October in Cyprus: kittens, eating out and cooler weather

So much for good intentions. I didn't write a single post last month. So this will be a summary (though probably not brief) of our life here in Cyprus over the past month...

Kittens

At the start of the month, I became aware that we had unexpected visitors. There were two very young kittens, wandering around and crying just outside our boiler room, at the back of our house.

We often see kittens in our neighbourhood, sometimes in one of our side yards. There are a lot of feral cats in Cyprus. They are useful for keeping down the rats and snakes, and the female cats sometimes have two litters per year.  There are sometimes national campaigns to catch, neuter and return feral cats but there are far too many cats for this to make much difference. Historically Cypriots have not liked to neuter cats, so that doesn't help. 

There's a grey cat who often appears in our street. We call 'Mama cat' as she raised three kittens in our side yard in the spring. When these tiny kittens were wandering around I saw her nearby and assumed she was their mother, and that she had gone out hunting or perhaps just to take a break from them. 

But if she was their mother, we quickly discovered, she wasn't looking after them. They looked quite hungry and were mewing loudly. I didn't want to interfere. Touching young kittens can drive a mother cat away, after all. But the little voices were plaintive. So I gave them a bit of yogurt, and they fell on it, lapping rapidly. A few hours later, with still no sign of a mother cat taking care of these kittens, I gave them some of Lady Jane's crunchies (or 'kibble', as I understand the term is now), moistened in a little water. They ate those too, gobbling them down. 

Then they mewed for most of the night. So we decided to buy them some kitten formula, and some kitten food sachets. A visiting friend bought them some other kitten food, too. The kittens seemed quite weak by this time so we realised we would have to be more proactive. Richard built a barricade to keep them in the boiler room, as we were worried about them getting into the road and not being able to get out of the way of a car fast enough. 

Thankfully they were able to lap kitten formula milk from a saucer so we didn't have to bottle-feed, as we did with the seven feral kittens we fostered for six weeks at our old house, over nineteen years ago. We guessed that these kittens were about four weeks old. They loved the wet food from the sachets too, though we were careful not to give them too much at once. And they ate the kibble without any need for adding water. 

However, although we now only have one house cat, we can't keep these kittens. Our existing Lady Jane would not allow it for one thing. For another, we have a very allergic daughter-in-law, so we had agreed already that we won't take on any more cats. And, much as we love having a cat, it is something of a bind at times. We can't go away spontaneously, and when we plan to go away we have to organise a cat-sitter. Usually our close friends do this, but it's not always possible. 

We put photos on Facebook a couple of times, but it seems that none of our local friends want kittens. 

So Richard got in touch with a nearby cat sanctuary, who said they don't take kittens until they're at least twelve weeks old, and have had their first vaccinations. Then they try to find homes for them, and they have a much wider audience on Facebook (and elsewhere) than we do. 

Thus, a month later we are still fostering them, feeding four times a day and taking them out for half an hour to our other side yard where there are plants and fake grass, to give them a chance to jump and run and play. They had their first vaccinations last week, and the vet said they seem to be very healthy. 

We haven't given them names; we refer to them as the little girl kitty and the little boy kitty. I hope that someone, eventually, will adopt them. 

Guests and eating out

We've had several human visitors in the past month, too. We do like having our ground floor used as a guest flat. A long-standing friend and colleague stayed for a few days, with a friend, at the end of September.  They left on the last day of the month, and in the evening some even more long-standing friends arrived for a few days' break. It was wonderful to see them. They spent a lot of time on the beach, soaking up some sunshine (which, they said, had been rather lacking in the UK this year).

They took us out to eat twice; once at our favourite Lebanese restaurant, Al Sultan, and once at our favourite everyday restaurant, Alexander's.  At the Lebanese restaurant we ordered a meze for two, which was more than sufficient for four of us. At Alexander's we had individual meals; I had the vegetarian moussaka, one of my favourites, with grilled vegetables. I learned about this option only in the past year and like it so much better than having a huge pile of chips alongside a moussaka. 

Later in the month we had some other guests who were here for just over a week, and who took us out to our favourite Cypriot meze restaurant, Kyra Giorgena. Meze for two there is also more than sufficient for four of us. 

