It’s December 24 Christmas eve and some of us are feeling poorly from the after affects of the Monk’s brandy (not me) I’m told it is NOT a religious experience!
In the mid afternoon and Johnathan takes us on a short car drive to Governor’s Head Beach...a lovely place of rocky shore where you can see a power plant in the distance....remind you of anything....Port Dover of course with Nanticoke yonder. Governors Head in better weather is a very popular place to go for the locals...there’s lots of fish restaurants there.....we go for a walk along the beautiful shore. Back in the car....Kim remembered that we were out of vodka...and that would never do...since tomorrow was Christmas...so we stopped into a little general store in our village area....the guy had everything in there...Johnathan even bought some lamb chops...back home for another lovely home cooked meal....but charitably no Monk’s Brandy.
Christmas Day...everyone’s happy we exchange gifts as it were...Johnathan gave us each a beautiful Egyptian scarf.....he got some Egyptian plates and a Friday 13th T-shirt. He had to go friends for a Christmas celebration...Kim and I went off to the city for a Christmas dinner at a restaurant. We stopped by the local marina on the way...some impressive boats....and found a little beach side British Pub style restaurant where we had something to eat. It was very warm out....and dry as well...which I guess is unusual for these parts. Anyway nothing special a good day was had by all. I like Christmas in a foreign land.
Boxing Day...and Johnny boy has big plans....we take off early in the morning and head down the coast to the west....we stop off at the pebble beach of Petra Touromiou....where it is believed the Goddess “Venus” ascended from a scallop and walked out of the sea....it was funky little place there was a tunnel under the hiway so you could get to the beach and little tourist store were you could get junk.
Petra Touromio...where Venus..the Goddess of love beauty ,sex ,fertility ,prosperity and victory, is said to have come ashore...... that's Kim coming out of the water on the beach....the resemblance is remarkable don't you think?
Brent skipping stones into the ocean at the "Shores of Aphrodite"
Off we go to Pathos a major local tourist city along the coast....there were quite a few people there strolling and eating....off again..through the British forces base...it’s big.
Shots of the tourist city of Pathos...boxing day. Note the "Nemo" kind of boat in the centre of the picture...I think you could take it out for a ride during busier times.
The Baths of Aphrodite....(she must have been a dirty little thing!)
To the Baths of Aphrodite we took a walk through the beautiful coastal hills over looking the town Latsi...the baths were merely a hollow in a small stone cavern were spring water gathered....I suppose you could have a bath there if you really wanted to. We had lunch in a restaurant in Latsi the food was respectable.
Kim and me in the heights above Latsi (in the background to the right) near the Baths of Aphrodite
While there..Johathan got a call from an old student of his from Syria he was expecting him to stop by the house late this afternoon on his way to Nicosia....and he was actually at the house now...Johnathan told him where to find the keys we had put in a plant container to let himself in. So we raced home...Kim says it was a hair raising drive along the coast...but I was asleep in the back seat..
While there..Johathan got a call from an old student of his from Syria he was expecting him to stop by the house late this afternoon on his way to Nicosia....and he was actually at the house now...Johnathan told him where to find the keys we had put in a plant container to let himself in. So we raced home...Kim says it was a hair raising drive along the coast...but I was asleep in the back seat..
When we got there Ammar was in the house. He’s an interesting young fellow about 26 years old his father was Syrian...his mother English..no one it seems to have really wanted him...so he grew up in a bunch of different countries eventually ending up in England...where fortunately for him he is now a citizen. We had a nice meal and a really great conversation with him about the Middle East et al.....he returns to his home area every couple of years....He’s a Muslim but has no problem drinking booze and eating pork...in fact he says he hates Muslims...I can’t remember why.
So we’re up the next morning pretty bright and early we’re all going to Nicosia today....from there you can walk across the border to the Turkish section of the island. We had a massive breakfast of pasta and cheese and eggs and bacon all mixed up together and fried in a wok....hey you have to eat something! No the thing is....a couple of nights previous to this I had made a pasta dinner and I always cook way too much .
Johnathan in the Kitchen doing something.
Johnathan in the Kitchen doing something.
But having a big bowl of cooked pasta in the fridge is not a bad thing....you can do anything with it in a hurry. Johathan saw the bowl in the fridge the next morning...and said why do we have all this cooked pasta in here...I told him....and he said “could we have it for breakfast?” I said I suppose we could....so he threw together a pasta breakfast that was massive and wholesome...and good. So pasta breakfasts became a staple. He said to me one day...Brent I want to thank you for the pasta tip....keeping some in the fridge.....I said well I’d never seen it used for breakfast before...so I guess we’re even.
