Roll on 2012

2011 has vanished before my eyes and so much has happened this year that I dont even know what to reminisce about first! Its crazy that this time last year we had just arrived in Cyprus. We have barely had time to breathe with the amount of things that have occurred in 2011and I have to say we are thankful we took the plunge and jumped ship from England when we did. But that doesn't mean we dont miss each and everyone of you every single day. 

So from (a freezing cold and rainy Cyprus) we wish all our family and friends - who have shown us a huge amount of support - a very Happy New Year and a wonderful start to 2012. 

Of course it will be a wonderful start to 2012....because we're COMING HOME in exactly 4 weeks!

our 2nd christmas

Well its safe to see our 2nd christmas was a little more extravagant than the first! There wasn't a hand drawn paper christmas tree in sight, instead, this year we opted for something a little more green and less 1 dimensional.

As for the decorations, well that was my job. To be honest I think Harry would have been perfectly happy with another hand drawn creation, but for my sanity and christmas spirit, a real life tree was required, decorated with lights, glittery red baubles, tinsel and white ceramic snowflakes.

With presents wrapped, including treats for millie and back up presents for Harry seen as the real ones I ordered didn't arrive on time, and under the tree and a cupboard full of food, all that was missing....some English christmas telly. But we can't have everything.

Now its over for another, time to start saving for our flights. Not long to wait til christmas 2012 in England!

its christmas time....

While we are far away, we wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. We hope you enjoy the festivities, eat enough to last you till next christmas and get some wonderful gifts from Santa. 

1312

For the 7 years I have known Harry, his dream has always been to open a graffiti shop. Well, that is something to tick off the list. Last week 1312 opened in the centre of Nicosia. The first graffiti store in the ever expanding capital city of Cyprus, 1312 is Harry's joint project with a very good friend here in Cyprus.

Set on the edge of the old town in Nicosia, 1312 is a small but perfectly formed shop, stocking all the graffiti essentials. With a huge selection of colours and a products including spray paint, markers, inks, accessories and clothing, 1312 is leading the way in the graffiti scene. 

But 1312 is not just a shop, its a living breathing snapshot of graffiti - the walls are covered in graffiti and filled with framed prints, photographs and canvas's. 

1312 is now open in Nicosia. 

its nearly upon us

Its been a bit frantic during the run up to christmas and work has pretty much taken over since colleagues hopped off on holidays and the rest of us hold the fort. But at 2.30pm yesterday, the computer got turned off  and the christmas eve eve shopping commenced.

While it has been raining and freezing cold today, the suns has come out so I dont think Cyprus will be getting a white christmas. I dont know if its the weather, the atmosphere or my age but christmas just isnt the same. SO i have started saving already for christmas 2012 to be in London. A traditional christmas, with lights and decorations everywhere, the atmosphere of christmas in London and the family sat round eating roast turkey and all the trimmings.

But for now, im making our little flat as christmassy as possible, with decorations, cosy lighting, christmas present wrapping, christmas music and christmas smells thanks to some IKEA christmas candles.....

And since the lazy postmen of Cyprus neglected to deliver Harry's presents that have been on the island since monday...im off to battle town on christmas eve. Wish me luck!

here comes the bride

So one of my best friends in Cyprus is getting married. Miss Dominika Gajdziel is going to make a wonderful wife and a beautiful bride. And in order to be a beautiful bride you must have a beautiful dress.  That being said, today was dress shopping day. Armed with starbucks and a variety of coloured post it notes for our voting system, we caused chaos at Pronovias in the centre of Nicosia.

Ive never been wedding dress shopping so didn't really know what to expect. We arrived for our appointment and had a consultation with one of the assistants. You can choose up to 6 dresses from the catalogues, but Domi already knew exactly what she wanted. We were then escorted upstairs to our private dressing area. It was one room, with a separate changing area and leather sofas for the judging panel (us) and lots of full length mirrors strategically placed around your very own catwalk!

With 6 dresses to choose from it should have been hard. But dress number 1 was the bride to be's favourite from the website and our reaction, stunned silence (and for us silence is a rarity) it was safe to say we found a winner! Dress number 2 was also beautiful, but 3, 4 and 5 paled in comparison to the beauty of number 1.

