Thursday, 9 March 2017

Sunday, March 5/2017



Our alternate Sunday lunch search takes us to Kiti and the Landmark Restaurant. Larnaca itself pretty crowded on a sunny Sunday and traffic almost at a standstill. We pass a rather sad memorial, hand painted in black on a sheet, on Makarios near the bus station, obviously a tribute to the seventeen year old boy who was killed there a week ago when his motorcycle hit a bus that was making a right hand turn (equivalent to a left hand turn in North America or continental Europe). 

Very slow along the busy beach, which is full of tourists and kiosks, but then we cut up to the motorway. Kiti was a tiny village, and it still has an old village heart, but its outer area has sprawled urbanly and is full of the same supermarkets and services as the city. The Landmark is in the cobbled centre, opposite a bakery, as the woman told Jane it would be - although the bakery is so tiny that we overlook it at first. 

Not full, but filling up a bit as we eat. We order the meze and it's quite good. Particularly impressed by the scrambled egg with wild asparagus. Scrambled egg with a veggie - like spinach or mushroom - is not unusual in a meze, but wild asparagus is a rare treat. Also a treat is the little Greek pastries they bring us at the end of the meal with our coffee. 

Stop after the meal at Angeloktisti Church, the name meaning "built by the angels." Jane is doing a painting of it and wants a photo of the entry way for reference. We've been there before, but probably about fifteen years ago. There's a stunning mosaic inside - sixth century - I and the church itself is probably thirteenth and fourteenth century. A kind man who must be local tells us about it and about the 800 year old trees outside.