GREECE & CYPRUS LIMASSOL DESTINATIONS


beaches and the picturesque villages, nature trails and wineries of the Troodos Mountains.


 LINEN AND LACE The view quickly changed on the drive to Pano Lefkara, as I wove through mountains dotted with pine forests, silver-green olive trees and fragrant carpets of wild flowers. The village is famous for its traditional architecture – all white limestone houses topped with terracotta tiles – its silverwork and lace known as lefkaritika. Along the cobbled streets, nimble-


fingered ladies beckoned me over to see their beautifully embroidered linen tablecloths and napkins. The age-old technique was inspired by ancient Greek and Byzantine geometric patterns, and local legend has it that when Leonardo da Vinci visited the village in 1481, he bought a sample and took it back for the altar of the cathedral in Milan. I popped into small shops filled with local treats such as sugar-coated


Wine routes


Cyprus has a long-standing tradition of winemaking that dates as far back as the Egyptians, ancient Greeks and Romans – archaeologists have discovered wine jugs that are thought to be more than 6,000 years old.


The island’s varieties of grape are also some of the world’s oldest and Commandaria – a sweet dessert wine made from two local grapes, the white xynisteri and the mavro blue – is thought to be the oldest named wine still in regular production. Today, wine buffs can discover seven well-marked routes that criss-


cross the island, passing by more than 40 modern wineries along with wine-producing villages and monasteries open for tours and tastings. From Limassol, the Krasochoria – Greek for ‘wine’ and ‘village’ –


route takes in 16 wineries and 20 scenic villages dotted around the southern slopes of the Troodos Mountains, producing both red and white wines.


The annual Limassol Wine Festival is a 10-day celebration held in the


Municipal Gardens at the end of August, featuring wallet-friendly wine tastings accompanied by folk music and dancing.


loukoumi or ‘Cypriot delight’, olive oils and lotions made from donkey’s milk for skin like Cleopatra. But the real surprise was the opulent, incense-scented interior of the Church of the Holy Cross, which belied its plain facade with Byzantine frescoes, a dazzling gilded altar and a row of ornate silver filigree lamps made by the men of the village. Back at the hotel, after an indulgent


Carol Joy facial using gold, caviar and algae at the enormous Kalloni Spa, I ended the day with an Epicurean Journey. The knowledgeable sommelier led


a tasting of some rare local wines from the hotel’s 40,000-bottle cellar, which was a perfect starter before the banquet of Cypriot fare at the indoor-outdoor Dafne restaurant. The wooden table was laden with plump olives, fried halloumi, fresh salads, just-baked pitta bread, grilled lamb and hearty stews. It was a feast fit for a goddess – perhaps even Aphrodite herself.


A cafe in Limassol


2 May 2019travelweekly.co.uk37


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