Obviously, photographs are a no no. We don't want to spoil the surprise or let any secrets out the bag just yet. But the expert judging panel were more than happy to pose for a snapshot of this happy day!

Thank you to Misia for the colour coded post it notes. The Gajdziel's are an organised bunch!

oh hello CHRISTMAS

WE HAVE A TREE. And compared to last years rather flat offering (without many euros to our name, Kakoullis took it upon himself to draw us a christmas tree on paper which we promptly attached to the wall, put presents under and got rather attached to) we have a little plump green 3 dimensional tree. Im so happy about it I resemble a child and yesterday while Kakoullis watched me decorate and then sit triumphant with my efforts, i'm pretty sure he thought I was silly. For him, I dont think the christmas tree, complete with lights and colour coordinated decorations implemented somewhat symetrically and [almost] perfectly placed, are as important as they are for me.

Now, keeping with my meticulous and organised nature, yes I assigned my tree a colour theme [red, white and gold], centering round some gorgeous ceramic snowflake decorations my amazing friend, Miss Sophie Press sent me last year (but they didnt really work well on a 1 dimensional paper drawn tree) from The White Company.

I know it's a little bit loopy, but as our first christmas tree togehter in our first home together, I kinda wanted it to be perfect and exactly how I imagined it in my head. Well, our tree is rather small, somewhat stumpy, but its nonetheless amazing. And there is plenty of time for huge overpowering christmas trees towering above us.

Tree, glittery red baubles, tinsel, lights, snowflakes and a big gold star [which is sort of out of proportion with the rest of the tree but ssssh, we dont talk about that], means one thing....ITS CHRISTMAS!

the ceramic snowflakes [that have that orange/cinnamon christmas smell too]

nothing says christmas like a glittery red bauble!

So all thats left is a trip to marks and spencer for christmas food i.e. a large box of mince pies, ferror rocher, quality streets and terrys chocolate orange [it always comes back to the food] and some presents under the tree and we will be all festive over here on this side of Europe.

A Lesson in SPANISH

The one thing I like about Nicosia is the old town with its aging architecture, teeny tiny windy streets and the little cultural spots dotted around in unexpected places. The other thing I love about the old town is out of the ordinary cafes, bars and restaurants you find there.

Well actually, I would never find them, because old town Nicosia is somewhat a maze of one way streets. But luckily for me, I have a friend who is as good, if not better than the Cyprus Time Out magazine. She knows all theses cool coffee shops, beautiful bars and amazing restaurants, which is perfect as anything to do with food is a winner for me!

So on Friday night we ventured into the maze of old town Nicosia in search of Casa Vieja. She may be the Time Out guide but she is not Google Maps and after tackling the one way streets and making two rounds in the car we found parking (a triumph in itself on a Friday night in Nicosia) and tucked down a side street was Casa Vieja. Set in an old Cypriot style house, Casa Vieja is a warm and cosy little Spanish themed hideaway. The decor has been done perfectly, with warm walls, beautiful paintings and tiled tables (which I would have taken home with me if I had a Mary Poppins handbag).

And the Menu seems like it has been handpicked to get your mouth watering from the first line. A perfect amount of dishes offering meat, fish and vegetable Tapas options and of course Paella, which is important. If you open a menu and are bombarded by a million and one things its almost an effort to pick something to eat when the choices are endless. But Casa Vieja has it down to T.

We took a Paella (which be warned takes 40 minutes to make so beware if you are super hungry) and several other tapas dishes which in hindsight were a bit unnecessary. The other thing I like in a restaurant is a generous portion. And Casa Vijea certainly delivers that....with eyes bigger than our stomachs we had to leave half of our paella untouched. But the final defining point of this place which gave it a big thumbs up from me....they box up any leftovers to take home!!

And with a few glasses of an amazing Spanish wine, this place is definitely to be visited. I would reccommend a reservation as its not huge (being a converted house) and it is popular with every table full when we went.

Unfortunately, I was too busy eating, drinking and absorbing the atmosphere to take photographs, except of my boxed leftovers.

But I would definitely hunt it down and visit, not just for the paella or the sangria, but for the Spanish experience in the heart of Cyprus.