Today – our first glimpse of Πισσούρι-Pissouri in daylight (hooray); This being our first full day since travelling we took it easy and just explored locally.
A buffet breakfast to start the day (Full English was an option but when abroad, I avoid that; I went for bread, ham, cheese, pastries, etc). It didn’t take me too long at all to make friends; As soon as I stepped out the door I was approached by a friendly little tabby cat. We are friends for life now, along with a little black and white one. Love Cypriot cats. There’s lots of them!
Mum and I went for a walk towards the beach – maybe 10-15 mins by foot is the main part of Pissouri Bay; Access down to the beach, a selection of bars and restaurants, and a mini market.
We found where to go for dinner tonight; As we walked past one restaurant, the owner spotted my Athens t-shirt an said “You like Greece……Are you Greek?” When we responded in Greek that no, we are English, the response was that he never sees English people who speak Greek and now twice in one day they are here in Cyprus. Free drink on the house. (Look up Perry’s online – they have a number of villas an apartments, car hire, and 2 restaurants; one in the bay and one in the village).
Getting back we found a good spot on the sunbeds next to the pool. This only being the start of the season the water (both sea and pool) haven’t yet warmed up, but I could cope with a bit of the swimming pool (even if it did take me ages to get in – I feel the cold).
After lunch we got in the car and went out for a drive. The main village of Πισσούρι-Pissouri is a few kilometres inland from the bay area (sometimes marked as ‘Tourist Area’ on the local maps); up in the mountains. There, there are a selection of bars and restaurants, perhaps a bit cheaper than down here on the coast, a nice church, and great views towards the sea from the village.
Back at the apartment and we had a little time to rest by the pool before the sun went down. We went back to Perry’s restaurant for dinner. I had a Cypriot dish which I’ve never come across before – Αφέλια (Afelia): χοιρινό με κόκκινο κρασί και κόλιανδρο – pork cooked in red wine & coriander. Quite tasty and I think there was a bit of spice in there too.
When the owner greeted us again in the evening, he said to my Dad “Welcome home”…. Dad and I both look very Greek (or Cypriot) – more than one person has said to me in the past (and I was told again today) that I look more Greek than a lot of Greeks do (and Dad is darker than me so he gets it even more than I do; he gets very confused when people assume he is Greek and start speaking to him in a language he cannot even read, let alone speak).
Tomorrow, we’re thinking of spending the morning by the pool, then heading in to Πάφος-Paphos in the afternoon (I like visiting the archaeological site there).
Καληνύχτα,
Φρεντ.