Indeed, it was quite a month for eating out, something we do quite rarely on our own. But in the middle of the month we went out for a 'platter for one' at Al Sultan, to celebrate Richard's birthday:

We managed to do justice to most of it (though we left most of the extra Arabic bread). 

And towards the end of the month we were treated to yet another meze at Kyra Giorgena, by Richard's cousin-once-removed and her travelling companions. They were visiting Cyprus and spent just one day in Larnaka. 

Bathroom repairs - again

We seem to have had a lot of trouble with our bathroom, one way and another, since it was installed in 2016. There was a team of people who did it originally. While much of the work done was excellent, unfortunately the plumber cut several corners. This means we've had to have several extra repairs in the past few years. 

Most recently we found the points of two screws poking up into the bath, and the base started feeling  spongy, as if there was water below. Richard checked underneath and found several problems, including some totally disintegrated wood supports.  That meant that all the builders' foam had to be pulled out, and concrete put in to replace it. 

Thankfully our young and very competent friend L was here for a few days in the middle of the month, and able to do this for us. 

It meant that we had to shower in my study for about a week, after removing all the things stored in it, but, happily, we're now able to use the bathroom shower again. 

Weather

At the start of October the temperatures were still in the 30s during the daytime, although thankfully less humid than it had been a month earlier. We were still in tee-shirts and shorts, with just a thin sheet at night. We had stopped using the air conditioning in the middle of September, but were still using the ceiling fans until a few weeks ago.

By the end of October, we had put our light (4.5 tog) duvet on the bed, and have started wearing long trousers. First thing in the morning and in the evening I even put on a light jacket. 

Sometimes by the end of the first week of November we have a sudden drop in temperatures, but there's no sign of that predicted this year. Just as well, since we'll have to have our central heating serviced before we use it. We had a new boiler installed in February, and as it's still under warranty, we have to have an official service. But we can't do that until the kittens have moved out of the boiler room. 

And also...

During October, Richard made a brief visit to Egypt, I finished knitting some more baby hats, and continued updating images and links on my book blog. We played lots of board games, watched a few DVDs, and I did some daily Duolingo. We hosted a barbecue for a few friends a few days after Richard's birthday, and at the end of the month I made this year's Christmas cake. 

August in Cyprus: hoping to eat out

Richard got back - eventually - on August 13th.  I'd had quite a tiring day. The family who had been staying in our guest flat had a fairly early flight, so they left about eight o'clock in the morning. They had put one load of sheets and towels in the washing machine already, but there was more to do. And there was another family coming to stay for a few days, friends of Richard's from the conference, arriving later that afternoon. 

Thankfully it wasn't quite as humid as it had been, so laundry dried very quickly. I did another load in the guest flat machine, and a load in our upstairs washing machine, and was able to run the Roomba downstairs, and re-make up all the beds. But it was hot, and everything takes me a lot longer in the summer. Richard had said he should be home before lunch and hoped to help, but more bureaucracy got in the way, and it was mid-afternoon before he arrived back. 

He suggested we go out to eat that evening, celebrating our anniversary (nearly four weeks late). And so I wouldn't have to think about food. But where to go? Local places were closed, as many businesses are during the middle weeks of August. We knew that the sea-front restaurants would be open, however, as it's high season for tourists. 

We liked the idea of going to the Al Sultan Lebanese restaurant. We've sometimes shared their 'platter for one' as a lightish lunch, but wanted something more substantial for the evening. We knew a platter for two would be a lot of food, far too much for us at one meal. But restaurants in Cyprus are always happy to offer boxes to bring extra food home. 

So we parked at the marina and walked along the sea front. It was hot and sticky, and we took it slowly. We reached the restaurant, and went in. Like many Cyprus restaurants, the front area is somewhat open to the air, and so has smokers. And it was very warm. We asked if we could go to the inside section, where smoking isn't permitted and they said we could, but that there was no air conditioning on. 

Suddenly that restaurant was a lot less appealing. 

Oh well, we decided, as we were starting to feel quite hungry, we would have to go to Alexander's, which is often our default. They also have a large semi-outdoor area, but they have an inside too. 

