Toulouse Lautrec in Limassol

On Saturday we went to Limassol and Frederique (my partner in crime for our trip to New Zealand) took me to the Old Town to see a rare and wonderful exhibition of the works of Toulouse Lautrec and the Belle Epoque. The exhibition was housed in part of the old carob mill museum and opposite the medieval castle. After we walked through the old town as night was approaching - quite magical. Later that evening we all went for sushi. Not really my cup of tea but I had a lovely rare beef dish with asparagus and mild wasabi sauce. The rest ate raw fish. Yuck.

Frederique at the museum of the Carob Mill. Cyprus in the Middle Ages was the world's prime exporter of carob.

http://www.limassolmunicipal.com.cy/castle/eng/index.html

Opposite the museum and exhibition is the medieval castle.

Inside the carob mill.

Pictures from the Toulouse Lautrec exhibition on in Limassol.

http://www.cyprusevents.net/events/toulouse-lautrec-limassol-2010/

After visiting the exhibition which was wonderful, Frederique and I walked through the old Turkish town of Limassol as dusk was falling.

Green Monday

Traditional sweet that you can't even buy in the shops. A pasta like dough rolled into tiny rings and cooked in the must of grapes. They are called Terzteluthkia, named after the metal ring behind the door pull of the old houses.

Papousosika meaning little shoes but we know them as prickly pears.

Our friends olive trees where the geese and turkeys run.

Eating, laughing, tale-telling and talking. One old lady when asked what she wanted to drink replied 'The water of God'.

Outdoor cooking area with traditional stove which gets sealed with mud and the meat and vegetables cook long and slow in the heat. An above ground Hangi for those Kiwi readers.

The octopus looking for space on the bench. In the foreground the white vegetable with spring onions is kolokassi, taro to us or Jerusalem Artichoke.

Pithari, still used for storage as well as decoration.

Breads with sesame and linseed, all made with oil and no dairy.

Kalamari, aubergines, salads, taramosalata.

Kolokassi, fassolada - bean soup

As promised more pictures.

Heroes

Hero is such an overvalued (or is it undervalued) word these days. But on Monday we were invited to eat with this family on the first day of Lent, officially known as Green or Clean Monday. No meat, fish or dairy permitted however octopus, squid, shrimps etc are. The old lady Kyria Alexandra was a patient of Costas and she adores him to bits. The house, outside of Nicosia belonged to one of her daughters who is married to a physician and they are friends of ours. Now the old lady and her husband are true heroes. They come from a tiny poor village high in the Troodos mountains. No money, no education. They had 7 or 8 children. These two worked and worked and worked to give each of those children university educations both at home and abroad. The old man worked his whole life in the mines. Kyria Alexandra did every job available to her, often several at once and including road digging. Every child is a professional, loving and well balanced and adore their parents. These are true Cypriots. The day was filled with laughter and love. No pretension, no airs, just simple good traditional food, everyone mucking in. The highlight for me was when we began toasting with a remarkably good village wine out of a plastic container. Eleftheria (meaning Freedom - the daughter in the picture with her mother) started to toast in the old style and it was carried on by others and the old man. The toaster charges his/her glass and makes up a poetic, often humerous ditty on the spot. And so it moved around the table.

I will post the rest of the pictures in the next post.

Off to NZ

I'm off to NZ and Nelson in a week's time.
this is the webcam of the 'Cut' or harbour entrance to Nelson:
http://www.waterfrontnelson.co.nz/webcam/

On the 4th of March, Frederique, a friend here in Cyprus who is coming with me, and I will drive down to Kaikoura to do a dolphin watching trip:
http://www.dolphinencounter.co.nz/kaikoura/Dolphin_Tours/

And then on to Christchurch for two nights.
http://www.christchurch.org.nz/
I will visit friends there before my sister and her friends join us for our great biking adventure in Central Otago. We go to Dunedin for one night:
http://www.dunedinnz.com/

The next morning we will take the train to Middlemarch to pick up the bikes and off we go via HYDE, RANFURLY, LAUDER, CLYDE. Then we drive back to Dunedin (Frederique and Meagan are in the support 4WD along the way) to stay overnight.
Then we will drive, me and Frederique in the 4WD and Clancy and Mary on their motorbikes up the West Coast, through LAKE TEKAPO, ARTHUR'S PASS, PUNEKAIKI, HOKITIKA, CAPE FOULWIND, staying overnight for a couple of nights before heading back to Nelson.
http://www.newzealand.com/travel/destinations/regions/west-coast/west-coast.cfm
I am very excited. Watch this space!

I forgot to say...

The lovely study in blue below of Sophie and a flattering 'soft focus' of me is courtesy of my brilliant neice, Jessica MacCormick.

Sophie

Well we sort of have a date for Sophie and andy's wedding. They hope July 11, 2010. Not a lot of time then and it is going to be almost impossible for the New Zealand tribe to make it, I just hope the Greek side will be able to. Here am I stuck in Cyprus and unable to do much. Luckily I have a girl who does not desire the whole nine yards of tulle, bells, whistles and fuss. Why are they choosing to marry so soon? In her words 'To get it out of the way.'
They have found a lovely place called Norwood Park for the civil ceremony and want only 50-60 people.
http://www.norwoodpark.co.uk/index.htm

They are waiting for the confirmation that the Registrar will be available and then it will be a go situation.
It means we have to cancel our long weekend to Milan and opera at La Scala, which was my 60th birthday present to Costas, but hey, Milan and La Scala will always be there.