We had a lovely time in Cyprus, as always great to spend time with the Grandparents & to enjoy a little relaxation time as there are two extra pairs of hands.
We’ve been going to Cyprus for 7 years now as our parents are part-time expats (happy to use the term expats as they don’t speak Cypriot, don’t really mix/integrate with locals and there are lots of British-focused shops e.g. GB’s for everything GB!).
It is easy to explore real cyprus though once you get away from the coast and where our parents live it’s still in the middle of carob tree fields where the local farmer takes his goats out and it was lovely for our children to see the kids & adults eating our Hibiscus with their goat bells ringing.
We also enjoyed a couple of meals out, I always try to choose Cypriot food which is often excellent and hearty. At Theo’s in Paphos Port I enjoyed Beef Stifado (Beef in red wine, onions and with a distinctive cinnamon taste). My 2 year olds memory of this meal will always be the Big Green Frog which gave her a balloon (advertising the waterpark) the significance of this event being later that evening that it was the first time she’d recalled a story to us very clearly whilst sat at the dinner table. One of many to look forward to in the future I’m sure.
Next was Moussaka at Petradaki in a small village called Kathikas up towards the Troodos north of Peyia. We’ve been going here regularly since 2005 and have seen the family grow (they have 3 boys), this time it was for the lady co-owner to comment on our extending family & she was very pleased to have a big cuddle with our 6m old. A lovely family run business where we feel extremely comfortable with the children and always worth a visit.
As is tradition, we enjoyed real Cypriot Halloumi cheese with Ham (known as Halloumi Lountza), fresh Halloumi is so much tastier than the UK packet version, although I would love to be able to find even this in a French supermarket, it’s so versatile & great on BBQ’s especially for vegetarians.
Finally a word on Cypriot wine, we’ve enjoyed a selection of good Cypriot wines over the years but this year’s favourite was the Cabernet Sauvignon from Tsangarides Winery http://www.tsangarideswinery.com/
We haven’t had the pleasure of visiting the winery yet (it’s a bit of a drive & the kids don’t support car travel too well at the moment - rear facing seat to blame!) Our parents highly recommend the owner who clearly enjoys his wine. Cyprus has some interesting grape varieties and one of my favourites is Maratheftiko.
So if you plan on visiting Cyprus, check out local food & wines (expect to pay around 10euro for a decent red) and did you know Ryanair now fly to Larnaca from Girona so it’s easier to fly to Cy than ever before!