The Hidden Place (Apokryfo)

I am so relaxed after staying at Apokryfo (in Greek, Hidden) in the mountains in Cyprus.  Such a magical place that although I have reviewed it on the website where we found this perfect hideaway, here in my own space I just had to say more.

the doorway to one of the tiny apartments at Apokryfo

 You know how things can be sometimes, you just need to get away and you book something on line that looks it will fit the bill but you never know till you get there...  Well Apokryfo lived up to our every expectation, right from the moment Yannis the manager gave us a wonderful friendly welcome.  He runs the hotel with his wife Demetra (and then there is their gorgeous little girl, Joanna who usually appears mid afternoon with her grandmother).

our balcony

This is the best photograph I could get of our balcony.  Although it was just above the terrace where we ate our breakfast in the sunshine and beside the pool it felt so private.

and this is what we saw as we looked down

I think at this point I should mention the food...  So much to eat and so good.  There was home made marmalade for our breakfast toast as well as fruit yoghurt,  ham, cheese and, if we could be persuaded, omelettes.  Then more home made soup, meat and vegetable dishes for supper (lunch too if you could possibly eat any more).

the way down from our room to the terrace

Yannis and Demetra were wonderful hosts, working from before breakfast till the last guest left after dinner.  The restaurant was open all day, serving lunch and dinner, with the clever cook Eleftheria coping with anything from 5 to 50 for lunch or supper,  and serving any drinks and snacks we might want in-between.  JTH judged the moussaka we ate on our last night (soup, dips and village salad too) the best he had ever tasted

herbs for the cook right outside the kitchen door

I forgot to photograph our room, which was cleaned and tidied every day with fresh sheets every 3 or 4 days,  and  only snapped the bathroom!

The hotel, midway between Limasol and the highest mountain on the island, was in a tiny village called Lofu

Lofu

There were days when we just sat around reading and relaxing.  How I love to have the time to read a whole book in a day (I finished This Boy and The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, I didn't finish The Historian and I don't think I ever will!)   and of course I had some knitting with me (more of that later).  The day we decided to walk to the top of the mountain we found snow!

There was snow at my feet but not in the distance

In the village of Omodos we encountered a poignant exhibition to the fallen in the war of independence from the British in the 1950s.  A single room displaying the clothes worn on the day they died, a photograph, name and names of their family members

the green scarf was hand knitted in garter stitch

Wonderful lace too both in Omodos

and the village of Lefkara where women sat outside their shops working on beautiful table cloths

Lefkara lace

We did a fair bit of exploring while (mostly) avoiding the larger towns.

Aphrodite's rock 

Although Cyprus is well known for its budget holidays and beaches lined with hotels we found plenty of quiet places.

the theatre at Curium

We listened to powerful extracts from ancient Greek tragedy here, in the theatre at the ancient Greco/Roman site, Curium.

And wandered around the remains of the Sanctuary of Apollo (where those who dared to touch the sacred altar in the sanctuary were thrown off the cliff into the sea)

the remains of the Sanctuary of Apollo

Long before Cyprus became and independent state it was part of the Turkish Ottoman empire.  A few buildings remain to tell the tale like this beautiful house that is a restaurant in Lefkara

lunchtime after watching lace makers at work

After a day exploring it was lovely to wend our way back up the spiral stone steps to our room

Sometimes eating our evening meal under the watchful eye of the goat in the dining room

Oh and this is what I was knitting, part of a very exciting project where more than 200 knitters are helping make costumes for a film about World War One.  A waistcoat for William, I'll explain more about this exciting film next week!

blocked and ready to post

When we left we promised to go back, and we will.  Thank you Yanis, Demetra and all the staff at Apokryfo  we had a perfect holiday

xx

c

the way to the hidden place