Panayiota Costi from Larnaca marked her 102nd birthday on Monday and the occasion was celebrated over the weekend with her six children, 12 grandchildren and 20 great grandchildren.

Her granddaughter Anna says that Panayiota has lived a stress-free life and she ate whatever she wanted, except processed food.

“When I ask her about her secret for a long life she laughs and says that is probably thanks to good wine and good olive oil.”

She added that her grandmother tends to leave everything in the hands of God having no worries to stress her out.

“She has the bones of a teenager, with no health problems, I think she is a really healthy person.”
She has lived a fulfilling life of good food and good company with friends and family by her side.
“Growing up she used to look after all the grandchildren and there were 12 of us.”

She enjoys cooking, baking Flaounes for Easter, drinking a glass of wine and feeding her family and friends.

Anna said her grandmother always had a great social life. Her grandfather was a restaurant owner and Panayiota socialised with their customers, chatting and joking with them. She also enjoyed crocheting in the sun.

“She has experienced a good social life while tasting good food,” Anna said.

She grew up in Famagusta and worked as a tailor, sewing clothes for most of her life. While when the invasion happened in 1974, she moved to London with her family to begin a new life.

The war left them with no other choice than to start a new life elsewhere, with little to no income to do so.

Panyiota and her husband opened a fish and chips restaurant in London and stayed there for 10 years.
Panayiota returned in the 1980s with her family to retire in Larnaca.

After her retirement her relatives describe her as really active and full of life.

“She was always busy and social. I remember that all her neighbours would come over to her house for coffee or lunch,” Anna recalls.