Cyprus
Well at home it is approximately zero degrees, raining sideways and just being generally miserable as it normally is in February. Perfect time to get a cheap last minute deal to somewhere in the world that is warm. This is how we ended up in Cyprus. 26 degrees in February. That will do!
The hotel is ok, seems to be a saga mecca but I guess that is because of the time of year. We are staying in Coral Bay 15 minutes down the road from Paphos in the west of the island. It is strangely quiet. Most of the bars, restaurants and even some of the hotels have closed for the off peak season. It is nice though. I'm not sure I would want to be here in the summer when it is fully of the rowdy Brits abroad.
We are a few minutes walk from the local beach. Almost empty at this time of year. Were not getting the clear blue sky we thought we might. We have been told by a taxi driver it is all dust from the Sahara dessert that makes the sky grey. When the dust clears though it is beautiful. The sun feels strong and we are able to wear shorts and skirts and still be warm. On our first day here we took a bus to the local harbour. It has been done up to appeal to the tourists and has lots of bars and restaurants. No where that seems to be traditionally Cypriot or sell just Greek food. I was a little upset when I spotted Pizza Express. It is a little like a home away from home. Everyone speaks English perfectly too. we are told the main industry here is the tourist industry and more than 90% of the tourists are British.
Day two we went on a dive. My fifth attempt at scuba. We went in off a small cliff that we had to climb down. Easier said than done when you have a tank on your back and you are carrying your flippers. I basically fell in right at the end when I slipped. Once our instructor have removed one of my flippers and then put it back on my foot the right way up We had to time it right to dive down between the waves. I struggled a little to start with I thought the water was really murky until I realised my goggles were all fogged up. Glad the instructor in Bali had made me practice taking goggles off under the water. I was able to demist them and see much more clearly. There were fish. Lots of weeds and some caverns to swim through. A very different dive to what I have done before. Were were wearing thick wet suits because the water was only 18 degrees, much cooler than diving in Bali.
Day three was our day trip day. We had to get up at stupid o'clock to be on the tour bus by 7.15am. We were the first on the bus but went onto pick up about forty or so other people. We were also the youngest on the bus by about 40 years with the exception of two other girls and one guy who seemed to be on holiday with his parents. We drove across the border into the Turkish territory. It was quiet interesting. Our tour guide was six at the time of the occupation in 1974 and told us how she was evacuated from the North of the island with her parents during the bombing. Until 6 years ago no one was able to pass across the boarder. Now though they let people with foreign passports and their guides.
Once through the passport control we went onto Salamis were there are some Roman ruins of a amphitheatre and some baths. Initially we decided not to go and see them as the price was not included with the tour. However we changed our minds and went on after the rest of the group had paid. By paying at the ticket booth rather than the Turkish guide on the coach we got in cheaper. Haha. From Salamis we went onto the walled city of Famagusta. There were apparently 160 churches within the walls of the city. Most are now in ruins but some remain. All the churches and Cathedrals on the Turkish side of Cyprus have been either pulled down or converted into mosques. We went inside an Gothic cathedral that had been converted. The crossed had been removed as had all the pews. All that remained was the shell of the building and a carpet of prayer mats inside. Outside they had built a dome onto the top of one of the outbuildings.
From Famagusta we took the bus to Ayia Napa where we stopped for lunch. The resort was built from scratch in the 90's for the younger tourists that visit the island. Prior to the occupation the majority of the tourists went to the North of the island but now all those hotels are either destroyed or owned by the Turkish. Ayia Napia was strange. It was very quiet and most of the bars and restaurants were closed. We ate lunch in a small cafe then wandered around the harbour before taking the bus back to Paphos. Rather than going straight back to the hotel we decided to get some food in town. It was our first chance to have some Cypriot cuisine. I had a meat and rice mixture wrapped in vine leaves with local vegetables and James had a classic Greek kebab.
Sunday was out last full day of the holiday. We had already discovered that no buses run and most remaining things are closed on a Sunday. Activities were pretty restricted so we had reserved this day as a lazy day around the hotel pool and beach. We did have our best meal though. We managed to find a Cypriot restaurant down the road which was open. We had a meze which was a mix of lots of meat and fish dishes cooked in the traditional way. Very nice but very filling. When we finished they bought us too small glasses of some sort of spirit. I liked mine and said to James it was like sweet dessert wine. He frowned at me and said it was far from sweet. Turns out they had brought him brandy and me a dessert wine. Spirit for the man and sweet for the girl. At least my taste buds hadn't gone mad. They were exactly the same colour though.