Unfortunately, the same was true there. The semi-outdoor smoking area was packed and full of both noise and smoke as well as heat and humidity. The non-smoking area inside was even warmer. No air conditioning. Perhaps the restaurants are trying to economise - and many people don't mind smoke around them. Our request for an indoor non-smoking section was apparently an unusual one for the summer.

And when we looked at other restaurants along the sea-front, they were all operating a similar policy. 

Okay, said Richard, let's try the Art Cafe. That doesn't have an outdoor area, and we were pretty sure they had air conditioning. 

What we had forgotten is that the Art Cafe is closed on Tuesdays. 

By then, we were both feeling very hungry and somewhat frustrated.  Yes, this is a 'first world' problem. We could have gone home and cooked something, we could have bought pastries at a bakery. We had many options. But - spoiled as we are - we had been looking forward to a Lebanese meze. So we decided to order the Lebanese meal we'd hoped for, via Foody. 

We sat down near the Post Office to order, then went back to the marina for the car, and drove home, hoping we would get there first.

We needn't have worried. It was another fifteen minutes or so before the food arrived. When we set it out on the table, it looked like a very impressive meal: 

We had ordered the vegetarian version of the platter, as Richard had been eating lots of meat for the previous week at the conference.  There were a couple of hot items (the ones in foil trays - and they were very hot) and the rest was cold.  As we had expected, it was far too much for one meal. More than half of it went in the fridge and we ate it again the next day. And some of it the following day too. 

Cyprus Meze

Some long-standing friends of ours are in Cyprus at present. We were surprised when we learned that they were here, having flown out from the UK early in October; most potential visitors have been forced to cancel. But we were delighted to hear from them, and were able to invite them for a barbecue here a few weeks ago. We were also able to lend them some books. This evening, they took us out to eat, at the Monte Carlo restaurant along the McKenzie part of the sea-front. 

It's not somewhere we've been very often. Maybe twice in the twenty-three years since we moved to Cyprus, and one of those other times was with these same friends. They suggested we have a meze, and it seemed like an excellent idea. Since none of us has an enormous appetite, we opted for what is officially a two-person meze to share between the four of us. 

Meze (pronounced something like 'MEZZ-ay') is a traditional and popular form of eating in this country. Here's a brief explanation of a meze in the InCyprus online news. Most years we have meze maybe a couple of times, with visiting friends, at a restaurant that's walking distance from here, Kura Giorgena's. Not this year, though...but then nothing much has happened normally this year. 

I wasn't keen on mezes when we first came to Cyprus, as the focus was very much on different kinds of meat and/or fish (including sea-food) and I prefer vegetarian options. But nowadays mezes usually include more than just different kinds of meat or fish, and they're great to share with friends. There's usually a minimum of two portions per party, but it's quite normal for three or even four people to share a two-person meze, as we did this evening. 

A meze is a kind of ongoing meal, starting usually with salad, bread and different dips, moving on to some vegetarian dishes and perhaps halloumi, bacon and/or sausage. Then other kinds of local meats are brought out, gradually, and usually some chips (french fries).  It's surprising how much one can eat when new, tempting foods keep arriving on the table and one takes just a spoonful... 

Tonight's meze started with a Greek salad (tomatoes, cucumber and feta cheese, with a bit of lettuce), accompanied by two kinds of warm bread, olives, Greek yogurt, tzatsiki and a couple of other dips. I enjoyed that very much, and could have made a meal on just that 'starter'. 

The next things that arrived were halloumi and bacon (I had halloumi but not bacon), then three vegetarian dishes: pasta with grated cheese, mushrooms in a lemon sauce, and scrambled egg with courgettes.  

All delicious (from my point of view) and although the others had some of them, I then finished all three when the meat started arriving.  I did eat a little chicken and several of the chips, but much preferred to eat, slowly, a bit more salad, or egg, or mushrooms.  

Meze has the advantage that each person can choose as much or as little of each dish as they wish - if any of them ran out, we could have asked for an extra portion of just that. But there were so many different kinds of meat that there was plenty for both the guys who liked it, and some (though not much) left at the end. 

After we'd finished, and everything was cleared away, we were given a dessert - some Greek pastries containing anari (a bit like cottage cheese), and some candied fruit and walnuts.  I was extremely full after the first part of the meal, but couldn't resist the pastry - though I forgot to take a photo - or one of the candied walnuts.

