Sunday 13 August 2017

Droushia Day Out part 2

The second half of our day out started with an impromptu tour of the motorway intersections in and around Erimi.  The Bobster had Googled tintyweb to find a promising looking eatery in Erimi which is close by to Korion.  We were heading for To Ouzeraki and John's tapeworm was working overtime...

...I can't tell you much about Erimi except that it houses the British Cemetery because part of the village lies in the British Overseas Territory of Akrotiri.  Apparently it also houses the Cyprus Wine Museum - which I think we passed twice or maybe three times as we looked for said eatery.  Erimi appears to be dominated by the motorway from Paphos to Limassol and all roads lead to an intersection whether you like it or not.  The approach roads to the intersection were uninspiring and slightly unwelcoming.  There may be some nice parts to Erimi but at this point we were struggling to find any.


Eventually though we ended up on a street which was narrow and 'cobbled' in a modern way and it was there that we found our mecca.  On this unassuming little backstreet there it was To Ouzeraki looking traditional and EMPTY.  "No no no cried" the tapeworm this cannot be happening - John took his tapeworm into the kitchen where he found a sign which said 'Back at 5.00pm'  this was not good news - as we were just about to give up the ghost a youngish guy appeared toweling down his head looking like he had just emerged from the shower.  We guess that Lunch service had actually finished and said proprietor Stefanos was having an afternoon siesta before the evening session started.


We asked if it would be possible to eat and he said No Problem (standard Cypriot reply) and then went off into the kitchen and telephoned the chef!!!  Stefanos handed us some menus which at first glance didn't look too inspiring and we kind of thought that lunch would be a bit of a non-event but we were hungry and time was getting late and we are unfamiliar with this part of the island so didn't know what else to do.


I think we all erred on the side of caution when we ordered expecting to hear a volley of pings from a microwave but we were overwhelmed by the quality and freshness of the food which appeared.  It had clearly been cooked to order and there was not one single ping to be heard.  We couldn't get over the fact that the chef had come back to work simple to feed the four of us.  Stefanos was a lovely guy - his family roots are in Pyrgos so he was familiar with Droushia.  He said that if we ever need any help in Pyrgos he knew everyone and we were to call him.



So I had a village salad and chips, Rob had a kebab and some of my chips, Di had a chicken salad with a chicken breast that must have come from Big Bird on Channel 4 and John had pastourma and sheftalia with salad and pitta and declared it to be  - this was washed down with beers and lemonade and was delicious and cheap!  So if anyone is in or around Erimi and wants to try it you can find details of it by clicking on the link: To Ouzeraki - and well done Bobby it was a great choice.  BOMBA!!


Although the streets around the taverna are narrow we didn't need to worry because there is plenty of official parking nearby.  We chose the carpark next to the community office and were a bit confused at first by the NO PARKING painted right across the entrance but realised that this only meant no parking at this particular pinch point because beyond there were bays marked out.  The Council clearly did not have enough paint to mark out NO PARKING UNLESS YOU ARE A VILLAGE ELDER WITH A BIG FAT MERCEDES IN NEED OF A COFFEE AND A GAME OF TAVLI because when we returned to the car we had a bit of a squeeze to get out of the carpark.  We then completed three circuits of the suburbs of Erimi before passing the wine museum for the forth time and getting on the right road for Kourion beach and some pretty jawdropping ice creams for pudding...


Korion beach is vast - seen here from Kourion where it stretches for as far as the eye can see but it would appear that people tend to congregate in pockets near to eating establishments and the ice cream wagon which apparently has been there for years.  It is a nice beach and apparently shallow quite a way out but the conditions are always that there are strong waves here.  In fact this is an area where people use the wind for all sorts of sports like parasailing and kite surfing.

It was packed with people and red umbrellas!  and you can see the choppy seas and the waves.

We didn't fancy getting wet and salty - and the sea here seems to be saltier than anywhere else so sat on the beach and devoured our massive, and I do mean massive, 99s.  John and I opted for the naked sort, Di and Rob went for the chocolate coated so it is more like a choc ice as the chocolate is hard and not a sauce - had I known this I might have been tempted - I like chocolate but not chocolate sauce or cake or pudding or mousse or anything where chocolate has been messed about with.

The sugar rush obviously affected Rob who suddenly found a bit of seaweed and decided to recreate the look of Borat - thank goodness he stopped short of the lime green mankini - after all we had just consumed vast quantities of ice cream and didn't want to see that making a reappearance!

Although it was getting towards the end of the afternoon it was still hot on the beach and we wanted to go and visit the church nearby - the church with quite possibly the lowest door we  have come across!!.

This is the church of Saint Ermogenis.  In the 4th century AD Emogenis, a holy man, was beheaded in Samos because he would not change his faith as he had been commanded to do by the overlord of Samos.

A few Christians that were loyal to him, took the body of the Saint, placed it in a casket and threw it in the sea in order to protect it.  It was washed up on the beach of Episkopi on the south coast of Cyprus.  It was washed up to the beach of Episkopi, where the settlers of the village found it.  They built a small Church and put the tomb of the Saint in it.

From here we made our way slowly back home passing through the Old Town of Paphos so that Rob could see how the area around Kennedy Square is looking.

All in all a really fabulous day - thank you Veaseys xxx

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.