The Troodos Chronicles - Part 1 - the Omodos Chapter

My parents almost every year rent a house in the mountains to spend the days they don't have to work. It's peaceful, relaxing and much cooler than the baking-hot Nicosia. This summer I decided to join them for a few days and do a bit of agrotourism which is massively undervalued among Cyprus' youth.

On the second day (the first day I just relaxed on the porch and watched Food Network - it's a holiday after all) we went for a visit to one of the most picturesque villages in Cyprus: Omodos. Now, I've been going to Omodos since I was a young girl - it is a prime day trip destination for my parents - and probably most of you (Cypriots) went there at some point.

We visited the 17th century-built monastery (where photographs were not allowed unfortunately), and strolled along the cobblestone paths and into the depths of the village.

Occassionally we also bumped into one of these guys.

Or this guy who felt right at home on some artist's display table.

Talking of artists, there are quite a few showing off their work along the streets, their shops often being their own traditional houses.

If you prefer something more edible to take with you, you won't be disappointed either.

 You can find of course lots of Cypriot classics such as soutzoukos or nuts, but they seemed to like carob quite a lot, so we found soutzoukos made with carob syrup (that's the black one hanging from the ceiling), or homemade carob syrup biscuits.

And of course we finished the day trip in one of the local kafeneia (coffee shops) to enjoy traditional Cypriot coffee.

Stay tuned for part two next time!

Till then, take care. :)

PS: If by any chance you'll be visiting Omodos this month, they also hold a wine festival which I wouldn't miss if I were you.