Didn’t do an awful lot today. Got up at eight o’clock as usual, and wandered out onto our balcony where the weather was already very warm; today promised to be another scorcher. We had no excursions booked, and today was Sunday, so we thought we’d wander down to the harbour after breakfast and see if the tourist information place was open.
Breakfast was the usual unappetising array of greasy cooked items, unidentifiable cereals and plastic cheese. I got a couple of rashers of bacon, but not for myself… to give to any of the hotel’s cats we spotted skulking about. I just had a couple of eggs and some toast, and washed it down with orange squash and instant coffee.
After getting ready and ensuring we had a full water bottle, we set off for the 15-minute walk to the harbour. As it was Sunday, we hoped that the lovely church we passed every day would be open, but as we approached it we could see that there were hardly any cars in the carpark, so it was obviously closed. Did this church never open?
We decided to go another way to the harbour this time; over a long, curving iron footbridge we had spotted a few days ago; it would give us fantastic views over the city.
But first of all, we needed to find out where the bridge started. As we plodded through the sun-baked streets we caught a glimpse of the bridge and I waited at the bottom of a hill while Trevor went up to see if he could see where you could join the bridge; when he came down he said the start was just there.
Puffing and panting, I went up the hill and soon we found the start of the interesting bridge. It didn’t cross any rivers or roads; it just seemed to have been built simply as a walkway to allow pedestrians to have a panoramic view of Paphos towards the glittering blue Mediterranean in the distance.
The views were excellent. We had a fantastic vista of the Agion Anargyron church, and we passed an interesting-looking, ornate building that looked as if it should have been a theatre or at least a hotel, but now it seemed derelict. A sign in both Greek and English proclaimed that it was the Raftis Group Property Development offices, which was an irony indeed when this building was not exactly developed.
Eventually we arrived along the harbour main drag, and tried to find a tourist information or somewhere where we could book an excursion for tomorrow. Many of the places were closed on a Sunday, but we did find one place that was open, with a series of colourful boards outside advertising their half-day and full-day tours. We spotted one that sounded good; a trip to the Troodos Mountains and waterfalls, and we went inside.
A man at a desk was busy with a couple who were obviously booking a trip, so we waited our turn. Once they left, we asked the guy if we could book the Troodos Mountains trip, but they’d just sold the last two places, presumably to the couple who had just left! There were no other excursions available for Monday, and we already had a boat trip booked for Tuesday (our wedding anniversary). It was no good booking anything for Wednesday as we would be leaving for the airport in the evening, so that was that. We’d missed our chance at booking an excursion. We really should have planned beforehand, but as I’ve said previously, we’re used to booking holidays where the itinerary and excursions are all planned out for you.
By this time, we were hot and bothered and thirsty, so we decided to go to one of the bars along the sea front and have the customary freezing cold beer. 🙂 We found the place we’d visited the other day and sat and supped our beers while we people-watched and just enjoyed being on holiday in the sunshine.
Afterwards, I had an Aperol Spritz and we decided to take a slow walk back to the hotel, and maybe sit out on our small balcony with a cold drink. On the way, we passed a little souvenir shop that sold miniature bottles of spirit as well as gift sets of the Greek drink Ouzo, so we bought some to take back home as gifts, and we also bought a selection of rums, vodkas and whiskys along with a big two-litre bottle of Coke. We’d enjoy them in our room at some point. 🙂
After a power-nap, we sat out on the balcony and I read my Kindle while partaking of a Bacardi and Diet Coke. Then we wandered down to the pool bar and sat in the shade. A number of the hotel’s cats were around, and we stroked and played with them.
I then decided to take some photos of the hotel to remind us of our holiday when we arrived home. As I’ve said, it’s a 3-star hotel, no more no less, but it was perfectly adequate for our needs, and the staff were very pleasant.
Later on, we got washed and changed and dressed a little smarter and headed out for something to eat. We decided to go to Mikey’s our “favourite” pub, but when we got there and ordered a pint each, we discovered the kitchen wasn’t open on Sunday evenings, so they weren’t serving meals. 🙁
We then decided to go along the road to Georgia, that lovely restaurant we’d visited the other night. Trevor chose scampi and chips with a pint of local beer, while I decided to try the beef stifado, which is a local Greek/Cypriot stew in which the beef is slow-cooked in garlic, tomatoes and herbs for a number of hours. I washed it down with a half-carafe of the village wine.
I have never eaten beef so tender; it was delicious. The waitress was very polite and attentive and, as we sat there enjoying our meals, the restaurant slowly started to fill up again – this place is obviously popular.
After dinner we took a slow stroll back to Mikey’s, where we were greeted once again by the Irish barmaid Olive. We half-heartedly watched the sport on TV while drinking our cold beers and, in my case, Aperol Spritz. Once again, the pub filled up with lots of British ex-pat regulars; it’s a lively, friendly place.
Back in the Paphiessa, we relaxed in the bar while we had a night-cap. It was around midnight when we returned to 028 and settled down for the night. We had another relaxing day to look forward to tomorrow.