Christmas Day at The Village Tavern, Pyla.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas Day!

My family, friends and I, spent many happy hours at The Village Tavern at Pyla, enjoying their Christmas meal and entertainment.  The food was lovely and the company; the best.  Thanks to all of you for a really lovely day.  It's a Christmas I will always remember with a smile. I hope you all enjoyed yourselves as much as we did.  Many thanks to Denise and Theo for their hard work and professional service.  As you can see from the pictures there wasn't a seat to spare!

The gang is all here...where's Derek?



Emma having a fangtastic time!



Feeling a bit peckish?




'Cheers,' said Ann!




Robin got the bill... How much?



Derek enjoyed the entertainment



Merry Christmas from yours truly!



Time to go home...


Our very best wishes from Cyprus!

Oroklini sparkles as the Christmas lights are turned on!

It's that time of year again. Time to listen to Cliff Richard, munch on a couple of mince pies and sip a glass or two of mulled wine. Our Christmas lights switching on ceremony, did not fail to disappoint this year. As always, it was hosted by Rose and Eric Bone, who both dressed as Santa to fit the occasion (you can see Eric on the balcony of his house). The ceremony was opened in Greek by the President of Oroklini, Spyros Elenodorou, and then translated for our benefit into English (yes that's correct, I can hear you gasp in the U.S! our village is important enough to have its own president).

Never one to miss an opportunity to try and make the new council building more popular (it cost millions, it's huge and it sparkles in the sunlight due to the glitter in the cement) the president announced that there will be free blood pressure tests at the council offices on Sunday morning.  As they are also offering free breakfasts for those tested, I am sure there will be a good response.

Back to the merriment.  The entertainment was provided by international cabaret singer Shirley, who looked very fetching in her brief Santa outfit with fishnet tights. The food was nice at only €1 a plate and the drinks, including the popular mulled wine, were all the same price. I believe a lot of raffle tickets were sold for the Children With Special Needs charity and I am sure this fun event will prove to be the success it was last year.  Santa is due to reapper in his grotto in the village park, tomorow at tea time.  I wonder if he has got me a present?

Santa has arrived!

The President of Oroklini

The lights are switched on!

The children entertain with Greek dancing

Singing by Shirley

Plenty of mulled wine and mince pies!

Our hostess Rose Bone

It would make me dizzy too!



Merry Christmas to all my readers from Oroklini village!

The Final Countdown - how much money was raised?

After the amazing opening night of the newly renovated Lithos Bar & Grill, I am sure many of you are wondering have much money was raised for the animal charity? Stella from Argos told us,

      “The evening raised 905 euros total. 530 euros from raffle ticket sales and 375 euros from the meal. We raffled 8 prizes in all; 4 vouchers from Christos fish bar in Agia Napa for a fish meze worth 30 euros per voucher, 3 vouchers for a cut & blow dry from Hair and Beauty at the Limanaki, Agia Napa and the big prize which was a return flight to UK donated by Cyprus Airways. All the entertainers performed for charity.”

Saturday night at Lithos

As well as a successful night for the charity, it was lovely to be at the lively, entertaining event. I am sure we all wish Miltos & George, the best of luck with their new bar - who would have thought it would look this good, last week? (see Orkolini Village News for pictures.)  All of their hard work has paid off!

Coming soon - Oroklini prepares for Christmas!

Alright on the Night?

Saturday night arrived with the much anticipated  re-opening of Lithos.  The new venue was barely recognisable from the old Sports Bar!  As I opened the attractive new glass doors, the first thing I noticed was how warm and inviting it was.  The large wood burning fire was blazing in the corner next to the new girls toilets which were, thankfully, finished and full functioning as the place was packed!
It looked lovely inside with the wooden ceiling and stone walls. There was obviously still a little work to do, but the place looked great and the atmosphere was amazing, one of those very special nights you only get at Lithos (remember that great night with Chris Andre in the summer?).
I have posted a few of the pictures I took to give you a taste of the party atmosphere. I would imagine quite a lot of money was raised for the animal charity Argos. When I have found out how much I will let you know.
Entertainment by Ged Simons, Angela and The Answer.

It's a lot bgger than it used to  be!

Go girls! - A crafty move by Sarah




This used to be the the outside patio




Got your raffle tickets ready?



I'm in the mood for dancing...

Some of you may be wondering what happened with the €100 bet between Miltos and my neighbour, to be paid on completion of the bar. Apparently Miltos paid up as the place wasn't fully finished, as had been agreed. The money was then promptly spent on raffle tickets to support the charity Argos. Even with all of those tickets my neighbour didn't win any of the prizes - is that poetic justice? I think so!

I have included the information for the charity below:

Please call me if you can help in any way with Argos. Sandy Exley Tel : 99853470

Many thanks

Website: www.argossanctuary.com and www.cypruslocal.co.uk

   

The History of Lithos

To celebrate the opening of the new bar tonight I had added the interview I did with Miltos some years ago!

Nestled in the heart of Oroklini Village is the Lithos Sports Bar. The bar has a friendly, relaxed atmosphere and is popular with locals and tourists. The owners George and Miltos have developed their business over the years into a thriving bar and restaurant. The Lithos Sports Bar offers a wide range of entertainment, a full cooked menu and some of the best sports coverage in the area. The bar has its own pool team and is also meeting place for the Larnaca writers.

