Friday, 9 November 2012
Thursday, 8 November 2012
Sri Lanka: Anuradhapura and Leo's second birthday
After a few in Sri Lanka we already love it. When we arrive somewhere new I am often disoriented for a couple of days as my senses go into overdrive trying to figure out all the unfamiliar sights, sounds, smells, tastes etc. In Sri Lanka this reaction has been reasonably mild thank goodness!
We arrived at Colombo airport at 3.30am and were met in the arrivals
hall by Rolland, the driver from our guest house, who tool us straight to Anuradhupura, skipping the other first stops we had considered, Negombo and Colombo. It took almost four hours to cover the 150km drive; the roads range from well-sealed to unsealed and dreadfully potholed (think moguls!) and everything in between.
We arrived immediately after a storm and there were trees uprooted or with broken branches along the coastal road. In Sri Lanka, cars are easily outnumbered by tuk tuks, motorbikes (some carrying four-person families), small trucks, minivans and buses than cars. Road workers often wear hard hats or sunhats and jandals/flip flops, high vis jackets seem to be optional. The roads can be a touch mad, so we
were happy to have such a careful driver.
Our first impressions are of a green and beautiful country with incredibly happy people; everyone you meet, even in the street, flashes you a huge smile. There is rice growing everywhere and most of the work is done by hand or with small machines, so is very labour intensive. It is one of those wonderful places where nature is not completely paved over, even in the towns (those we have seen so far at least); soil and dust creep onto the roadside and plants grow out of little cracks.
When it rains here it really rains and there is suddenly water everywhere, although it is monsoon season so this should not be a surprise! The bottoms of the external walls of many houses along the road are stained red from the soil after previous floods. We have been very lucky with the weather so far, apart from our first day, the days are very hot and brilliantly sunny and it has only rained at night.
Little Paradise, our guest house in Anuradhapura, is a family-run business and we were made to feel at home immediately. They took us straight to our room at 9am, so we all tumbled into bed for a good sleep.
That afternoon we popped into Anuradhapura city to hunt for supplies
for Leo's birthday the following day.
It is hard to believe that Leo is already two! We had a little breakfast celebration with hooters, balloons, a couple of small presents and a chocolate cake with candles. We spent the day travelling by tuk tuk (or tick tock to Eleanor and Leo, who have discovered a new favourite mode of transport) with a helpful driver Adid, around the ancient city of Anuradhupura visiting huge 900
year-old dagobas and the sacred bhodi tree. Leo loved all the birthday
fuss, especially chocolate cake at breakfast, and had lots of fun wildlife-spotting with Eleanor at the sites. So far we have seen monkeys, little lizards, an iguana, a snake, fish, cows, stripy squirrel-like animals, a mongoose, elephants (from a distance) and lots of different birds. Not to mention all the stray dogs and cats everywhere. We have now added monkeys, snakes and lizards to the list of 'street' animals we can look at, but not touch.
There is a bit of debate on travel forums at the moment as to whether
it is worth visiting Anuradhapura now that the government have done away with the round trip ticket (which covered six of the most important ancient sites at discounted rate), so you pay individually to enter each site; at USD25/30 per adult for the big attractions it is not cheap! We thought it was impressive and worthwhile, although if you come expecting something like Angkor Wat in Cambodia you may be disappointed.
We ate at the guest house each evening; delicious home cooked Sri Lankan food with spicy dishes for the grown ups and mild options for Eleanor and Leo. One morning the owner asked Eleanor what she likes to eat; the response was pasta (no surprises there!) and that evening there was a dish of pasta at dinner. We were incredibly well looked after.
Mihintale is another ancient site about 10kms from Anuradhapura. We visited with Adid in the late afternoon and watched the sunset from the dagoba at the top of the hill. The forest setting is beautiful and we enjoyed wandering around the ruins later in the day when it is cooler before heading to the top of the hill. The sunset was lovely, although low cloud meant we couldn't see it drop below the horizon.
Eleanor and Leo loved riding in the tuk tuk after dark and when Adid put dance remixes on the radio, the whole family had a back-seat rave! After a quick photo trip to some of the Anuradhapura dagobas, which are lit up at night, we returned to an anniversary party for two other couples staying at the guest house. There was a delicious meal, more balloons, live music and even a delicious chocolate cake. Everyone staying there joined in and we all had a great time.
