Cyprus – Aphrodite’s Island

We’ve had a few family holidays to Cyprus in the last few years. One of our favourite spots being Paphos out on the South-West coast, in the Greek part of Cyprus.

The town is split into Neo Paphos (the old town) further in-land and Kato Paphos on the coast. Kato Paphos is what most people know as Paphos – lots of beach-front hotels, Euro-English restaurants on the strip & the lux harbour.

Lamanche St Community Farm

Just a few blocks walk from the bayou, this was the first site that I was assigned to during my 3 month stint with lowernine.org.

There are still very few grocery stores in the Lower Ninth Ward, so community gardens & farmers markets are a  great way of providing the neighbourhood with fresh vegetables for low cost. And with so many vacant lots still in the Lower Ninth – space is not an issue.

I did wondered what I’d done to deserve ‘hard- labour’ in 30+ degree heat (Celsius, not Fahrenheit), but the other two volunteers I was teamed with made it worthwhile.

Cardiff – all good things come in small packages

Wednesday’s ‘World Day’ 🙂

But we’re not going quite so far afield to find awesome this week. For those that have never ventured to my home country, let me introduce you to our capital city, and my one-time home, Cardiff!

When looking for city-break locations, you wouldn’t go far wrong by choosing the ancient city of Cardiff (Caerdydd if you fancy learning a bit of the lingo).

My Favourite Beach Ever! So far…

It may seem as though I’m flitting from topic to topic on this blog, but there is method to my, quite obvious, madness (promise).

I plan to write on a different-ish topic every day of the week – let’s see how long that lasts!

So…

Wednesday’s post are all about the other gorgeous places I’ve visited on this lovely planet, near & far – this is the ‘vs the world’ part of the blog.

We all know I love NOLA, but I have a soft spot for pretty much everywhere else I’ve lived in or visited too. Recently, I revisited my favourite beach ever…

Praia da Gale on Portugal’s Algarve coast has a string of secluded beaches & coves leading up to a 5km stretch of golden sands running between Gale & Armacao de Pera.

Although the Atlantic is a bit rough (& cold) to swim in, the cliff path running along the coast-line is the perfect spot to sit & watch the surf crowd – laughing at the newbies & worshipping the proficient (and hot!).

This area is also a fantastic location for any budding photographers (I’m rubbish at photography & know it – so no comments about my happy-snaps, thank you!). Between the sailboats, surfers & stunning rock formations, you could spend the whole day finding new views, then come back tomorrow to find it’s all changed!

As blissful as sunbathing by the ocean is (and it is… you know it is), you do have to make time to head to one of the many beach bars for some of the local food.

By far our favourite was Restaurant Praia da Gale. Aside from the great food & friendly service, at sunset, this is the place to be! People line the deck to get a photo of that view!!

But I also have to put in a word for the Lourenco Beach Bar – it’s a true hidden gem, even if Faneca the bar cat has a shoe fetish!:

I always try to pin down 3 recipes that I want to recreate back home. My 3 from the Algarve are:

• Portuguese-style steak – melt-in-your-mouth steak braised in a red-wine reduction topped with bacon/Serrano ham & sliced potatoes. Stunning!
• Chicken Piri-Piri – chicken pieces rubbed with piri-piri seasoning and grilled until slightly charred. Whatever you do, don’t pour the piri-piri sauce on it if you value your tastebuds – the authentic stuff is sooo hot it will sear the skin off your tongue!
• Bifado – a sandwich made from rustic bread & pork steak pan-fried with garlic, and sometimes sprinkled with paprika. Devastatingly simple.

Another thing that I figure – I could try making each of these into a Po-Boy! NOLA is never far from my mind 😉

I’ll leave you with one of my favourite views, enjoy xx