We returned home to Villa Rockheart late yesterday afternoon and spent some time settling back in and unpacking etc. There was a really loud thunderstorm overnight – flashing lightning and big crashes. It does this every year as summer ends and the autumn starts.
This morning we drove over to Lefke in the west of the island for their date festival. There are a lot of date palms growing in that area and they are harvested in the autumn, hence the festival. Lefke is a very ancient town dating back to Neolithic times. In ancient times in was known for the prolific copper deposits mined here but in more modern times, it is the fertility of the soil and the crops grown that characterises the town. The fields are thick with citrus trees, vines, potatoes, apples, olives, carobs…
The festival is a very local affair, not put on as some sort of tourist attraction. Most of the attendees are clearly locals, although foreigners are very much welcomed. The stalls wend through the market area of the old town. Most of them consist of a simple table with the stall holders’ wares set out. Many are full of dates of all sorts. Most are Cypriot dates, harvested and eaten fresh – so soft and juicy (yes, free samples!!!!) and much lighter to eat than the more traditional form which has been semi dried. We also tried Jordanian and Iranian dates. Bought a kilo mixed between Cypriot and Iranian. They will be very nice for Xmas if they can last that long. There were also stalls selling candy made from dates, baked goods of various sorts. There were cakes very similar to Italian canoli – stuffed with sweet creams, olive bread warm from the village ovens, pies, little pastry ravioli…. so much to choose from There were non food stalls – items made from olive wood, pottery, jewellery, baskets. Not tat, tourist stuff, really nice handmade crafts.
Down at the bele, (town hall) chairs and a stage had been set up and child groups were singing or performing folk dances in costume. It was very well attended. There was even a classic car show. And music playing everywhere. After we had done our shopping, we sat in a cafe under a big tree and watched the world go by, downhill through the stalls. We had a lovely morning and it was even better than we imagined. Bob said he would definitely go again another year.
We took back roads coming home stopping at various plant nurseries to try and buy a couple of tall trees to plant up on our upper bank. Couldn’t find any we liked. Came home and went into Ege Garden down the bottom of our hill and found 2 perfect ones. They will deliver them to us tomorrow. They were about £20 each. One is a Cypriot conifer, the other is a red acacia tree. I also have a ficus tomentessa growing in a pot and I’m going to plant that out on the bank.
Came home and scoffed the olive bread, warm with butter…. it was delicious but you had to watch the very many olives as they still had the stones in. Sorry… no picture… we gobbled it up too fast!!!!
A really nice day.