We’ve continued to balance between getting some admin arrangements in place for the villa and enjoying the lovely weather which still continues. Bob has repaired the watering system so that is running again. I’ve been running the hose into the roots of the olive tree and that is looking better, some green-ness returning to the leaves. Hopefully it will continue to recover over the winter and spring now. No big jobs to do at the villla this time, so we’ve had quite a restful time.

We have a big black tie ball to go to tonight in the Kaya Palazzo hotel in aid of the RBL – The Poppy Ball. We went last year and it was a great night with a super band. Looking forward to that and will report tomorrow. In preparation, yesterday I went down to the nail bar and got my nails manicured. They are naturally quite long and she did a good and thorough job on them. It took 2 hours and the price was £17. I chose a very deep purple with a sparkle.

Daisy had a hankering for a big traditional Cypriot meze for dinner last night. Many restaurants here do a small meze starter course or even a couple of courses but there are also some traditional restaurants beloved of the Cypriot locals who do the whiole nine yards, an endless parade of dishes….. We haven’t gone to one in a few years because it’s just SOOOO much food, so I had a look online to see some reviews. The Meyhane in Zehtinlik was getting a lot of good reviews and we’d not been there so we decided to give that one a try. There are 2 others in Zehtinlik that we have tried, The Archway and Villagio Templos. It’s about 15 minutes drive from the house.

It is quite a big old style place with a large outdoor area and a big indoor dining room. Plenty of parking. We got there at 730 and there were already people in, and within 30-45 minutes the place was packed inside and out. Thank heavens we made a reservation. It was overwhelmingly a Cypriot/Turkish clientele which was nice to see. So many places here are just full of expats, which is ok, but nice to see some local atmosphere. A little band was playing traditional music and they wandered around the tables seranading – a bit like a Mexican Mariachi band. There were quite a few large family parties in there enjoying the atmosphere.

The Meyhane offers an a la carte menu and then about 4 different variations on the meze principal. We decided to go for Menu 1 on a first visit which was the traaditional meze. It cost £15. For that you get about 20 small plates of cold mezes to start plus bread. So, tahini, humus, tzatiki, beetroot, shredded cabbage in lemon, green olives, warm black olives, aubergine stewed with yoghurt, spicy bulgar salad, a bowl of vegetable cruditees, a dressed salad, white feta cheese…. I forget……. then as you start to slow down with that, they begin the parade of hot meze dishes. A piece of pide – flatbread stuffed with savoury meat, grilled haloumi, a meatball, chicken wings so tender, a bowl of margarita bulli – fat noodles with melted mozzarella mized in, chicken and bulgar wheat risotto, a lamb chop, a skewer of chicken shish, a skewer of lamb kebab, a sheftali sausage…… again, I lost track….. the hot dishes come out one at a time a bit like a Brazilian meat restaurant. We were all beginning to struggle long before the end….. It was all fabulous but sooooo much. Finally we had a platter of fruit. We washed it all down with water and 2 bottles of red. Crawled home and lay on our beds like beached whales. Daisy did well. I don’t know where she puts it. So, in verdict, loved The Meyhane and would definitely definitely go back. The food and atmosphere were tremendous. Next time though we would probably go for a much smaller meal. But what an experience!!!! And such amazing value. The wine was £13 per bottle. http://www.themeyhanerestaurant.com/

Am now wondering if my evening wear is going to fit me….