We wore our masks as we went in, of course, and the staff of the restaurant were wearing theirs all the time. However it's fine to take them off while seated, so long as there are no more than six people at a table. 

We arrived early, around 6.15pm so were not surprised to find the place empty. One other couple came in shortly afterwards, and ate at a table several metres away.  And when we were thinking of leaving, around 8.00pm, a few others had come in. But it certainly wasn't crowded. Restaurants have been hard-hit by the Covid restrictions, and the greatly reduced number of tourists this year.

Another meze at Kira Georgena taverna

About four months ago, some visiting friends took us out to eat at a local taverna whose name in English is Kira (or Kura) Georgena.  We liked it so much that when other friends were visiting last week, and wanted to take us out for meze, we suggested the same place.

Meze is a wonderful way for groups of people to eat in Cyprus. The idea is to have small portions of large numbers of different kinds of food, brought out gradually through the evening.The price per person is typically between about 15 and 18 euros, which sounds like a lot; but with four people it's usual to ask for a meze for three people, as there's always a vast quantity of food and not everyone likes everything. So that's what we did.

I remembered to take photos, this time, and we even attempted to count the dishes; we kept losing track, but think there were about thirty in all, excluding the dessert.

The starter - which comes very quickly - is typical for a meze: a Greek salad (mainly cucumber, tomatoes and feta cheese), a plate of pickled vegetables and quail eggs, bread and dips.  There were two kinds of bread with the starter: some toasted bread dipped in olive oil and herbs (delicious!) and some pittas, and four dips: tzatsiki (cucumber in yogurt), tashi (a specialist tahini dip), humus (the well-known chickpea dip, oozing with olive oil and very tasty), and an egg-feta dish which, the waitress informed us, was their own speciality.

In addition, the starter included some raw root vegetables, some olive paste, a small plate of ham/cheese slices, and a small plate of dried goat meat.

So that was twelve different dishes just for the 'starter'.  It would be very easy to fill up on this - and I liked the dips so much that I had quite a bit, although I didn't have any of the meat or cheese.  But we hadn't finished when the next two dishes arrived:  some freshly grilled halloumi, and this, a tomato/cheese dish which I don't remember seeing before, somewhat reminiscent of pizza:

One of our number is a vegetarian, and I incline that way myself, so I wasn't going to take photos of the meat dishes; but the two meat-eaters said that the next item to arrive, two different kinds of sausage, was so good that it needed a picture:

Then some baked eggs arrived with some hot olives (we didn't know whether to count that as one dish or two - but it was on one plate) and some warm local fluffy bread:

There were a couple more meat dishes that arrived while I was still eating salads and dips, and some mushrooms cooked in scrambled eggs, which I enjoyed very much.  Then a medium sized plate of chips (french fries to any US readers):

Not all mezes include chips, which I suppose are a gesture to the international nature of many visitors and residents of Cyprus, and we were all feeling quite full by the time they arrived... but when we started eating 'just one or two' each, we discovered that they were light and perfectly cooked, and so delicious that we managed to finish them.

By this stage we had been given about twenty-five dishes, including several kinds of meat. We were asked if we wanted 'escargots', and declined politely but firmly.

A bigger plate of meat then appeared; this usually signals the end of a meze, and as we were all very full by this stage, we decided that we would probably ask to take most of this home with us:

We counted that as one 'dish' but there were three kinds of meat on the plate.

And food kept coming. The deep-fried courgettes, as last time, were my favourite:

I ate very slowly, as I was extremely full but wanted to enjoy them.  I didn't even touch the rocket-and-egg dish which arrived at the same time, although it looked good, nor the pasta with grated halloumi:

I don't think I've remembered everything, but that's most of our meze.  We were even given an extra dish of humus as we'd finished the first one.

Thankfully we were given ten minutes or so to digest before the dessert was brought out - all part of the meze.  Fresh seasonal fruit, candied fruit, and cherries in liqueur.  I didn't even try the candied fruit or the cherries, but very much enjoyed a strawberry and a couple of slices of orange:

Then... fresh loukoumades.  They're not something I ever make, or buy; but these were very good ones, and since our visitors only wanted one each. I ate (blush) three of them...

