This time it really is the Saturday before Green Monday, and the supermarkets and greengrocers are busy. Traditional food for the day includes vegetables and seafood, and according to one survey Cypriot prices are up. General rise or taking advantage of the season? Though the comparison is with the same time last year:
"The price of cucumbers has doubled year-on-year, according to a price survey carried out by the consumer protection service ahead of Green Monday. Compared with prices at this time of year in 2016, cucumbers recorded the highest increase at 101.16 per cent – from €1.60 per kilo to €3.22...The price of tomatoes was also high in large supermarkets, recording an 85.7 per cent rise to €1.80 per kilo compared with €0.58 last year...and [bunches of] leafy vegetables between €0.21 and €0.50...Shrimp, squid, and cuttlefish were more expensive in larger supermarkets compared with last year. Halvah was cheaper with prices in small and larger supermarkets ranging between €1.45 per 400 grammes and €5.69 per 400 grammes."
Does lead me to think that some people are shopping in the wrong places, because we generally do quite a bit better than they suggest, though no doubt, as in Canada, the villages have higher prices than the cities. We do stock up on fruit and veg, though not seafood. Not true traditionalists. If we were Green Monday would be salads and seafood and Lent would mean no meat and no dairy.