Enough about food. Ammar has a little car he’s rented so he takes off...We jump in Johnathan’s rental... It’s only about a 45 minute drive to Nicosia .... off we go up the four lane motorway...and we’re there quickly... we park in a big pay parking lot. So then what you have to do is walk though the city to the border between Greece Cyprus....and Turkey Cyprus.
A way station and hoel from ancient times....inside is a present day tourist trap.
On duty...A Canadian soldier on the border between Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot, Cyprus.
It’s all on the up and up...it’s a divided city..so the border is kind of the middle...you walk up to a check point and show your passport to everbody..they do some stamping and then you’re in Turkish Nicosia. I can’t really say though that I’ve seen anything of Turkish Cyprus...this was just a day trip and this was a pretty serious Turkish tourist area....we walked around...bought a lot of food...because it was very cheap there..and had lunch which was okay....There were sandbagged areas with foreign UN troops manning them....and a no man’s land of empty buildings....so the problem is still pretty serious. We walked back across the border then drove home. It was a good day.
The next day was Friday....and it was a big day....Johnathan had a planned a big party. Most of his elderly Brit friends from around the neighborhood were coming, there would be nine in all...and Johnathan hadn’t been able to decide what he wanted to serve...so I said why not pasta we can get a bunch of chicken or sausage and just chop in up in a big tomato sauce....so he says okay...you can do that. So I’m stuck with making this massive amount of pasta sauce for nine people.....anyway it was easy..they all came over ..Johnathan who is the master of h’ordeurves made a lot of them ....so lots to eat and drink. Johnathan`s neighbor couple were coming over.....Peter..he`s into investments and such and has a scheme going to do with solar electricity.....the wife Diane hangs out and helps with stuff in the viilage.
Peter and Diane...Johnathan's Brit neighbors.
The other guests were an odd mixture of retired Brits who were pretty old and had spent their careers in mid level industry....and a couple of the guys were in pretty rough shape...one had a circulation issue with his foot and came in on crutches...the other guy who was just here visiting his daughter had been attacked by a knife wielding assailaint about ten years ago...in his house in London. So the arm was pretty much useless. He was an inventor and he came by it honestly because his dad was the guy invented sonar in the second world war. One guest was an old dike nurse who smoked cigarettes one after the other...her partner had just left her for good and she was kind of mournful. So that was it...we ate drank...got out the guitars and partied on...it was a good night.
So we kind of hung loose for a day I think Kim and Johnathan went shopping.....Johnathan`s place has a nice deck and it was a great place to sit and read for hours.
The ruins of the city Kourios (above)
Kim on the heights and fertile coastal plain and ocean way down there.
Brent orating in the amphitheatre at Kourios
Brent orating in the amphitheatre at Kourios
The next day Kim and I went off on our own down the coast to some great Greek ruins called Kourion the top of a very large rocky hill. It was the site of a very large city in ancient times....below is the most fertile land on the island and the city was also a fortress where the farmers could take refuge when the bad guys came in their boats....which happend quite often I take it.......the view was really nice and the ruins of been excavated very well and it was worth the trip.
We has lunch and a few beers in a little restaurant in a grove below the mountain.
The little restaurant below the mountain.
On the way home we decided to do a little exploring and drove past Monagroulli to a very little place called Agata about seven kilometers beyond....we`d been there before and wanted to come back. We stopped and went into the odd looking drank a number of beers with the friendly locals including one guy who had grown up in the Cypriot community in New York...but had married a visiting Cypriot girl and had moved back to the island with her. When we got out of the little Taverna is was just going dusk...I'd had quite a few beers...but Johnathan says around here it dosen't really matter "just don't crash".
We pulled out onto the little street heading out of the village...and would you know it...right on my tail... cops in an suv with blue top light flashing...I really wasn't very concerned because I wasn't drunk...but still...I pulled over and the cop drove right on past. It turns out the cops drive around with their blue top light flashing all the time. Another wholesome day in Cyprus.
Next the road trip from hell
We has lunch and a few beers in a little restaurant in a grove below the mountain.
On the way home we decided to do a little exploring and drove past Monagroulli to a very little place called Agata about seven kilometers beyond....we`d been there before and wanted to come back. We stopped and went into the odd looking drank a number of beers with the friendly locals including one guy who had grown up in the Cypriot community in New York...but had married a visiting Cypriot girl and had moved back to the island with her. When we got out of the little Taverna is was just going dusk...I'd had quite a few beers...but Johnathan says around here it dosen't really matter "just don't crash".
We pulled out onto the little street heading out of the village...and would you know it...right on my tail... cops in an suv with blue top light flashing...I really wasn't very concerned because I wasn't drunk...but still...I pulled over and the cop drove right on past. It turns out the cops drive around with their blue top light flashing all the time. Another wholesome day in Cyprus.
Next the road trip from hell
No comments:
Post a Comment