STAPLE FOOD

Iliad warriors had wheat sprinkled with honey and wine for breakfast: but I think even they would be jealous of this fantastic porridge cauldron in Alasia Hotel! 💄 The thought of porridge brings me back immediately to my beloved Exeter, England, where it was often my staple breakfast. Ready made fresh porridge from Marks and Spencer- breakfast heaven! Yum!

Of course, another famous related memory is literary, from Jane Eyre. Who can forget the horrid burnt porridge on Jane's first morning at Lowood? No one!

In the pics you can see a book I bought yesterday, all about my favorite breakfast dish. I will say more when I read 😀

Meanwhile, have a great afternoon, and take beauty always with you! ❤️🌷🌹💄💋

#breakfast #janeeyre #victorians #homer #iliad #porridge#marksandspencer #charlottebronte #cookbooks

YES!

Sticking to my fashion plan of skirts in summer (trousers in winter) here I am at a lovely souvenir shop in Limassol! This shop features unique gifts and mementoes from Limassol and is sponsored by the CYPRUS University of Technology. I especially love the pretty bath towels and the can and bottle openers. There are beautiful bits and pieces made of plastic and wood too.

Thankfully, geeky chic is very much in fashion, so I could wear a white shirt, floral skirt and heavy (but comfortable) shoes with -yes!- pink socks 😀

I hope you enjoy your Friday (Friyay) afternoon. I will take my dog for a walk. Whatever you do, don't forget to take beauty always with you! ❤️💋💄👠🌹
#fashion #Cyprus #Limassol #souvenirs #geekchic #Fridayfeeling#Friyay

THE GOLDILOCKS ZONE AND RED LIPSTICK

Upbeat 70s Greek songs sang by a girl choir were never so good! 😉That was the girls choir for the Vasilidjia (Βασιλιτζιά, Greek Cypriot dialect for basil bush) cultural team participating at a book presentation! It was on Friday night, and the girls kindly photographed me. Both the girls and their teacher/ conductor were beautifully made up, and all wore red lipstick. Now how cool is that?

The book was about the Cypriot village of Kontea, currently in the occupied part of my home country (CYPRUS).

The venue was the Kontea Home, a nice small renovated house on the beachfront. It is a cultural center and meeting place. The original Kontea village was strategically located between three cities in the fertile plain of Mesaoria.

I very much enjoyed the evening and the book looks really good. This is a nice season in CYPRUS, sunny and warm but not too hot, cool in the evening. The sea right in front of us was calm and smooth like dark satin.

Have a great afternoon, always with beauty and a book!💄💋💖💝#redlipstick #books #cyprus #choir #greece

POP QUIZ

When you think hotels, do you think the chaotic but ultra glamorous and mysterious hotels described by Charlotte Bronte? Or the dreary hotels described by Dickens? (Nobody can forget the nightmare place Pip and Estella go for tea in Great Expectations). Personally, I think of the amazing Limassol hotels, and here I am at the lobby of the boutique hotel Alasia!

As a child, Jane in Jane Eyre finds herself in a cavernous and chaotic hotel, where she imagines kidnapers are sure to be lurking; Lucy Snowe is awed by a huge place in London. Hotel Crecy in Villette (fictional name for Brussels) is the venue for grand balls and looks splendid in red velvets and gilded mirrors.

The spaces of Alasia hotel are warm and beautiful, with both a sense of home and a sense of faraway glam! 💋#Alasiahotel #Limassol #Cyprus#Victorians #hotels #Dickens #Bronte #JaneEyre #Villette#GreatExpectations

SPRING BREAK

Nice spring day today at the office of a special friend! I guess you can spot a couple of Mediterranean cultural signs in the photos: the blue eye stone on the wall to ward off the evil eye, and the freshly squeezed orange juice. (As Stephen Greenblatt put it, objects carry with them cultural energy; a lovely book on this is A History of the World in 100 Objects). The painting with the crown and black feather decoration is original by my friend! 😀

Spring time is also time for some new tattoos! One I will design myself, the other I will look for on the Internet. Stay tuned for more!💋

FIFTY SHADES OF HAIR DYE

Do you know when I realized I had black hair? When I got into Facebook! Since then, I saw myself with a shade of chestnut hair. When others told me my hair was black, I told them they were wrong. When I saw my photos on FB I realized that the others were right, and I was wrong. My self image was lighter hair. Now I'm going from gold to platinum 😀 (See the difference in the pics) Certainly a drastic change from my natural black. But I think drastic change is good. Whenever I made a drastic change in life, I won. Whenever I compromised, which sadly was the most often- whenever I compromised, I lost.

As an endnote for tonight, have a look at the amazing confectionery selection at Gloria Jeans Kolonakiou in Limassol! Yum! This is my favorite Gloria Jeans ever. It's cozy, beautiful and at an amazing spot 💋

Have a good night, always with beauty and a book! 📕
#blonde #blondehair #hairdye #facebook #GloriaJeans #selfimage

ONLY COWGIRLS GET THE BLUES

Easter Day today, and I must mention something I read in a book about the birth customs in CYPRUS (Easter is about rebirth, so I guess this is not entirely irrelevant). In pre-industrial CYPRUS, midwives used to be armed! Yes! They would carry a shotgun over their shoulder, while going from village to village on horseback. "I carried the sshipetton (σιπέττον, shotgun) everywhere, because the roads were dangerous". An interviewed midwife said.

Midwives are now back in vogue: in the UK they work with doctors to great effect. Traditionally, midwives were both respected and feared. They were associated with the mysteries of new life, and with witchcraft. In the Ancient Greek religion the Goddesses Hera, Athena and Artemis are patrons of the midwife. The newborn Goddess Artemis famously helped her mortal mother Leto deliver Apollo (Artemis's twin bro).

So, what else is new? I adopted a most beautiful stray dog, and I'm wearing the most amazing pink blouse as you can see. Pink cotton with embroidered pearls 💋❤️👠🌹
#easter #pink #pinkblouse #pearls #midwives #midwifery #cyprus#ancientgreece #goddess