Relaxing in Peyia

You would think based on past longer stops that a nine days might warrant a two or three part blog, but as several days went along the following lines (or some variation); breakfast, relax/swim at the pool, lunch, nap, relax/swim/sand castle building at the beach, dinner, I can keep it shortish.
Suffice to say, it has been very relaxing indeed!

Our friend from London, Peadar, visited for a few days. It was great to catch up with him. He is the first person who we know that we have seen (other than on Skype) in almost two months! He is great with Eleanor and Leo, so they very much enjoyed his company and missed him afterwards (as did we of course!). He was also the hero of the moment when we had a flat car battery. He went off in search of help returning with two guys he'd approached in a shop because 'they looked like mechanics' and who got us going again.

We did manage to peal ourselves off the sand to do a few touristy things in the area...

The Tombs of the Kings (which are actually the tombs of wealthy people rather than royalty) on the way to Paphos are great. We all enjoyed wandering around the site, clambering up and down mounds, crawling into tombs and getting dragons to light fires for our BBQ's. Some of the tombs are fairly simple, while others even have columns and an atrium.

The Archeological Site in Paphos itself is fascinating. Eleanor and Leo slept in the pushchair as we walked around the Roman ruins watching a big thunder and lightening storm out at sea; very dramatic skies! The mosaics are incredible. We would like to try our own mosaics one day, but even with practice we couldn't begin to compete with these works of art!

We had a day trip into the Troodos Mountains. The alpine scenery is beautiful and it felt more 'Greek' than the places we've stayed (particularly Agia Napa and Paphos area, where there are huge numbers of British expats and visitors). It is also much cooler up the top; we were surprised to discover that Cyprus has a ski field in these mountains. We visited a beautiful little Byzantine church and interesting museum in Pedoulas then meandered back looking at other little churches along the way and accidentally taking the very scenic road to Peyia, which involved lots of winding up and down hills with spectacular views.

Another day we drove to beautiful Lara Beach, about 12 or so kilometres up the coast from Peyia (it counts as raising ourselves off the sand on the basis that it is further away than Coral Bay, our usual beach). It is remote and accessed via an unsealed road; it is generally fine for cars, but we did find ourselves crossing a field when we took a wrong turn! We picnicked at the beach spent the afternoon in the sea, making sand castles. Life is tough!

Adrian and I each had a night out on the town in Paphos with Peadar. It was excellent; I managed to stay out until 4am and got to see Peadar do some brilliant Irish dancing with Stefano from Pisa. Needless to say, the following day was quiet! Adrian fell asleep in the bar on his night out [Adrian: it was 1AM and it gives you some idea how interesting the night was], so I was voted best wingman by Peadar. Whoo hoo! :)

On our 'admin' (errand-running) day we popped to Agios Georgious, a very cute fishing village for a late lunch over-looking the little harbour and to pick up some delicious local sweets (great tip thank you Tracey and Roy!) before heading back to Coral Bay, our regular swimming spot, for a sunset dip. The sea looked pink in the light; just beautiful! I decided it was time to get out when something nibbled on my ankle. The sea is full of amazing creatures, but I am not so fond of being reminded of their presence like that!

On our last day we drove to Lefkosia, the capital, which is a divided city. We spent our time in the walled old town wandering around the little streets and crossed the Green Line from the Republic into the Turkish side of the city at Ledras Street, a pedestrian border crossing. At passport control we heard the call to prayer and some of the first advertising that greeted us was for Efes (Turkish beer). It was just like being in Turkey again! [Adrian: Efes is still rubbish though]

The Turkish side is interesting and much poorer. We visited the big mosque, which is inside a beautiful old church and saw a whirling dervish performance. Eleanor and Leo both enjoyed seeing the whirling dervish there were loud choruses of 'bravo' at the end. Fortunately it was fairly empty and we were sitting by ourselves towards the back, so when Eleanor attempted a whirling dervish of her own mid-show (only to get dizzy and fall over) no one noticed and we could respond quietly to her question about why the dancers were wearing 'buckets' on their heads.

We have taken the opportunity of a good few days in one location to do some repairs. Adrian saw a hospital who didn't help, then a doctor who did for a blocked ear (turned out to be an infection) that had been bothering him and I got new glasses as Eleanor broke the arm on my old ones in Selcuk (there has been a very stylish sellotape fix for the past couple of weeks).

I think one of the (many) reasons that Cyprus has been so relaxing is familiarity. Almost everyone speaks English, they drive on the left, we have been able to top up on football (almost every restaurant and bar screens Premiership games) and we enjoyed the British radio station for its great music and news of the UK with a local twist.

We thoroughly enjoyed our stay in Cyprus; we left feeling rested, recharged and ready for Sri Lanka. Thank you again to Tracey, Roy and Ramsay for letting us borrow your lovely apartment. It was the perfect half way stop! If anyone ever wants to enquire about renting the place we stayed we'd be very happy (and just a little envious) to put you in touch with the owners.