Cyprus - Stroumpi walk.

 

Saturday's walk started in the Stroumpi village square, bordered by some rather ugly cement buildings and this beautiful church.

 

Last time I was in Cyprus I took some pottery classes from Julie, who is one of this Saturday group of walkers. She handed me a bag when we arrived and it was the tiles that I had been unable to pick up from her because lock down happened while she had them for firing. I couldn't believe that she has kept them for me, for 3 years! So kind.

Out of the village and into the countryside.

Past a kennel of hunting dogs who let us know, loudly, that they didn't appreciate us walking down their road.

A few of us made the short detour to visit "The Stroumpi Lion", a gypsum formation that looks (very vaguely) like a lion or sphinx. I was told that for initiation I had to pee on the lion. Everyone was aware that I had been looking for a place for "a comfort break". I manged to find some privacy close to the lion, that will have to do.

Wild onion?

A big sign describing a neolithic settlement and a ruined chapel but

this little metal shrine was all that we could see.

Lovely views over

a fertile valley.

The almond blossoms are white with just a touch of pink. We decided these were probably cherry. A little further on was an orchard with some of last years apples wizen on the branches.

As we walked back into the village

Craig pointed out these 2 water taps. He said that when the British controlled the island they ensured that every village had drinking water. He said the British "weren't all bad" (he's Scottish) but suggested I see the concentration camp on the way to the restaurant.

In front of the police station. Two of the memorials are for young men and dated 1974, so I assume they died during the troubles with Turkey.

Jimmy stopped on the way to the restaurant so I could jump out and take some pictures of the Polemi Detention Centre, right next to a big winery.

 

The Polemi Detention Center was one of eight British camps in Cyprus during the Cypriot War of Independence. From 1955 to 1959, the Ethniki Organosis Kyprion Agoniston (National Organisation of Cypriot Fighters), or EOKA, led an armed campaign against British colonial rule. Polemi opened near the end of the conflict and only operated for 102 days. But during that brief period, some 400 resistance fighters who were detained there experienced violence, cruelty, and torture. The camp was notorious for its horrific and inhumane conditions. In November 2017, 35 former EOKA fighters sought damages from the British government for the human rights abuses they experienced during the war. from AtlasObscura.com

We had lunch at the Olive Tree in Polemi which had an open kitchen so you could see the food cooking over charcoal grills.

Only 8 of us on this walk, a lot of people are away traveling. That's my Moussaka in the foreground.

When I got home I unwrapped my 4 tiles

and I love how the glaze has turned out.

I don't know what I am going to do with them when I get them home, or even which configuration I like best.

Cyprus - Quiet days

 I felt as if the last week or so that Rick had been here, we had been on the go, so I have been having some very quiet, uneventful days. I did walk up and around the village to find some scenes to paint.

I am now awoken every morning by the twittering of a flock of birds that are building nests in this palm tree in the house across the road. I suspect that they are sparrows.

There are a lot more birds around and Rick and I saw flocks of Swifts just before he left. The Swallows are now here in full force.

I don't often have potato chips, but I saw them and had to try them. Yes, they were delicious.

Perhaps this explains the large number of bees in the garden. I think it is currently unoccupied but they may be searching for their next home

A potential painting

Another

Another

Another

and another.

Meanwhile, I have been working on this.

From a watercolour sketch

to - I think I'd better stop futsing with it.

I have often been using the top brush when painting lately, it is great for fine work but tends to get me too focused on the minutiae. So I painted this one entirely with the bottom brush and loved that I could use it for the broad strokes (washes etc) and still the point would manage thin lines.

Now for the Guest Photographers:-

Out on a walk, Rick saw this, which he described as a giant grasshopper. Looked it up, it is a Locust. They are usually solitary but under certain conditions can multiply and swarm.

Photo from Eve. She says Palm Springs, California has been rainy and snowy.

Cyprus - Aphrodite's Bath and Troodos

 As there had been snow on the mountains, Rick had not yet been to the Troodos so on his last day that was where we headed. The last few days had been very warm and quite hazy and the mountain view from Pissouri (the south side of the mountain range) showed no snow.