We visited another ancient city, Polonnarwua, on a day trip from
Anuradhapura. It was a long drive, more to do with the roads than the
distance, but definitely worthwhile. It is a more varied site than Anuradhapura, with a range of different buildings in a beautiful forest setting. Towards the end of the day, Eleanor was walking just behind me exclaiming loudly that she she didn't want to see another Buddha; when I looked around she was walking next to a monk!
On one of our first days we had walked past a school/nursery and Adrian asked whether Eleanor and Leo, who haven't seen a playground in a while, could come in for a play. The answer was yes so we went in and they had a fantastic time. The head teacher invited us to return a couple of days later when she had a session with younger children (around Eleanor and Leo's ages) who would be preparing their end-of-term dance, so we went back for an hour or so on our last morning. It is a simple school where they teach in English, but it is reasonably well-resourced and has very happy children. Eleanor and Leo had fun in the play area and drawing with the other children. We even got to watch a little of the dance rehearsal. It was a special to experience even briefly a school so different, but similar, to our own.
That afternoon we said farewell to Little Paradise and Rolland drove us from Anuradhapura to Dambulla, our next stop.
We arrived at Colombo airport at 3.30am and were met in the arrivals
hall by Rolland, the driver from our guest house, who tool us straight to Anuradhupura, skipping the other first stops we had considered, Negombo and Colombo. It took almost four hours to cover the 150km drive; the roads range from well-sealed to unsealed and dreadfully potholed (think moguls!) and everything in between.
We arrived immediately after a storm and there were trees uprooted or with broken branches along the coastal road. In Sri Lanka, cars are easily outnumbered by tuk tuks, motorbikes (some carrying four-person families), small trucks, minivans and buses than cars. Road workers often wear hard hats or sunhats and jandals/flip flops, high vis jackets seem to be optional. The roads can be a touch mad, so we
were happy to have such a careful driver.
Our first impressions are of a green and beautiful country with incredibly happy people; everyone you meet, even in the street, flashes you a huge smile. There is rice growing everywhere and most of the work is done by hand or with small machines, so is very labour intensive. It is one of those wonderful places where nature is not completely paved over, even in the towns (those we have seen so far at least); soil and dust creep onto the roadside and plants grow out of little cracks.
When it rains here it really rains and there is suddenly water everywhere, although it is monsoon season so this should not be a surprise! The bottoms of the external walls of many houses along the road are stained red from the soil after previous floods. We have been very lucky with the weather so far, apart from our first day, the days are very hot and brilliantly sunny and it has only rained at night.
Little Paradise, our guest house in Anuradhapura, is a family-run business and we were made to feel at home immediately. They took us straight to our room at 9am, so we all tumbled into bed for a good sleep.
That afternoon we popped into Anuradhapura city to hunt for supplies
for Leo's birthday the following day.
It is hard to believe that Leo is already two! We had a little breakfast celebration with hooters, balloons, a couple of small presents and a chocolate cake with candles. We spent the day travelling by tuk tuk (or tick tock to Eleanor and Leo, who have discovered a new favourite mode of transport) with a helpful driver Adid, around the ancient city of Anuradhupura visiting huge 900
year-old dagobas and the sacred bhodi tree. Leo loved all the birthday
fuss, especially chocolate cake at breakfast, and had lots of fun wildlife-spotting with Eleanor at the sites. So far we have seen monkeys, little lizards, an iguana, a snake, fish, cows, stripy squirrel-like animals, a mongoose, elephants (from a distance) and lots of different birds. Not to mention all the stray dogs and cats everywhere. We have now added monkeys, snakes and lizards to the list of 'street' animals we can look at, but not touch.
There is a bit of debate on travel forums at the moment as to whether
it is worth visiting Anuradhapura now that the government have done away with the round trip ticket (which covered six of the most important ancient sites at discounted rate), so you pay individually to enter each site; at USD25/30 per adult for the big attractions it is not cheap! We thought it was impressive and worthwhile, although if you come expecting something like Angkor Wat in Cambodia you may be disappointed.
We ate at the guest house each evening; delicious home cooked Sri Lankan food with spicy dishes for the grown ups and mild options for Eleanor and Leo. One morning the owner asked Eleanor what she likes to eat; the response was pasta (no surprises there!) and that evening there was a dish of pasta at dinner. We were incredibly well looked after.
