A gift of Cyclamen and Hyacinth
This morning I was given this beautiful bunch of wild flowers; pale pink cyclamen and blue hyacinth with their heady and complementary perfumes – for me an expression of pure joy in anticipation of Spring.
One of the market stall ladies at the Saturday Paphos fruit and vegetable market presented them to me as I was buying fresh coriander and other greens from her. She knows I love flowers and regularly buy from her when they are available. I was very touched by this gesture.
Not surprisingly, my Saturday morning visits to the market are one of my favourite times of the week. I spread my shopping out so I buy from six or seven different men and women vendors; all very friendly and welcoming as I have been buying from them over the many years of my visits.
The Paphos fruit and vegetable market has had different home spaces over the years and is now situated in a custom built structure in the parking area near the Unesco listed heritage site of the Hammam Baths in the old town.
Apart from the local producers of fruits and vegetables, a cheese maker brings his refrigerated van with goats’ milk Halloumi and Anari cheese from the Akamas area in the agricultural area north west of Paphos where many of the goat and sheep farms are maintained. Goats’ milk and cheese are very much a local staple, which we enjoy.
The market is full of citrus fruit now as this is the season for oranges and clementines and lemons. All are juicy and delicious and always a staple in our market shopping. I can’t help but think of the old nursery rhyme: “Oranges and Lemons say the Bells of St Clemens…” ( words from an old English rhyme with origins in the 17th century or earlier).
Oranges and Lemons – Paphos Fruit and Vegetable market
The Paphos fruit and vegetable market is in many ways one of the vestiges of how life used to be. It’s a bit like seeing the small herd of goats that is kept in a nearby roadside area and are driven by the goat herd up into the hills each morning and returned late afternoon. We used to see many goat herds in the area in years gone by but rarely see them as house building is gradually overtaking the agricultural areas near the coast. Even this small herd near us is carefully guarded by the goatherd and kept largely out of sight. He would resent any attempt to photograph them. I completely understand this.
My concern for the future of the market is that all the stall holders are middle aged and we’ve all been getting older together. I rarely see the next generation there. I don’t think the young people see this in their future.
The current market location is a perfect spot as apart from being on the edge of the immediate parking area, the elevator to the street level is there and one ascends to the plaza area of Cafe Nero, which has to have one of the best views out to sea in Paphos.
From my earliest travels as a child with my family, my parents always sought out the local markets and continuing this practice is an enduring habit.
This is how we spend the first couple of hours of a Saturday morning in Cyprus: market stall shopping for ‘garden/field/orchard to market fresh produce’ followed by a coffee overlooking the sea – one of life’s small but heart warming pleasures!
Elizabethsvines