Then, when I was wondering if I would be able to get out of my chair and walk, one of our friends, who plays one of the Pokemon games on her phone, announced that there was a Pokemon just in front of the wall, next to me.  I said I couldn't see it, feeling slightly spooked, so she took a photo:

Meze at Kura Giorgina in Larnaka

A few weeks ago, some friends stayed in our guest flat, and, during the course of the week, offered to take us out for a meal. When they were here a year ago they took us to a meze at a taverna called Kura Georgina. It's in William Weir Street, about a kilometre away from where we live, so easy walking distance. We all liked it, and they suggested going there again.

We had booked a table, although it wasn't necessary when arriving at 6.30, as we tend to do. Cypriots often eat much later, arriving at restaurants at perhaps 8.00 or even 9.00pm. But my metabolism doesn't do well with late eating, and we much prefer to be in an uncrowded environment, free from smoke. Cypriot restaurants are now smoke-free indoors, but there's still usually smoking outside making it unpleasant to go in and out.

Kura Giorgina's is a traditional building with a bar near the entrance, and tables laid out in typical Cyprus style:

Since there were five of us - our younger son was visiting too - we ordered a meze for four. There's always so much food that it's normal to ask for fewer portions than the number of people, unless everyone has a huge appetite. We debated ordering for just three, and in retrospect that would have been plenty.

Two of us drank water, but the other three ordered a bottle of wine. It came in an unusual traditional bottle, and was poured into pottery cups, which were quite attractive:

The 'first course' of a meze, if one thinks of it that way, is usually a Greek salad, complete with feta cheese, bread of some kind, and dips.  That's exactly what arrived on our table within a few minutes of our order:

Unusually the bread was neither pittas nor village bread, but a warm, apparently freshly baked bread that was very good. There were also some slices of processed meat and cheese, and some capers. I had a lot of salad, some bread, tahini dip, tsatsiki, and a pepper/yogurt dip which was delicious. It's all too easy to eat a lot of the starter, when one is the most hungry, and feel almost full by the end but I know from experience that this is a bad idea.

It wasn't long before other dishes started to arrive. There were plates of meat of varying kinds, baked eggs, a plate of freshly cooked chips, and - my favourite of all - some deep-fried aubergine slices with Greek yogurt.  I had a lot of those!

There was a great deal more which I forgot to photograph: halloumi, other vegetables, scrambled eggs with courgettes, olives, and much more. Each dish arrived just as we were wondering if we had come to the end. And, as so often, there was a large dish of different kinds of fried meat near the end.

We were told that this was the end, which was fine since we were all quite full. I eat almost no meat but I had a small piece of chicken, and it was very good. The rest of the party managed to finish most of what remained.

We chatted a while, and nibbled at bits and pieces, and then, after the waitress cleared away most of the dishes, it was time for dessert. This is often included as part of a meze, but we were still pleasantly surprised and very impressed with what they brought.

There was a selection of fresh fruit, clearly only just prepared, and some candied fruit which was a bit too sweet for me, but which the others liked:

And then, when we thought we couldn't manage another bite, they brought out loukoumades:

These are a sort of deep-fried doughnut batter with honey; probably very unhealthy, but rather scrumptious. And despite our order being for four people, they brought five loukoumades... so we decided we should each have one....

We were probably there for a couple of hours, and could see that the area outside was getting quite full. People started arriving to eat inside, too, but we thought it was about time to leave. We could have had coffee if we'd wanted to, but that would have kept us awake all night.

Here's what the front looks like after dark since I forgot to take a photo on the way in:

All in all, we thought it an excellent meal.  While some mezes can be very meat-focused, we liked the wide range of non-meat options at this one, and the friendly family atmosphere. 

Two Cyprus restaurants in two weeks!

Eating out is quite a rare event for us. I know, in the US, some families eat out two or three times per week, as it's relatively inexpensive there. Even here in Cyprus, there are some of people who eat out regularly. It's never been part of our lifestyle, however. Meals at restaurants are for special occasions, or when visitors want to treat us.

A couple of weeks ago, our friend Alison was visiting. She comes on a working holiday each year to deal with the accounts for Richard's ministry; I cook most evenings, but she usually likes to take us out for a meal at some point.  We've previously been to our default - Alexander's - on the sea-front, but this year Alison decided she'd like a change. She checked an online site for recommended Greek food restaurants in Cyprus, and the top rated one was To Kazani, in Aradippou.

