gorgeous Summer's evening,  we trundled down to the Pissouri amphitheatre to watch a ELO tribute act called "The ELO Encounter". There was a tremendous turnout and the band soon got the dance floor full.

We both agreed that the band were superb playing a wide variety of the original band's hits.

Back in Wales, Lisa took Ma Flav to her first international rugby match at the Millennium stadium in Cardiff.  The girls enjoyed watching Wales beat England by 20-9.