Mihintale is another ancient site about 10kms from Anuradhapura. We visited with Adid in the late afternoon and watched the sunset from the dagoba at the top of the hill. The forest setting is beautiful and we enjoyed wandering around the ruins later in the day when it is cooler before heading to the top of the hill. The sunset was lovely, although low cloud meant we couldn't see it drop below the horizon.
Eleanor and Leo loved riding in the tuk tuk after dark and when Adid put dance remixes on the radio, the whole family had a back-seat rave! After a quick photo trip to some of the Anuradhapura dagobas, which are lit up at night, we returned to an anniversary party for two other couples staying at the guest house. There was a delicious meal, more balloons, live music and even a delicious chocolate cake. Everyone staying there joined in and we all had a great time.
We visited another ancient city, Polonnarwua, on a day trip from
Anuradhapura. It was a long drive, more to do with the roads than the
distance, but definitely worthwhile. It is a more varied site than Anuradhapura, with a range of different buildings in a beautiful forest setting. Towards the end of the day, Eleanor was walking just behind me exclaiming loudly that she she didn't want to see another Buddha; when I looked around she was walking next to a monk!
On one of our first days we had walked past a school/nursery and Adrian asked whether Eleanor and Leo, who haven't seen a playground in a while, could come in for a play. The answer was yes so we went in and they had a fantastic time. The head teacher invited us to return a couple of days later when she had a session with younger children (around Eleanor and Leo's ages) who would be preparing their end-of-term dance, so we went back for an hour or so on our last morning. It is a simple school where they teach in English, but it is reasonably well-resourced and has very happy children. Eleanor and Leo had fun in the play area and drawing with the other children. We even got to watch a little of the dance rehearsal. It was a special to experience even briefly a school so different, but similar, to our own.
That afternoon we said farewell to Little Paradise and Rolland drove us from Anuradhapura to Dambulla, our next stop.
Wednesday, 7 November 2012
2012 10 Peyia, Cyprus
2012 10 Peyia, Cyprus, a set on Flickr.
85 photos from our time staying in Peyia, Cyprus. Includes Paphos and Nicosia. Click on the link to see all 85.
Thursday, 1 November 2012
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.
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.
2012 10 Ayia Napa and Lemesos, Cyprus
2012 10 Ayia Napa and Lemesos, Cyprus, a set on Flickr.
46 of the best from our 4 days in Ayia Napa and Lemesos, Cyprus. Click on the link to see them all. (Caution: lots of mosaics)Wednesday, 24 October 2012
First days in Cyprus: Agia Napa and Lemesos
It was about midnight by the time we collected our rental car and drove the 52 kilometres or so from Larnaka airport to our hotel at Agia Napa in the East. We could tell immediately that Cyprus would be a relaxing two weeks; they drive on the left and road signs are in Greek and English. Even the plugs are the UK three pins, so no need for adapters.
Agia Napa is a holiday town primarily focused on English visitors, so there is Premier League football on TV everywhere, bitters on tap in local pubs and we could have eaten English breakfasts to our hearts' content had we been that way inclined.
We had hoped to do a day trip across into the Turkish side to see Salamis, a ruined Roman city, but we were all exhausted after a day at Athens airport and late arrival, so instead we had a slow start then headed for nearby Makronissos Beach.
It is one of the most gorgeous beaches we have ever seen. Perfect golden sand and beautiful clear, warm water. The only thing I would have changed it the number of loungers, which were spread all over the beach. I think it must be school holidays in parts of the UK and Europe as there were lots of families around no doubt enjoying an escape from the autumn chill. That afternoon we stayed at the hotel enjoying the on-site pools (which included a shallow children's pool) and play ground. Two very happy children and parents!
After a swim in the pool the following morning we left for Lemesos, which is a much bigger city. We stayed across the road from the beach, so had a lovely view from our 5th floor room; although Adrian took Eleanor and Leo for a swim and reported that the beach wasn't the cleanest.
From there we visited the Crusader castle at Kalossi on our way to see the ruins of Ancient Kurion. At the castle Eleanor took Adrian and I on separate tours (we took it in turns as Leo was asleep in the car). the tour included visiting a dragon landing pad at the top of the tour, the room where princesses have their tea parties (sometimes accompanied by dragons and knights) and the place Eleanor had seen a large lizard scuttle away at great speed.
