You can’t imagine your life in Cyprus without outdoor activities. The island is perfectly equipped for it – with beaches and mountains, wonderful Cyprus weather practically all year round, and well equipped picnic areas
The State maintains the areas and people enjoy using them. Today is Friday, and a holiday. I’ve picked up my family and the children are chattering excitedly.
Cyprus’ Picnic Areas
Our destination is the village of Argaki. We are going from Paphos towards Polis, with the road climbing higher and higher into the mountains. It only took us an unhurried 40 minutes of driving to reach the coast.
Mid-day spring sunshine floods the area, the magnificent conifers are swaying in the breeze and the waves are breaking lazily on the shore.
As soon as we arrive in Argaki we see the picnic area on the left, between the road and the beach. We park the car and look around. Despite the beautiful weather and the fact that it’s a holiday, no one is here but us. Great! We have the place to ourselves. We can glimpse the sea through the trees and hear the waves – a magnificent sound!
Barbequing
We choose a table closest to the water fountain. I get the barbeque ready, my husband unpacks the food and the children have gone down to the sea. This is happiness! I take a bottle of Italian beer, Nastro Azzurro, from the cool bag – a perfect start to the holiday!
It’s Lent so we are abstaining from meat, but we have plenty of good quality seafood to prevent us from going hungry. First we cook the vegetables – new potatoes, aubergines and courgettes, then the fish – Sea Bass, which the children prefer.
The children are fed and we’ve had a snack and a glass of the local Persefoni, medium dry. The girls have run to the playground, also in the picnic area so we are able to keep an eye on them while they play. It’s now time for me to cook the octopus. In the morning I boiled it for an hour, steeped it in cold water, removed the skin and covered it with a marinade – lemon juice, salt, black pepper, a little honey and olive oil. The pieces of octopus go on the barbeque. Squid will be next.
These I simply skinned and dried with paper towels before putting on the fire. 2-3 minutes should be long enough to cook them perfectly.
A little sauce is added after cooking, and a bottle of pink Masi Syrah adds a bright note to our meal.
A Walk by the Sea
The children and my husband have gone down to the sea while I clean up quickly. I get two paper kites out of the truck, much to the delight of the girls.
The wind snatches the multi-coloured shapes and whisks them into the sky. The rope of one snapped and the kite blew away, but the other survived and we ran to our hearts content along the beach, and went home only when the sun started going down.
There are many such places, but it’s not only the sea that’s interesting to visit, there are also the mountains. I will certainly write about the other places – the fun is just beginning!
