Anniversary trip to Platres

I'm a little shocked to see that it's almost a month since I wrote on this blog. And that it's nearly four weeks since the events of which I am about to write. But, I hope, better late than never...

Six years ago, we spent a couple of days in the mountains over our wedding anniversary. We went to the little village of Kakopetria, which was pleasantly cool and a great place to relax, away from the heat and humidity of Larnaka.

This year has been quite stressful in many ways, so Richard decided to find another village - since there wasn't exactly a whole lot to do in Kakopetria! - and take me into the mountains again, for this year's 33rd anniversary. He opted for Platres*, and checked reviews of several possible inns/hotels/b&bs in the neighbourhood. He rejected several which were apparently unfriendly or had smelly drains, and opted for the Semiramis Hotel, which most reviewers claimed was basic but friendly. The price was pretty good too...

It was a little complicated to find; we went to the wrong part of Platres at first, and then tried to set the address on Richard's phone app... it wasn't very accurate, but happily he spotted it just as we were about to drive past on the main road:

We were a bit tired and rather hungry by the time we got there, as it was around 1.00pm. We were checked in by a very friendly young woman, and informed that we had 'half board' - a slight surprise as we thought we only had bed and breakfast.  Our room was like one from a traditional Cyprus house of fifty or so years ago, dark wood and indeed fairly basic.  The only slight disappointment was that there were no coffee-making facilities - and that the drains were a little smelly! 

However we wanted to eat first of all, so walked a couple of kilometres into Platres village where we had some excellent rolls and then found a place for frappés. We then walked back to the hotel, and to my astonishment I lay down for a second to see how comfortable the bed was, and then fell asleep almost instantly.  I almost never take siestas... it must be something to do with the mountain air, and perhaps having just walked four kilometres.  Even having had caffeine did not keep me awake.

Our evening meal was not served at the hotel but at a taverna in the village, which was run by the husband of the lady who had greeted us when we arrived. Apparently his father is the owner of the hotel. It truly is an old-style family-run business, and very friendly indeed. Richard had a couple of long conversations with the owner, discussing the hotel's history and the economic crisis, and living in Cyprus in general. 

Although our room did not really have anywhere comfortable to sit, there were lounge areas downstairs, and after breakfast each morning - basic but good - we sat and read for a while:

I really like the lighting in this photo... not that I set anything up. It was one of those snaps that just happened to work:

Later on we walked back into the town - the hotel staff had told us of a rather shorter (albeit very steep) route, and looked at the shops. I'm not keen on shops in general, but it was quite interesting to see them and wander round a few. There were vast numbers of restaurants and tavernas; we chose one offering free wi-fi to have coffee, since the hotel did not offer wi-fi.

Here's a little area in the village where we sat briefly:

Having rather exhausted Platres we drove up to the summit of the mountains at Troodos - not far away - and had lunch there. Then we had some ice creams... this was mine:

No doubt highly calorific, but absolutely delicious. 

In the evening it was back to the family-run taverna: 

The options for 'half-board' customers of the hotel were a little limited, starting with an excellent Greek salad:

I passed the olives and beetroot to Richard but enjoyed the rest of it. 

Then we had the option of about eight different Cyprus specialities. Richard chose kleftiko the first night and afelia the second.  They were served as plates of meat - no veg at all; a dish of couscous accompanied the kleftiko, and some chips the afelia.  I had moussaka the first night which was okay, though not the best; the second night I made the mistake of having what I would call dolmades (stuffed vine leaves) although they were given a Cypriot name.  They were a bit bitter, and also just served with chips. I would have liked some vegeterian options.

However, since we had these evening meals included, we could hardly object - and they were certainly substantial and filling.  So much so that we didn't even think about dessert. 

We walked back to the hotel the long way round on our second evening, stopping to explore a few little detours, and were interested to see that although grape season was well underway on the island, the Platres grapes were evidently not yet ripe:

All in all, it was a very enjoyable couple of days away.

*Note that Platres is not pronounced 'Platters' or Platers' but something approximating to PLAT-rez

Visiting villages in Cyprus

Time seems to move much more slowly in times of stress and sadness. But now we're back in Cyprus, picking up the threads, more-or-less back to normal. 

