Alkis and I got married on October 8, 1983 at the Greek Orthodox Church of Chambesy on the outskirts of Geneva, Switzerland - the country where we first met and fell in love. Considering we both work till late in the evening on Tuesday, October 8, we decided to celebrate this milestone in a very special way at Coral Bay, Paphos - a favourite weekend destination. Since we settled down in Cyprus one year after our wedding, we've spent so many happy weekends at Coral Bay - the last one being at Thalassa Boutique Hotel four months ago. This time, we stayed at Coral Bay Beach Hotel and had a really magical thirtieth anniversary.
We set off for Paphos at 11:30 am yesterday and by 1:00 pm we were entering the birthplace of Aphrodite - the Greek goddess of Beauty and Love. That was when Alkis toyed with the idea of driving via Polis to .... Coral Bay instead of taking the safe route via Paphos. I said it was a bad idea but it was too late! We got lost , of course, and drove through many small villages like Emba, Tala, Kissonerga, Chlorakas ...oh yes, and finally we saw the desired signpost : Coral Bay!
- See? I was right! he said with a sense of achievement.
I smiled at him and said I thought he was taking a shortcut! Anyway, it took us a few extra kilometres before we finally got to the desired destination...thanks to me! The villages Kissonerga and Chlorakas rang a bell and I wisely asked Alkis to take that direction which eventually led us to Coral Bay! We stopped at Phidias Tavern for lunch before checking in at Coral Bay Beach Hotel, a few metres away. While I was unpacking, Alkis was watching on the Internet a ..... very important football match: AEK Athens vs AO Peristeriou. When I married Alkis, I knew very well that I was also marrying into AEK. I'm so sorry his favourite football team is in League 2 but he won't give up his team. And that's one of the many things I like about Alkis. He is loyal even in hard times.
In the evening, we had a very romantic japanese dinner outdoors, at Asia Restaurant - Coral Bay Beach Hotel. This is by far the best japanese restaurant I've ever been too. On the minus side, it was really chilly and we honestly felt that crisp autumnal air. On the plus side, we were excited to see that the staff were only too willing to provide us with off- white, warm wraps. The wrap may have spoilt the style of my outfit , but I felt so warm and comfy that I didn't really mind. And neither did Alkis.
I had prawn sushi for starters. Alkis is allergic to fish but the chef came up with a great suggestion - seaweed salad and vegetable sushi. I had a delicious steak salmon for main course and Alkis loved his teppanyaki chicken. We shared the dessert : banana tempura with ice cream.
On our way back home this morning, we stopped at a remote beach nearby and enjoyed a morning walk before driving back to Larnaca.
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