Cyprus (Week 2)

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Monday 20^thFebruary 2023

After five days of Chris driving, it was good to have a break and we spent the day walking instead!! Dropped the car off in the back streets of Paphos and wended our way, via old Byzantine churches, mosaics (that we hadn’t seen before!) at Chrysopolitissa Church and St Pauls Pillar back to the Archaeological Park. We had allowed a whole day for it and kit was just as well that we did! It was huge!! The House of Dionysos is shut until Sunday, so we will probably go back and see that then. But we did see House of Aoin (Roman period) Theseus ( 2^nd – 6^th C AD) and Orpheus (2^nd/3^rd C AD) – all complete ruins with fantastic mosaic floors.

Went to the lighthouse and then onto the City Walls. Loads of bird life, including a kestrel who hung about all day, so that must be his ‘territory’!! Sat on a column for lunch watching the lizards and geckos sunning themselves! Then went to look at the Odeon and the Agora, which was the central square, and is still in the process of being excavated.

Then on to ‘Saranda Kolones’ Castle that was erected around 1200AD on the site of an earlier Byzantine Fort. It was destroyed by an earthquake in 1223 and was never rebuilt, so it didn’t last that long!!

Chris then went into the Castle on the harbour – I didn’t bother!!

Tuesday 21^st February 2023

Up early…again and got the 8.00am 610 bus up to the Old Town and waited for the Nicosia bus at 9.00am (un-numbered for some reason!!) Got to Nicosia a bit after 11.00am! Completely different to what I expected – all the city was on top the walls!! Wandered around trying to find toilets and Touist Information…….in that order!! Found both eventually after wandering around in the Old Town!!

Used the impressive town walls to orientate ourselves and soon found the Liberty Monument which was erected in 1973 to commemorate the struggle of the Greek Cypriots for liberation. The Old City is quite small so we went to Famagusta Gate (part of the City Walls!) after passing a couple of absolutely laden orange trees! I had never seen so many oranges on a tree!!

Had a quick peer at 14thC Panagia Chrysaliniotissa Church., Nicosia’s oldest church. Unfortunately we couldn’t look inside as the women had just locked it up. Then thought we would have some lunch…..and couldn’t find anywhere!!! After viewing from the outside, the Bishops Palace and the Cathedral of the Apostle Barnabas which we went inside…. Eventually found a bench to sit on and had an orange, cake and some biscuits for lunch!!

Looked at Omeriye Mosque before wending our way to the Shacolas Tower, Went up to the 11^th floor and viewed the Greek side and the Turkish Side. Walked down Ledra Street, known as murder mile during the EOKA struggle in 1950’s, and after passing the Greek border police moved onto the Turkish side! Wandered around the Turkish side, through the market, (didn’t seem very different to the Greek side!!) and onto Kyrenia Gate installed by the Venetians in 1576, Saw a monument of the Leader of the Freedom and Existence Struggle of the Turkish Cypriot People – Dr Fazil Kucuk.

Went into the 17thC Merlevi Tekke Museum, which is basically whirling Turkish Dancers!! It seemed a bit like a mausoleum with all the Dervish dancers in tombs with their relevant hats! The Merlevi were a branch of Sufi (musical) Islam founded in the 13thC.

Then walked back up to Ataturk square, with its column believed to have been taken from the old Temple of Zeus at Salamis and then went to the Arabahmet Mosque. Didn’t go inside as they had been called to prayer, but the mosque is believed to have a hair from the beard of a prophet!! Apart from seeing the Grand Turkish bath on our way back ( I’de had enough for one day – my knees certainly had!!!) and seeing turkish delight in a shop we walked to Liberty Square ready for the 5.00pm bus. The square was really futuristic – it had a ‘ bridge’ over the top of it, with crisp clear water fountains and seats!

Wednesday 22^nd February 2023

After yesterday we thought we deserved an easy day, so after getting up late (for us!!) got the 10.30 bus up to the bus station in the Old Town to get the 604 at 11.05 to the Holy Monastery of St Neophytos. Had no idea what to expect and was quite surprised to find a huge monastery!.

St Neophytos lived as a hermit in the small, natural cave, which he enlarged by removing the rock, and built the Church of the Engleistra (Enclosure), and a small cell where he also built his own tomb. He probably died in 1214 when another hermit Isaias, took it over. The frescoes were added in the 16thC!

Thought we would have a cup of coffee first – both cafes shut for the winter!! We found that out from a Monk who originally was from Hawaii, but was going in a couple of months to another monastery in Moldova!! Whatever turns you on, I suppose!! Three hours was enough up there for me although the cave was interesting!!

Had a look round the monastery and gardens, had a chat with one of the monks, walked down a road for the views, had a look at the frescoes and small caves and also the church! Still had quite a lot of time to spare so we walked down to a Cat Centre that was also shut, although quite a few cats came out to the park to see us!!

Managed to get some nuts and pomegranate juice wrapped in seeds (a Cyprus snack!!) in a shop at the monastery, that mostly sold herbs, nuts and wine, for our lunch, and then sat in the warm sunshine until it was time for the bus to arrive!!

