Day 8 Limassol
I write this in bed, feeling quite depleted after a big day in Limassol. I will write everything up before I forget it, but the photos will have to wait for another day.
The day began with a quick breakfast before setting off for Danae's. Of course Johnny checked out the route the night before but Google Maps had some sort of malfunction and led us astray. At one point we were led up the garden path into a private car park where surrounded by high end vehicles, we felt like unwelcome interlopers. Johnny and Britt persisted and we were eventually set on the right path, arriving at Danae's only fashionably late.
The flat was perched high on a hill with sweeping views of the sea in the distance. It was a killer view and the flat no less impressive, with a wide and welcoming balcony. This is the home of rescue cats Benny and Milo. Oh yes, Danae also lives there. It was their birthday (or the date on which they were adopted by Danae after she found them in a bag in a skip). No, truly, it was their party and there were candles for Aliki, and Andrea to blow out after we all sang happy birthday. Those little guys (the cats) were super cute and clearly loved being cuddled.
We had a lovely coffee on the deck with Danae, Lefky and the girls. Now that we have seen them a bit longer we can see two very different but equally nice personalities in the girls. They were on the way to a birthday party and except for a little honey in Andrea's hair, they left as spotless as they had arrived. This I think was a minor miracle.
Danae had booked for us a lunch seating at a fantastic seafront restaurant in Limassol. From our table at Fat fish, we had brilliant views of the sailing boats bobbing about and of the commercial ships on the horizon, making their way to the docks.
With Fat Fish a favourite restaurant of Danae's it only seemed sensible to leave the ordering to her. A great selection of seafood arrived, with in my opinion, the best arriving last with a huge platter of grilled sea bream. It was a huge and lovely lunch. To help us digest we opted for a walk along the Molos and dessert in one of the buzzing restaurants at the marina, which by now was chocca with weekend diners. Cake and coffee finished off a lovely lunch and we walked 9slowly) along the Molos, back to the car. Danae dropped us off at her place and we filled in the next hour by driving back to the beachfront and watching the world pass by.
It seemed like no time before we were on the way to Xenia's house for dinner. We took some nice Sigma cakes with us. Xenia's house had been totally renovated, as has the flat at the back, where granny Eleni used to live. It was in Xenia's house at the back that we found the family.
Over the next four hours, ALL the family called in to meet us and stay for a chat. As each family arrived, they were introduced and my mind went into overdrive as I tried to remember not only names but also relationships. Truly we felt honoured that they had taken the time out to meet us, with some arriving deep into the night after they had finished work. It was amazing how well all the children got on with one another. The cross conversations with some twenty to thirty people were amazing and loud!
When we arrived we were offered home cooked spanahopita and I thought "this is pretty good. After a big lunch, I can handle this", but this was just something to munch on as the waves of rellos arrived. About another hour and a half later, the real food arrived, with kleftiko, rice dishes, macaroni dish, salads and even zalatina. I couldn't believe my good luck as it had been years sine I'd had zalatina. Somehow we were able to find room for another big, delicious meal. And yes, there were about four desserts as well as the two that we had brought.
Xenia has so thoughtfully dredged up a lost of old photos that included us and especially dad, that I had not seen before. It was wonderful going through these with everyone. The conversations were so varied and funny. There was rello news, travel stories, legal advice .and so much more that I barely understood. If it was hard for me, how much harder was it for Johnny and Bitt I wondered. But when there is an open heart and good intentions, anything can be achieved and we all chatted on with varying degrees of understanding and lots of laughs. I had to apologize many times for not making the time to see Aunty Lito, but we could only squeeze in so much on a short stay. We had a great time and it was truly memorable. We had one last flurry to group photos and went on our way with big container of the zalatina I loved. Maybe I will have it for breakfast..after all, I'm on holiday and there are no rules on holiday.
Bugger, it's eleven o'clock and I'd better get to sleep.