Have a look at more photos.
The hotel is ok, seems to be a saga mecca but I guess that is because of the time of year. We are staying in Coral Bay 15 minutes down the road from Paphos in the west of the island. It is strangely quiet. Most of the bars, restaurants and even some of the hotels have closed for the off peak season. It is nice though. I'm not sure I would want to be here in the summer when it is fully of the rowdy Brits abroad.
We are a few minutes walk from the local beach. Almost empty at this time of year. Were not getting the clear blue sky we thought we might. We have been told by a taxi driver it is all dust from the Sahara dessert that makes the sky grey. When the dust clears though it is beautiful. The sun feels strong and we are able to wear shorts and skirts and still be warm. On our first day here we took a bus to the local harbour. It has been done up to appeal to the tourists and has lots of bars and restaurants. No where that seems to be traditionally Cypriot or sell just Greek food. I was a little upset when I spotted Pizza Express. It is a little like a home away from home. Everyone speaks English perfectly too. we are told the main industry here is the tourist industry and more than 90% of the tourists are British.
Day two we went on a dive. My fifth attempt at scuba. We went in off a small cliff that we had to climb down. Easier said than done when you have a tank on your back and you are carrying your flippers. I basically fell in right at the end when I slipped. Once our instructor have removed one of my flippers and then put it back on my foot the right way up We had to time it right to dive down between the waves. I struggled a little to start with I thought the water was really murky until I realised my goggles were all fogged up. Glad the instructor in Bali had made me practice taking goggles off under the water. I was able to demist them and see much more clearly. There were fish. Lots of weeds and some caverns to swim through. A very different dive to what I have done before. Were were wearing thick wet suits because the water was only 18 degrees, much cooler than diving in Bali.
Day three was our day trip day. We had to get up at stupid o'clock to be on the tour bus by 7.15am. We were the first on the bus but went onto pick up about forty or so other people. We were also the youngest on the bus by about 40 years with the exception of two other girls and one guy who seemed to be on holiday with his parents. We drove across the border into the Turkish territory. It was quiet interesting. Our tour guide was six at the time of the occupation in 1974 and told us how she was evacuated from the North of the island with her parents during the bombing. Until 6 years ago no one was able to pass across the boarder. Now though they let people with foreign passports and their guides.
Once through the passport control we went onto Salamis were there are some Roman ruins of a amphitheatre and some baths. Initially we decided not to go and see them as the price was not included with the tour. However we changed our minds and went on after the rest of the group had paid. By paying at the ticket booth rather than the Turkish guide on the coach we got in cheaper. Haha. From Salamis we went onto the walled city of Famagusta. There were apparently 160 churches within the walls of the city. Most are now in ruins but some remain. All the churches and Cathedrals on the Turkish side of Cyprus have been either pulled down or converted into mosques. We went inside an Gothic cathedral that had been converted. The crossed had been removed as had all the pews. All that remained was the shell of the building and a carpet of prayer mats inside. Outside they had built a dome onto the top of one of the outbuildings.
From Famagusta we took the bus to Ayia Napa where we stopped for lunch. The resort was built from scratch in the 90's for the younger tourists that visit the island. Prior to the occupation the majority of the tourists went to the North of the island but now all those hotels are either destroyed or owned by the Turkish. Ayia Napia was strange. It was very quiet and most of the bars and restaurants were closed. We ate lunch in a small cafe then wandered around the harbour before taking the bus back to Paphos. Rather than going straight back to the hotel we decided to get some food in town. It was our first chance to have some Cypriot cuisine. I had a meat and rice mixture wrapped in vine leaves with local vegetables and James had a classic Greek kebab.
Sunday was out last full day of the holiday. We had already discovered that no buses run and most remaining things are closed on a Sunday. Activities were pretty restricted so we had reserved this day as a lazy day around the hotel pool and beach. We did have our best meal though. We managed to find a Cypriot restaurant down the road which was open. We had a meze which was a mix of lots of meat and fish dishes cooked in the traditional way. Very nice but very filling. When we finished they bought us too small glasses of some sort of spirit. I liked mine and said to James it was like sweet dessert wine. He frowned at me and said it was far from sweet. Turns out they had brought him brandy and me a dessert wine. Spirit for the man and sweet for the girl. At least my taste buds hadn't gone mad. They were exactly the same colour though.
Have a look at more photos.
posted by Caroline Black at
22:53
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