As a regular customer, I decided to ask Miltos & George a few questions!

The building is obviously very old; can you tell me about its history?

It was built in 1921. At that time the house was owned by the family of Kiriaki Michaelidou. Around 1975 when the Turkish soldiers invaded Cyprus, the family moved to England. The house was abandoned until 2003 when my family bought it; as it was in the middle of my grandmother’s property.  A year later we began renovating the bar, which was very damaged.  Before the renovation, the house consisted of two rooms on ground floor, plus an outside toilet and a further two rooms on the second floor. It also had a nice veranda with panoramic views of the mountains and the sea. Outside, there was a large courtyard with a fig tree in the middle. The building work was completed in 2005.  It was one of the first traditional houses to be restored in the village and it was decorated with local Toxni stone.

When did you open the bar and how has it developed?

We opened on June 21st 2006 after receiving all the licenses that we needed to operate as a bar. At first, we opened our upstairs bar and veranda. There are some lovely views up there and in the summer evenings, there is a refreshing breeze from the sea. Since the bar was doing quite well, we decided to move downstairs during the winter, where we could keep our customers cosy with our log burning fireplace. In March 2007 we chose to expand. As the summer was coming, we decided to build an outside bar to enable us to accommodate more people and focus on the entertainment. Two months later, we had completed all the work needed for opening outside. When we first opened, we had only one TV, but we now have seven!  We have worked very hard to try and make Lithos the best bar in Oroklini.

What sports coverage do you offer?

We cover the English Premiership, Champions League, Europa League, Euro 2012, as well as other sports such as cricket, rugby, tennis, boxing and motor racing.

You also serve food and have live entertainment?

We offer a selection from salads to sandwiches and traditional Cypriot dishes; our barbecued ribs are especially popular! We vary our live entertainment, which ranges from well-known local singers to karaoke and quiz nights.

How is the Lithos pool team doing?

At the moment we are near the top of the league. We play the league games on Monday nights as well as friendly and practice matches during the week.  We are always looking for new players. If anyone would like to join us, they are welcome.

The Tuesday night quiz seems very popular?

The quiz night is always very busy. We started doing the Tuesday quiz over three years ago and we have gained a good following.  Our Quiz Master, Paul, is very good.

How can customers contact you?

Lithos has its own page on Facebook. Many of our customers keep in contact with us when they return home from their holidays.  We have had some fun pictures and good comments from people who wish to stay in contact with us at Lithos Sports Bar.

Take one last look...memories!
                            

The Entrance to the Courtyard

    Miltos & George Antoniou



The Old Bar and Courtyard...Happy Days!



Good luck for tonight!  Lithos Bar & Grill, Anexartisias 15, Oroklini Village.

Full news of the opening in tomorrows village news!

Oroklini Village News

Saturday night is all set for the grand re-opening of Lithos Bar and Grill. But will the venue be ready in time to hold the event for the Argos charity night? With a hundred and fifty tickets sold, George and Miltos Antoniou have been working nonstop to make sure their opening tomorrow night, will be a great success. The poster outside proclaims the bar will the number one night spot in Oroklini, which is more difficult than you would imagine as Oroklini boasts several bars and popular taverns, and is in direct competition with the Greek disco at The Only Bar and karaoke, (surprisingly popular in Cyprus) at the Skylight on Dhekelia road. There has been a lot of speculation  in the village as to whether the bar will be ready in time, including one of  my neighbours, who has taken out a €100 bet with Miltos against the bar opening on time (shame on you - I won’t name you, but we know who you are!) We are all wondering what will happen with the bet, but have been assured that if it is paid, the money will go to charity.

I popped in to see George, who was hard at work and asked him about progress and he kindly spared me a few minutes from his hectic schedule,

Are you going to be open for the charity night?

 “Yes we are; we have a charity night for the animal shelter. We have a new waterproof, fully retractable roof, and the bar is made from iroko wood, it is a very hard wood; you would need a screwdriver to damage this wood.  We could have gone for marble, but we wanted an old look, to fit with the age of the property.”

The new entrance to Lithos

A little bit of work to do !

Check out the guy on the left, looks a bit like Robert Pattinson!

The property is indeed very old with an interesting history.  Tomorrow I will I add the interview  with Miltos for In Touch magazine about the buildings history and the and Antoniou brothers’ quest to become the best bar in the village.

Stay tuned for a glimpse of life in a not-so-sleepy village in Cyprus!

Autumn in Oroklini

After the blistering heat of the summer, autumn is a delicious month in Cyprus. With fruit trees in full bloom, the view from my lounge window is gorgeous. We planted the trees five years ago and they have chosen this year to produce the most succulent fruit. The biggest suprise so far, has been the palm tree in the corner of the garden, which we try to avoid cutting as much as possible as its spikes are vicious and its sap seems to be poisonous!  We were bewildered to find strange bright orange pods in rows dangling from the tree. As we had no idea what they were, my husband took one to the green grocer who smiled indugently and told us to leave them till they turned brown, ready to eat. Dates!

Oranges and Lemons:  The view from my window!

Fancy a date?