orchid hunting

After first autumn rains spiranthes spiralis is supposed to bloom during November-December. Walking in the garigue landscape at Akrotiri is always nice. Our first this season. We didn't have much rains yet though. So the expectation spotting my first ever spiranthes spiralis wasn't that high. But I found one dry tiny piece all alone and pretty.

Afterwards we went to a Syrian restaurant in Limassol. Tasty and fun, also for kids.

mid november

Warm lights from the paper stars in evenings.
Green tea with organic honey to mend first cold.
Pondering what this Christmas will be like?
Traditional Scandinavian with East Mediterranean components, or the reverse?
Our Santa will come on Christmas eve, that's sure.

Weather still summery.
Vitalizing promenades on beach pebbles.
Pebble throwing, who-can-land-it-on-that-rock competition.
Eating Swedish dream cookies.
Sun set accompanied by a wedding couple being photographed.

Still haven't recovered after Google Reader went out. Miss all blog awesomeness. Would need a replacement, good for lap top and smartphone. Any experience?

A seahorse, sand formations and a ship wreck.

memories from May

[Recipe here.]
Oh, speaking of lovely friends visiting from Sweden. Searched through photos from May. K and her adorable family spent a lovely week together with us. Seems I've been too busy posting anything about it earlier.

During this week L caught clams to make himself a vongole. Kids played. Many cozy evenings trying local wines. Trip to Kourion, to Limassol Zoo and Akrotiri Bay.

Me and K even managed to squeeze in a girls night out. Almost like the good ol' days.

Oh, and we grilled a whole Oxtopodi, and lots of Mashmallows.

homebound holiday

No need to travel when lovely friends from Sweden visits. Hanging out at our place. Once at "their" place too. A trip to Agros. Chill out at Limassol city beach. Trip Omodos. Sea food at Old Town Limassol. Nicely.

a visit to a winery

Most wineries on the island are located in the villages of Limassol known as Krasochoria, or "wine villages". In Omodos which is one of these villages are plenty of wineries. In the pittoresque village center we walked along cobblestone roads, sat at a café and enjoyed the busy athomsphere. The tourists definitely hadn't left this part of the island for the season. This day we didn't join them at the wineries outlets with wine tasting.

The whole family had been invited to visit the big Olympus winery, by awesome Mrs Olvia Haggipavlu. The winery is owned by ETKO which is the oldest wine-making business on the island, established 1844. Lately they've been more into making boutique wines after decades of producing bulk wines to Russia, and even Sweden.


My first impression when arriving at the winery was the beautiful scent of wine laying heavily over the area. The friendly wine maker from Greece guided us around and explained carefully the wine process. I was also impressed by the busy well functioning logistics. Trucks loaded with grapes frequently arriving, as it's harvest season. Emptied in just a blink of a moment into the crush. There where huge funky shining machines everywhere for all kinds of purposes that where definitely a joy to the eye. I also recall the laboratory with the lab coated lady, busy with colourful chemicals and liquids in pipes and bottles everywhere.

The visits final was a tasting of their wines in different phases directly from the tanks. We tried a lovely ecologial Merlot, a nice Cabernet Sauvignon, a crisp and dry Xynisteri, a beautiful Maratheftiko and a really young Rosé from 2013 that was still sweet and fizzing. We had a fab time and truly grateful to Olvia for the opportunity to spend an afternoon with her in the midst of her big business, nonetheless filled with love.

WineriesCyprus.com - the handy map with all Cyprus Wineries and more.