We found the location via Google Maps, and it took perhaps ten or fifteen minutes to drive there. It looked very authentic on the outside:

We were greeted with enthusiasm by the staff, and given a choice of tables. Inside looked equally authentically Cypriot - even if there was a TV at one end, and a wifi router on the wall near where we sat! 

The menu was simple - only about ten items, including the traditional meze. We asked how big the portions were, and the waitress - or, perhaps the owner - said she thought that for four of us, three servings of meze would be right. So that's what we opted for.  

We then ordered drinks - water for two of us, juice for the others.  The juice was certainly Cypriot, but not exactly how we had envisaged it... 

A meze is a series of different dishes, presented a few at a time, and usually starting with a Greek salad. This means that there's very little waiting time, and plenty of opportunity to taste different local foods. Sure enough, the salad arrived quickly, accompanied by some toasted village bread, a bowl of Greek yogurt, some chopped beetroot, and various dips:

I didn't take any other photos of food - the table quickly became crowded as we were given an aubergine dip, halloumi, various meat dishes, a bowl of chips, some mushrooms, an egg and courgette dish (which was my favourite), more that I don't remember... and even (ugh) some snails. Alison and Richard tried them but didn't much like them. Tim and I did not. I don't even like to look at snails. But they were the only thing that none of us liked.  

By the time we were nearing the end, we were feeling very full, so when a large dish with yet more meat arrived - small pieces of chicken, and pork, and Cyprus sausages - we couldn't begin to do justice to it. So Richard asked if we could take it home with us; this isn't an unusual request in Cyprus, so we were given a suitable container and the leftover meat then provided protein for our lunches (for three of us) for the next two days. 

After we thought we had finished, we were brought dessert: some fresh fruit, and some pieces of Greek baklava. Despite having ordered three meze meals between four of us, they made sure that when there were individual portions of anything, there were four, so we each had some baklava - and somehow found room to eat it! 

We enjoyed our meal very much and can certainly understand why it's so highly rated. Other visitors - including a group of people we know - gradually arrived as we were eating. But then, as Brits, we like to start eating around 7.00pm at the latest, whereas many Cypriots don't eat until well past 8.00, sometimes not starting until 9.00 or later. 

I had not expected to visit another restaurant for a while, but last Sunday Tim said he would like to take us out to his favourite Indian restaurant, Masalas, in celebration of the British Mothering Sunday. The only available evening was Monday, just a week after our visit to To Kazani.  

Masalas is in the other direction, along the Dhekelia Road which runs along the sea-front. The only photo I took was on the outside, before we went in:

Again, since we like to eat early, and arrived about 6.30, we were the only people in the restaurant when we went in. It looks quite up-market inside, with tablecloths and wall hangings in shades of peach. The menu is extensive, as is so often the case with Indian restaurants. They have a special offer of any curry with popadoms, rice and naan for weekdays so long as one orders before 7.15pm so we decided to do that rather than making multiple selections from different pages of the menu. 

Tim almost always opts for chicken bhuna which is his tried-and-tested favourite; Richard had a lamb curry, and I decided to be brave and have a chicken madras, marked as 'hot', but - I was assured by the waitress - not 'burning hot'.  The first time we went there, back in June, I tried the chicken balti, which was excellent.

The food was piping hot, served in traditional Indian pots and pans, and very delicious, although mine was perhaps a tad hotter than I would have chosen! However, it was very tasty. 

The one disadvantage of this restaurant is that they don't offer vegetarian options. I do eat some chicken and beef, and occasionally pork, but when I'm out I usually prefer to choose something vegetarian. Indian restaurants normally have a wide selection, but Masalas does not.  I was happy with what I ate - and would happily go there again - but it would be no good for a vegetarian. 

Delicious Meze meal at an empty Taverna...

I've written before about our local taverna, Ta Kalyphouthkia. It's about 200 metres from where we live, tucked away in a residential area... so not the kind of place people would find easily, if out hunting for somewhere to eat.

