Mosaic Monday # 63 - Church of Saint Nicholas, Kato Pafos.

Back from our latest trip to Cyprus with more tales and photographs to share.
One thing I learned from this trip is that the town of Pafos/Paphos lies inland and the area in which we stayed, Kato Pafos, is the more touristy area of town.
Don't misunderstand me I'm not putting it down at all, we loved the hotel's position overlooking the beach and enjoyed walking along the promenade which wends it's way from the Church of Saint Nicholas in the south to the harbour in the north.

The Church is a small, intimate church with a stunning interior of frescoes covering the walls  - an ideal choice for religious wedding services.  The chapel was originally built as an Orthodox Chapel, but the Greek Orthodox Church of Cyprus kindly gave their permission for Anglican and Catholic wedding ceremonies to be performed here. This chapel can hold wedding parties of up to approx 60 guests and is the perfect backdrop for wedding photography. (Source: Simply Cyprus Weddings)

Saint Nicholas is a very busy patron saint of many causes, of course he is most loved for being Good old St Nick or Santa Claus. His Saint's Day is 5th December.
Click on the link to learn about "Saint Nicholas and the origin of Santa Claus" on the St Nicholas Center website.

We walked down to the Church on a blustery morning after a night of rain and thunderstorms, a gentle 20 minute stroll, admiring the views and commenting on the various hotels we passed along the way.

After weighing up the pros and cons we decided that we had chosen the best one!

Normandy Life

An InLinkz Link-up

Tis the season to be jolly........................

I'm linking to some of the seasonal blog parties happening this week in blogland.

"Deck The Halls" with Susan @ BNOTP

"The Christmas with Victoria Party" with Kathy @ A Delightsome Life

Marty's "Christmas Cloche Party" @ A Stroll Thru Life.

Thank you ladies one and all for hosting these wonderful parties.

Although our Christmas trees are not yet up I have played around with the mantles, and created other little vignettes around the house.

The Byers Choice Salvation Army Carolers are out, singing merrily, of course.

St Nicholas is due to visit tonight. so I decorated the dining table to make him feel at home. I'll make sure that the candles are lit in time for his appearance!

This is last years dining table with my white Bavarian Santa, as you can tell this is the image that I'm using for my header this month.

I've been struggling with the light exposure whilst taking these pix.
The ambient light means everything looks too dull, and the flash makes everything look cold, so bear with me, please!

Last years library mantlepiece was my blog header image for December 2009.

This year it has proved difficult to get the whole mantle in the shot without featuring in it myself.

The theme in the library is white, with silver & gold.

The red, gold and green tree will be continuing the theme in the dining room this year.

The dining room buffet, featuring The Old Curiosity Shop and Tutbury Printer from the Dickens Village Series by Dept.56, 1990.
Both cherished gifts from my Dad & Joyce (my stepmum).

I hope you have enjoyed the tour around the Presbytere and do come back soon, to see the trees, won't you and don't forget to be good....................

Saint Nicholas Day, 6th December.

A popular tradition in Europe is St Nicholas Day when Santa arrives, click here to discover Bavaria's Sankt Nikolaus, pictured in white in the mosaic below. A much loved piece which I acquired whilst living in Bavaria.

and here to learn more about France's Saint Nicholas.

My contribution to Mary's wonderful Mosaic Monday gathering at the little red house is two mosaics of some of my St Nicks.

The top two Santa's in the mosaic above I bought at the famous Munich Christkindl Markt about twenty five years ago.

The two Santa's in the lower half of the mosaic I found in South Carolina and Virginia.
I'm also sharing some more wonderful images and verse from my Victoria and Albert Christmas List Book for your pleasure.

"What, Father Christmas! Here again?

With Yule log on your back

And mighty store of racy things

Well stuffed within your pack".

Christmas Verse, 1848.

To read how Queen Victoria liked to spend her Christmas click on the image below