Ancient Kurion is a cliff-top Roman city with amazing views out to sea. It is an great spot for a wander around the ruins on a sunny afternoon. We enjoyed watching paragliders above the ruins, who must have had a fantastic perspective on it all. We followed it with a swim at Kurion Beach at the bottom of the hill. The sand is fine and grey, and the sea is beautifully warm. We finished off watch the stunning sun set from a restaurant on the beach with an ice cream for Eleanor and Leo and a frappe and cheese cake for the adults.
The next day we drove to Peyia near Paphos, where our lovely friends Tracey and Roy have let us stay in their apartment (nine nights = proper unpacking! Davy, I always remember you mentioning this particular luxury in your South American blog and now know exactly what you meant!). Before leaving Lemesos we visited the compact castle filled with little rooms, and another tower complete with another dragon landing pad.
On our way to Peyia we visited a donkey sanctuary in the foothills of the Troodos Mountains; Eleanor and Leo loved it, especially because they got to touch a donkey's nose. We attempted to stop in at a vineyard not far up the road from the sanctuary to pick up some local wine, only to discover the three we saw were all closed.
There is a lot to see around Paphos, so we won't be spending all day beside the pool with a Keo, but we definitely intend to relax and recharge our batteries. Thank you very much Tracey and Roy for giving us this opportunity, it is greatly appreciated!
Agia Napa is a holiday town primarily focused on English visitors, so there is Premier League football on TV everywhere, bitters on tap in local pubs and we could have eaten English breakfasts to our hearts' content had we been that way inclined.
We had hoped to do a day trip across into the Turkish side to see Salamis, a ruined Roman city, but we were all exhausted after a day at Athens airport and late arrival, so instead we had a slow start then headed for nearby Makronissos Beach.
It is one of the most gorgeous beaches we have ever seen. Perfect golden sand and beautiful clear, warm water. The only thing I would have changed it the number of loungers, which were spread all over the beach. I think it must be school holidays in parts of the UK and Europe as there were lots of families around no doubt enjoying an escape from the autumn chill. That afternoon we stayed at the hotel enjoying the on-site pools (which included a shallow children's pool) and play ground. Two very happy children and parents!
After a swim in the pool the following morning we left for Lemesos, which is a much bigger city. We stayed across the road from the beach, so had a lovely view from our 5th floor room; although Adrian took Eleanor and Leo for a swim and reported that the beach wasn't the cleanest.
From there we visited the Crusader castle at Kalossi on our way to see the ruins of Ancient Kurion. At the castle Eleanor took Adrian and I on separate tours (we took it in turns as Leo was asleep in the car). the tour included visiting a dragon landing pad at the top of the tour, the room where princesses have their tea parties (sometimes accompanied by dragons and knights) and the place Eleanor had seen a large lizard scuttle away at great speed.
Ancient Kurion is a cliff-top Roman city with amazing views out to sea. It is an great spot for a wander around the ruins on a sunny afternoon. We enjoyed watching paragliders above the ruins, who must have had a fantastic perspective on it all. We followed it with a swim at Kurion Beach at the bottom of the hill. The sand is fine and grey, and the sea is beautifully warm. We finished off watch the stunning sun set from a restaurant on the beach with an ice cream for Eleanor and Leo and a frappe and cheese cake for the adults.
The next day we drove to Peyia near Paphos, where our lovely friends Tracey and Roy have let us stay in their apartment (nine nights = proper unpacking! Davy, I always remember you mentioning this particular luxury in your South American blog and now know exactly what you meant!). Before leaving Lemesos we visited the compact castle filled with little rooms, and another tower complete with another dragon landing pad.
On our way to Peyia we visited a donkey sanctuary in the foothills of the Troodos Mountains; Eleanor and Leo loved it, especially because they got to touch a donkey's nose. We attempted to stop in at a vineyard not far up the road from the sanctuary to pick up some local wine, only to discover the three we saw were all closed.
There is a lot to see around Paphos, so we won't be spending all day beside the pool with a Keo, but we definitely intend to relax and recharge our batteries. Thank you very much Tracey and Roy for giving us this opportunity, it is greatly appreciated!
Tuesday, 23 October 2012
2012 10 Athens, Greece
2012 10 Athens, Greece, a set on Flickr.
79 photos from our time in Athens, Greece. Click on the link to see them all.
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