While, as far as I recall, we have actually only once paid for a meal there ourselves, we have been treated there several times by guests wanting to take us out for a meal, and suggesting something traditionally Cypriot. A meze is the classic meal here, consisting of several dishes of food brought out a few at a time, including salads, pitta bread, olives, various dips, an avocado dish, mushrooms, scrambled egg with spinach, several varieties of meat, halloumi, pasta with cheese, tiny pastries with cheese, pourgouri (bulgar wheat)... and more. To finish with, there's even a small plate of chips (fries), and then something light and sweet.  The selections vary slightly each time, but are always delicious. 

One of the great things about meze is that you don't have to order one portion per person, if you're going with a group. There's a minimum order of two, but it's fine for four people to order just two portions; there's plenty of food, so long as appetites are not huge, and everyone gets a taste of everything. We have never yet managed to finish the entire spread; I rarely eat any of the meat as there are so many delicious veggie options. 

Other tavernas and restaurants offer different mezes; some have more meat and fewer veggie dishes, some have fish and seafood rather than meat. 

Two ladies who have been staying in our guest flat took us to the local taverna last night. As usual, we chose to go early - about 7.00pm - and, as we expected, it was entirely empty when we arrived:

The taverna is usually frequented by Cypriots, and they tend to eat rather later than Brits.

The dishes kept coming, but we didn't eat particularly fast; we were chatting and enjoying the food, explaining some of them to one of the guests who had not previously been to Cyprus.  It was nearly nine o'clock before we left... and it was then that it struck me: the taverna was still empty.  

That was not what we expected.

Every time we have been in the past, other diners have started arriving about eight o'clock. By nine, it's usually starting to get quite noisy and busy. But not last night.

Perhaps Monday night is always quiet; perhaps there were more customers later. I hope so. But my worry is that this may be a sign of things to come, with the austerity measures, and drastically reduced incomes for many around the island. It's not as if we eat out regularly, so perhaps it's selfish - in a sense - to want this taverna to remain open for the rare occasions when we might use it. But it's the principle of the thing that matters more: small shops are already being forced to close down, and it would be very sad for the future of Cyprus if small family tavernas are also forced to shut. 

Life racing by in Cyprus once more

It's strange how, sometimes, life seems to go by quite slowly. The winter seemed endless, although it was only a couple of months .I know that the summer is likely to drag too. But now that spring is here, a couple of weeks appear - if it's not too much of a cliché - to have flown by. I had to look on my calendar, and then my camera to see what we'd done. 

There were the usual two public holidays on March 25th (Greek National Day) and April 1st. Since both those dates fell on a Sunday this year, there wasn't any obvious effect on the general public. Shops and businesses were closed anyway. We don't even live near any schools or the parade route any more, so we weren't awakened early by drum beats and whistles, as we were in our old house.

Still, I did go to a church service with my friends a couple of weeks ago, and then popped to the PO Box to collect mail. We happened to be there just as one of the parades was starting around St Lazarus Church, so we paused for a moment to watch: 

We seem to have spent a lot of time with different friends, too. We often see friends several times per week, but not, in general, quite so many different ones. Very unusually we were treated to meals out three times in two weeks, each by different people. All meze meals, but at three different places. One was a fairly newly-opened Syrian restaurant, which was rather up-market and very pleasant. One was at our favourite local taverna, and the third was on a rooftop restaurant near St Lazarus Church, which offered vegetarian meze. It included this rather delicious feta/tomato/onion dish:

And also this (melted cheese on sliced aubergine): 

However, my camera is devoid of pictures of anything much else. 

Possibly this is because our world has been rather taken up by forthcoming changes in Richard's office; for various reasons, almost everyone else will be leaving in the summer. So, with rising costs (and signifcantly reduced funding from the US) it was deemed to be time to close the office. He will be continuing some of the production work for at least another year or two, probably more, but will be doing so from the 'studio' in our guest flat. 

So although he is still officially on sabbatical, his time and energy has been taken up in beginning to dismantle some of the current office furniture and equipment, moving it here, and setting up a new production office in the studio. This has meant that the studio - which had become a general dumping ground for sailing and other equipment - has had to be cleared out... and our guest flat is currently in chaos. I haven't been much involved in the physical work, but somehow this, and related discussions, have taken up a huge amount of emotional energy.