This was the plan: the highway to Paphos, then the B7 to Polis, west to take a walk on the Akamas Peninsula, then east along the north coast and back home through the mountains.

The drive to Aphrodite's Bath took a little over an hour and we parked the car in the shade and walked

to the rather unimposing pool.

Really?

A little further on and a more factual sign.

We decided to start with the climb rather than the coastal part.

"375 feet, that's not that bad" direct quote

from Rick.

We climbed, pretty well straight up,

for 1 kilometre. I know that because there was a trail marker.

Then there was a lovely flat path

and then we were faced with more up. According to Rick we had already climbed about 375 feet. Wait a minute, they use metric here. That must have said 375 metres. We knew we COULD climb it but we didn't WANT to, so we turned around.

Back at the bottom and we took the coastal section which is also used by the dune buggys that drive on the peninsula.

The occasional 4 wheel drive car and motorcycle also bumped their way along.

Up on the hillside, where the trail would have taken us.

Avery is currently fascinated by Geology and here were some Quartz crystals "in the wild".

A jeep safari getting ready to set off.

We ate our picnic: pizza, cheese, apple slices, jaffa cakes back near the car and then drove along the coast before starting the climb into the mountains. Lower down on the slopes the almond trees were in full bloom, some massed in orchards and others scattered across the slopes in lacy white and pink.

The mountain roads are very steep and have frequent hairpin bends. There was still snow in the ditches that didn't get sun. Lots of minor rock slides leaving stones scattered across the road. I have no pictures! My concentration was on driving and Rick's on Google Maps getting us through. The drive to the north coast had taken a little over an hour. Our drive back took close to 4.

For his last night, Rick took us to the Hillview restaurant. Taxi there and back (such a luxury) Getting there at 6:15 there was just enough light to see the spectacular view from the top of Pissouri Hill down to the Bay and the sea. As it got darker the village lights still made for a pretty view and a fire was lit in the hearth.

 

"Complimentary Duck Bon Bons" were gone before I remembered my camera. They were delicious little meat balls with a tangy sweet sauce.

I had the duck and Rick, the grilled fish, and it was all very, very good.

We shared a bottle of red wine and a Pavlova for dessert. A lovely ending to a fun month together.

Pissouri - Green Day walk

 Green Monday (Also sometimes called Clean Monday) is celebrated as a holiday in Cyprus. 

Eating meat, eggs and dairy products is traditionally forbidden to Orthodox Christians throughout Lent, which begins with Clean Monday. Fish is eaten only on major feast days, but shellfish is permitted in European denominations. This has created the tradition of eating elaborate dishes based on seafood (shellfish, molluscs, fish roe etc.).

Clean Monday is a public holiday in Greece and Cyprus, where it is celebrated with outdoor excursions, the consumption of shellfish and other fasting food,^[b] a special kind of azyme bread, baked only on that day, named "lagana" (Greek: λαγάνα) and the widespread custom of flying kites,^[2] as it symbolises "trying to reach the Divine". From Wikipedia.

I have also been told that in Cyprus it's a day for spring cleaning - washing curtains, linens, walls and floors. When I was here in 2020 there was a huge village celebration with seafood BBQs, music and dancing. This year, it was announced, there would be no official village celebration although some people had indicated on Facebook that they were hoping people would still gather in the same area.

In 2020, under lockdown, I found a walk that I could do right out of the house and Rick and I went to see if it was still passable.

Going past a house I wanted a picture of this strange looking fruit on a squat palm tree. A woman came out, following a yappy little dog, to see what the fuss was about. She said she had 2 of these trees but that they got different fruit so she assumed there was a male and a female.

The Anemones are flowering in abundance and as the majority are white, the coloured ones

really stand out.

We heard family gatherings at some of the homes that we passed and one had lots of attendees, men looking after 4 smoky charcoal BBQs, Greek music playing and a couple of children flying a kite.

As my Valentines rose was looking a little sad we picked some wildflowers for the table.

Luckily Pizza Venetto in Pissouri Bay was not closed for Green Day and we headed down there for Rick's last Cypriot Pizza.