The Pool is open....

The water temperature guage hit the magic 20 degrees this week just in time for the Corsair girls arrival so the inflatables were inflated and lots of hysterics and screaming ensued just as girls do whilst falling off rubber rings and lilos.  Abbie has been deposited in Protaras with lots of other summer entertainers, she lives next door to Elvis and in the apartment above Lady Gaga!  Jess is here busy trying to get a tan although I don't think her legs have ever been out of a pair of jodphurs hence they do have a slight blue tinge which is turning a little pink at the mo.  Watch this space for  reports on Jess' incredible colour changing legs.

There are many tales to report from SBA Customs but you may have to wait a while, Andy is very low on UK staff, still has a variety of migrants to deal with in addition to wonderful Cypriot staff who are proficient at causing headaches - I m sure they don't mean to, its just a talent they have.  There is also the small matter of being seriously outnumbered by female family members to keep him occupied too.

Last weekend Andy and I decided we needed to embrace the peace and quiet before the arrival of the girls and pootled off to the Troodos mountains.  The weather was quite hot so a drive to Mount Olympus at a height of 1942 metres meant we could enjoy some cooler temperatures.  During Winter skiing is possible on Mount Olympus so in theory you could ski in the morning then drop down to Paphos and sunbath on the beach in the afternoon.  We trogged through the forests and looked at waterfalls and did lots of ooing and aarghing, the rivers and streams here reminded us of Brittany.  Once on the mountains the views were spectacular, we learnt all about the geology of the area,the copper and asbestos mines.  After the closure of the asbestos mines in 1988 the whole area fell into decline, thousands of local Cypriots worked the mines and moved to the coast for work, the area needed to redevelop and they are rising to the challenge.  There there are maps, accurate signs (very unusual for Cyprus), information centres, walks, campsites and ofcourse the skiing and yet it has still retained its rural charm this is a beautiful part of the island and I can see us pootling up the mountains regularly.

Isn't the bark on this Oriental Plane fantastic?

The black pine trees smelt heavenly!

We ended the day at Platres with eating souvla, potatoes, bread with dips and salad.  We love Cypriot food, it is very simple, usually cooked over charcoals and just delicious.  Andy generally finishes off my meat and I eat his salad - a match made in heaven!

Whilst typing this our lovely little kittens brought us a present..........................we no longer get mice, oh no, these kittens are much more exotic than that, they bring us praying mantis!  It certainly gave Jess a shock, and don't think she was too impressed to find out that Dusty likes to bring lizards into the house!.

Toodlepip til next time xx