From my Cyprus trip in October 2007, Oct, 14, 2007 recap finally done , 6 months later! ;)
Sunday Morning, the 5th day of our holiday we had been invited to go to a tavern in one of the mountain villages that Alison and her friends frequent, Taki’s tavern, for lunch. With no rush to get ready in the morning, we had a coffee or two and a bit of breakfast out in the garden.
With still some time to spare Alison decided it was time to give Benji a bath! :o) Well I don’t think it is one of his favourite things, but he did good and no chasing was involved. well not much! ;) It didn’t take too long and Benji was cleaned up and ready to get dirty all over again! :) It didn’t take long either in the warm dry air for him to dry and I’m sure then he felt better. With that done we began to get ready for our trip to Vouni village where Taki’s Tavern is located. Agneta and George had invited us to go and eat with them and it was a chance to finally meet her in person. I felt already I knew her from Alison speaking so much about her in the mails and chats we have had as they are very good friends and spend as much time together as they can, even if its just to meet for coffee. It was so nice to meet them. They came and picked us up around noon I think or maybe a little before as we had reservations for lunch already, which I hear is a good thing to do as it is a popular place to go on the weekends and its usually very busy. I think it was about a 20 or 30 minute trek to the village of Vouni. Right outside of Vouni is the famous Donkey Sanctuary.
While we didn’t stop, we were able to see many of them along the way. Most sort of roaming around in the fields and on the sides of the mountains. Of course there were plenty of other donkeys as well being used still a lot for farming and carrying loads and such, ,When we happened to stop for traffic I was able to get this picture of one right by the roadside, while it was sort of sad to see him chained up, but he appeared to be in good health. It is sort of a funny picture looking like he has his own personal refrigerator!
Well how else is a donkey going to stay cool unless he has some cold bottled water or maybe a beer nearby :) Seeing some of the ways of farming and the use of these animals was like going back in time. I can remember growing up in rural northeastern North Carolina and seeing more than few donkeys used for farming and pulling carts and even some used ass regular transportation for some of the poorer farmers who couldn’t afford a car! I think that’s one of the appeals of Cyprus as in some ways its still having a much simpler lifestyle in some ways.
We arrived in Vouni not too long after that and with the streets being narrow and impossible to find a parking place , we had to park just along the road outside the village and take a stroll up to the tavern. When I say up that is literal as the village is in the mountains and some of the streets are very inclined, thankfully we were moving downhill after eating and being so full! Of course being the good tourist I am, we had to have some pictures along the way. this is Agneta and I posing for the camera. With that belly of mine you would think I had just eaten! :)
And of course I couldnt be posing without one with my bonny Brit could I? ;) Its taken just about the same spot as the one above, we should have stayed with our heads in the shade though as we look to be squinting a lot in that bright Cyprus sun! I am not so good at reading Greek, but I think the sign is calling it Andrea Branch. I’m willing to stand corrected though if anyone would prefer to translate :)
Just a bit more of a stroll up the hill and we reach our destination, Taki’s Taverna! its a family run tavena inside of an actual home if my memory is correct. Well part of the inside has a couple of dining rooms and then this area in the picture is in a covered outside area. Very much preferable on a warm day like we had, it was a bit stuffy inside for our tastes. Taki’s serves a traditional greek or Cyprus style meze. A meze is simply put , a series of several typical Greek or Cyprus dishes served one after another to eventually make up a whole meal.
I forget now how many different things they brought out, just two or three types at a time with enough on each plate for us all to have a taste, I know there is probably some order the meal is served in , salad things first then assorted vegetables, breads, meat dishes, dips and on and on to dessert and coffee. I apologize for not knowing the names of anything, but I can tell you it was all great! :) I guess the best way to describe the meal as like having a series of appetizers one after another. Well of course a bottle or two of the local wines are always nice to have with any meal! At the end of the meal I decided to have some Cypriot style coffee as I had heard Alison speak of it before and I wanted to try it. Its a very very strong cup of coffee, well a very small cup its served in. I of course had some sugar in it being the silly Americano , but i always have sugar in my coffee and creamer, not real cream mind, powdered creamer! ;) anyway I quite enjoyed it and was careful not to tip the cup
and drink the sediment that is left in the bottom of this brew! :o) It really was a great meal and it was a genuine example of Cyprus cuisine, not the sort of thing you find at the tourist spots. This was the real deal and I was so happy to have had the chance to experience it. I thank George and Agneta so very much for the wonderful time we had there! A wonderful experience and the best part… sitting beside the Love of my life ! Afterwards it was back to Agneta’s for a coffee and another wine and to meet up with more friends of Alison, Allyson and Marios, and Thereza and Andros. Of course they were all seemingly so familiar already as I had seen their photos so many times since meeting Alison and hearing of all the get togethers, I felt very comfortable every minute as if I had been here before.
We stayed there until just after dark and chatted and socialized before returning home to get a chance to relax and get ready a bit for our next three days in Paphos, courtesy of Alison’s mom and dad! Thanks Maureen and Jack! :)
Tags: Alison, Chester, Cyprus, CyprusTrip, Holiday, Love, Photos