So let me be a little indulgent, and look back - only a little over three weeks ago - to a day we had out with the whole family, visiting some villages around the island. Richard was looking for somewhere appropriate for some filming he needs to do, and it seemed like a pleasant day out for all five of us. 

It was a gorgeous day - clear and sunny, but not too hot. We started by visiting lower Lefakra:

We took a walk along some backstreets, where it was really very quiet:

We enjoyed the flowers, still blooming, although the heat of summer will put a stop to a lot of them:

I even managed an informal family group photo, although Tim had forgotten his tripod so we didn't manage one of all five of us together. Not that we found anywhere particularly suitable as background anyway:

I do love seeing trees like this.  We were amused by the little pillar that has evidently been built to support it: 

We drove quite a way into the mountains: 

We went in and out of several small villages, some more accessible than others. I didn't take photos of them all, although others did. Sometimes we didn't even visit them, we just looked from a distance:

This looked rather a nice location, but we weren't tempted... we would rather live in a residential neighbourhood near friends and shops:

We hadn't taken any sandwiches, so around 12.30 we started looking out for somewhere suitable to stop and eat. It was surprisingly difficult - many of the small villages did not appear to have any cafes or tavernas.  

Then we found ourselves in a much wealthier looking village than any others we had found. It's in the Limassol district, and called Asgata. There were smart looking buildings, and organised signs pointing to various locations locally:

There was even a library!

There was also a small taverna, which looked very inviting.  The waiter spoke some English, and the prices seemed reasonable.

While most of us opted for water, Richard asked for a fizzy lemonade drink - either Sprite or 7-Up.  Most places offer one or the other but not both.  We were amused that he was brought a can of the latter, together with a glass advertising the former!

A salad came fairly quickly, and some very welcome toasted baguette sandwiches not long after. Then we had complementary fruit and coffee. It was a good break:

We thought we might drive into Troodos but somehow went in the wrong direction, so eventually found ourselves back near Limassol. 

So we stopped for ice creams:

Kakopetria break

On Thursday, it was our 27th wedding anniversary. Richard had been feeling a bit overwhelmed with work, and over-tired, and I had been feeling tired with the heat and humidity. So he decided it would be nice to go away for a couple of days, into the mountains. Many people in Cyprus go to the mountains for the summer; they aren't always cooler, but the humidity is considerably lower.

He booked us into the Mill Hotel in Kakopetria, a small village in the Troodos mountains, on the recommendation of some friends who had recently stayed there. It took about an hour and a quarter to get there, going towards Nicosia and then Troodos. Much nicer roads than going to Troodos out of Limassol!


It wasn't too hard to find, and turned out to be very pleasant, with enormous rooms and a stunning view over the valley from our balcony.


It wasn't actually any cooler than Larnaka - the temperature gauge in the village told us it was 36C - but it felt much nicer due to the dryness, and by evening it felt pleasantly cool. There was no air conditioning in the bedrooms, just a ceiling fan, and that was fine. We were a bit surprised to see that there were very few other visitors in the hotel - only six tables were set in the dining room for breakfast! - despite a huge staff, and excellent service.

We walked around the village - just a few shops and houses - and found the 'bad rock' after which the village of Kakopetria is named:


Not exactly a cheerful story: apparently Pagan customs mixed with Christianity in Cyprus, several hundred years ago. A newly-married couple were celebrating their marriage by dancing around a huge rock to Aphrodite, goddess of love, who (legend had it) was born in Cyprus. The rock fell and crushed them. The rock now takes a place of honour and has a village named after it...


We drove the 16km into Troodos on the morning of our anniversary, and were pleased to find that the road works of previous years had finally gone. Not that there's very much in the village: a small grocery store, a children's playground, and several tourist stalls selling souvenirs, sweets, and so on. Oh, and a couple of small restaurants. We had some cold drinks, and browsed the stalls but didn't buy anything. It was definitely cooler in Troodos, even though it's not much higher than Kakopetria.


It only gradually occurred to us that the general view didn't look very Cypriot. This is partly because it's so green - in the mountains there doesn't seem to be any lack of water - and partly because the houses don't have water tanks and solar panels on the rooftops:

All in all, it was a lovely break - although Larnaka felt all the more humid when we got back yesterday morning.