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by **RichardB** » Sun Jun 01, 2008 6:28 pm

First time I visited Pafos (around 30 years ago) It was quite a sleepy harbour town , a couple of Restaurants around the harbour, No Bar street then, Chlorakas was land side of the road, Very few villas etc. Coral Bay was just the 'Coral Bay Hotel' and a restaurant perched on the cliffside. And as a Brit I was regarded even then as something of a novelty In the town.

Now my question (for a nice easy going Sunday Debate ) is

Has Pafos benefitted from the influx of British residents or has it been to the detriment of the area??

I chose Pafos as it seems to be the place where most expatriate Brits have chosen but views on other areas welcome

by **Oracle** » Sun Jun 01, 2008 6:48 pm

As far as unstoppable progress goes ...it's fine.

Paphos is still pretty .... maybe even prettier than 30 years ago!

But then I am used to moaning Brits and realise it is their insecurities, stiff upper-lip, need to be dominated yet wanting to be in control attitude which are at the heart of the negativities we see displayed on the forum.

You can take Paphos out of the Brits but you can't take the Brits out of Paphos ...

by **RichardB** » Sun Jun 01, 2008 7:00 pm

I understand what you mean about the moaning.

When I was over end of March I had the unhappy experience of dining in a restaurant next to a table of 7-8 obviously expat Brits who did nothing but complain about the food , traffic and how the place was going to the dogs. The yinaika could see I was getting wound up and whizzed me through a meze in record time before leaving with much siknomis to the owner before i went off on one :lol:

This group did seem to be the exception to the rule though

by **Oracle** » Sun Jun 01, 2008 7:10 pm

Yeah Richard .. I am really comfortable & familiar with Brits and the worse types seem diluted-out back in UK ..... but stick out like a sore thumb here in Cyprus.

Take last night, I took son out for dinner at Latchi .... lovely harbour, twinkling lights, delicious fresh food as we sat outside next to moored boats ... all idyllic, but for the nearby table of Broomy Brits conversing in faux ex-pat "wealthy" privileged master mode ... whilst they smoked like chimneys ruining my authentic local-fished curry and rice .. :roll:

by **RichardB** » Sun Jun 01, 2008 7:20 pm

Sounds lovely

We drove up to that area while we were in Pafos It looked absolutely beautiful. We stopped for a while in Polis and had a coffee in the village (town) square . I think the place was Savvas or Stavros bar there was a nice German waitress (not sure if it was the owners wife) and we got chatting to some Greek soldiers (is there a barracks nearby?) passed a nice hour then went for a mooch around.

Drove up to latchi and wish we had stayed there for tea as the restaurants looked great. And this was the night we ate in Pafos and got it spoiled

by **Oracle** » Sun Jun 01, 2008 7:29 pm

RichardB wrote:Sounds lovely

We drove up to that area while we were in Pafos It looked absolutely beautiful. We stopped for a while in Polis and had a coffee in the village (town) square . I think the place was Savvas or Stavros bar there was a nice German waitress (not sure if it was the owners wife) and we got chatting to some Greek soldiers (is there a barracks nearby?) passed a nice hour then went for a mooch around.

Drove up to latchi and wish we had stayed there for tea as the restaurants looked great. And this was the night we ate in Pafos and got it spoiled

Polis centre used to be all kafenia ... with old men reclining on chairs, a hair's breath away from the cruising cars .... now it is pedestrianised and Anglicised and is fine but different ... hubby (Scot) prefers old version.

And Latchi has gone from a harbour we used to go and buy our fish from in the 60's to a most over-priced but lovely place to be in, especially in the evening ... it still retains a charm ... and is definitely worth an evening meal with your Yinaika (not the goat though ! .... would be frowned upon ... more by the Brits than the Cypriots / native Bulgarians).

I love cultural fusions and Polis really has come up trumps ....

by **roseandchan** » Sun Jun 01, 2008 7:35 pm

we try and stay away from any tourist areas cos always full of brit expats. always being loud and a problem, hubby looks like a cypriot so he escapes them but i'm not so lucky. i've met more expat policemen and bankers since living in cyprus than i ever did in the uk.

by **Oracle** » Sun Jun 01, 2008 7:36 pm

roseandchan wrote:we try and stay away from any tourist areas cos always full of brit expats. always being loud and a problem, hubby looks like a cypriot so he escapes them but i'm not so lucky. i've met more expat policemen and bankers since living in cyprus than i ever did in the uk.

... keep trying to stay away ... sickos! :roll: