A trip up the mountains
Last Sunday marked a very fun, exciting kind-of-day. What started out as a grey, cloudy morning turned into a beautiful sunny afternoon, perfect for exploring one of Southern Cyprus’ most famous and well-known markets.
Myself and a few friends headed along to To Xani market which is located in the mountains on the way to Troodos Mountains.
What I loved most about this market was the really special community. Everyone seemed to work to support each other and there was a real spiritual and family vibe going on. The best way to probably describe the market was the fact that you could have been anywhere, you’d never know just a mere 20km away was Limassol, and that’s what made it so special.
There was a cute little school enclosed within the grounds, which notably gives light to the type of people who work there, always striving to support their own and make a difference. In the grounds behind you could find a number of lemon and orange trees as well as a charming, little BBQ area.
As we walked in to the market, groups of friends were sat down relaxing taking the day in, enjoying the fine delicacies that were available from the number of food options scattered around the market. From vegetarian specialities like falafel wraps, homemade protein balls, to Indian biryani, it seemed there was something to suit everybody’s tastes.
I went over to the one of the food stations and was greeted by a lovely lady named Amelia who was offering us to try the homemade chilli jam (which I obviously purchased for myself since you’ll seen realise I have an unbelievable obsession with chilli, given my years living over in Thailand, but we’ll come back to that point later). Being a little bit cheeky, we asked if we could possibly try the side of homemade guacamole and salsa and spread it over some of the crusty, brown bread. I also have a love for avocado, so this was better and my personal preference over any of the sweet options, such as the carrot cake, which I may add also did actually look divine. Lovely Amelia charged us minimal for the guacamole-spread-on-bread [see what I did there?!] dish that we created spontaneously. It must have looked appetising because other customers behind us even asked if they could buy some, clearly thinking it was already a dish on the menu!
Anyway, as you can guess, it was DALICIOUS and was made perfect with a splash of red wine on the side!
As I walked inside the building, I noticed the most enchanted dining area where a long table which went the whole way down the middle of the room, which was finished with sparkly fairy lights hanging from the long, rustic branches covering the whole area and adding to the fairy-like feel of the market. On the right side of the room was a bar where guests were greeted for their weekly Sunday lunch, and an event which I will definitely be going back for since I hear the food is spectacular. Not surprising since there is even a cookery school run by a lady named Tracey Dyer, where you can literally pick a cuisine, bring along the ingredients and learn how to cook all in a day - not a bad little market eh?!
I also had the opportunity to speak with one of the guys who runs the market called Patrick who told me a little bit about the community and how it works. Funnily enough, we chatted while we both had our faces painted by a beautiful little girl called Itira who was the self-deprecation of a princess, in her long blue dress and little pots of paint and glitter. Perhaps, she reminded me of a younger me, but for being only 10 years old, she oozed confidence and endearment – one of the most charming people I met on the day. After giving my face some fancy sparkles and glitter, I asked her to give me a fairy name. Alas, she asked for my real name and concluded by giving me a compliment that only I would appreciate (my name already sounds fairy-like wahooo!).
Overall I was pleasantly surprised by the market – a lot of neat things to check out and all organised by a lovely group of people. Will definitely be returning - especially to pick up some more of that chilli jam!