Thursday 23^rd February 2023

Today was another easy day ( we are getting lazier!!) the Tomb of the Kings! Caught the 615 bus, and got off a stop too early – but it was all good as we booked a trip for Saturday in a little travel agents that we passed! Went into the Tomb of The Kings (free entrance for seniors again!!) , studied the map and walked around all the tombs.

The architecture of the underground funerary monuments, consist of stepped dromos, a central atrium and burial chambers. The tombs also had wells and were covered in plaster and frescoes, as they believed in life after death and they also had tables with offerings. In many cases, entrances to the various loculi imitate temple facades.

The Cemetery was used in the Hellenistic and Polemaic Periods and were probably used for the final resting places of rich citizens and high officials. I went into the first one but didn’t go into the rest of them as you could see most of them from the top, including the columns! Chris, of course, went into every single one!! There were also a lot of cairns built by walkers in the area and with the stunning blue and turquoise coves and sea, made for a wonderful setting!

Got the bus back to Paphos, and then booked on a boat trip for 2.00pm. It was just a small boat and fairly rough, with water coming over the front of the boat! Went down as far as the airport to see the coastline and a small Greek island with a flag in it!! A girl was sat next to us reading a book, no idea what language, but the book seemed upside down, back to front and she was reading it from the back cover to the front as well!! Boat trip was 1/12 hrs and it was freezing cold on the way back, but we soon warmed up back on land, to have our obligatory ice-cream!!



Friday 24^th February 2023

Caught the 9.45am bus to Larnaca from Karavella Bus Station to get to Limassol about 11.15. Pleasant surprise!! Walked around the Old Port admiring the old fishing boats and the new architecture, squares and coffee shops…and of course loads of carnival statues. Walked out on the old wooden pier and had a look along the paseo but for me, the real highlight was the Old Town and castle.

Limassol Castle is a remnant from the presence of Crusaders on the Island! It was built in the 13^th C on the site of an earlier Byzantine Castle. Went in (seniors are yet again free!!) and were immediately wowed by the basement and roof. Walked down and then though a little corridor to another curved part of the castle. All the walls have been adorned by tombstones that date back to Medieval and Venetian times and snippets of information about the gruesome times! Up onto the roof and saw the ‘Devil’ and the Water Tower built by the British in 1931 at a cost of £9000.00!

Had a look in the Old Carob Mill, built in 1900 when Cyprus used to export a lot of carob seeds, These were used to make medicine, sweets, photographic film plates, livestock feed, a thickener and stabilizer in the preparation ! of canned soups to name but a few! It is supposed to be very good for you and you can also make carob flour, high in pectin, and sometimes used for diarrhoea and stomach pain!! You can also use carob syrup as a substitute for honey. The Carob Tree is a very old species, that has survived the Ice ages and is believed to have originated in Syria! The wood has long been considered as an excellent fuel and the leaves and the bark is used for fabric dying! The seeds were used in Egypt as a weight for gold hence the name ‘carat’!! It’s a very versatile tree and Chris has some Carob powder!!

Next door to the Carob Mill was Takis Pattichis Museum of Industrial Pharmacy. Chris, of course, wanted to go in and ended up chatting to the woman about the machinery!! Apparently it’s the only one in the world and the machinery was bought as soon as the patent had run out, so all the machines dated to about 1970!

Had some delicious pumkin soup and potato skins in the Kokkalakia Street Grill, made all the better by a 6 month old kitten that sat on my lap….but disappeared when it discovered that I didn’t have anything it could eat!! It did pinch a great chunk of bread though!!

Had a quick peer at Agai Napa Church, that replaced an older 18thC Church and dedicated to The Virgin Mary, before having a wander along the Paseo looking at the various sculptures.

Had a very expensive Brandy Sour at a bar overlooking the Old Port!! Lessons learnt!! Apparently, King Farouk of Egypt, who was a muslim, but liked to have a drink! He used to go to Platres in the Troodos mountains where he discovered it he had brandy with orange and lemon in it, it looked like Green Tea!! Its now a National Drink of Cyprus!

West into the business centre where the figure of Aphrodite was sat on the roof, and after initially being told that we weren’t allowed to visit it, the doorman took pity on us and escorted us up to the 5^th floor where we had fantastic views of the city and sea ….as well as Aphrodite!!

Had 40mins or so to kill before the 5.00pm bus back so we just walked around Limassol Marina, admiring the rich mans houses and boats, and reflections in the water !!

Got back to Paphos Harbour about 7.00pm and had a meal at Hondros – the oldest traditional taverna in Paphos, that had been recommended to us by our rep! A real let down! We were shown a table (by the door) and the meal was completely ruined by people in and out about every minute, asking if they had a table ( no they didn’t. Come back in ½hr!) and people who had reservations. It felt like Picadilly Circus, certainly wasn’t relaxing and the food was just about average! You get complementary bread though ad the brandy sour is quite good!! (And cheap – in comparison!!)

Saturday 25^th February 2023

Our penultimate day! We had booked a trip on Wednesday for Saturday and the Arkamas Peninuslar – off road on land rovers!! Picked up at 8.30am and drove first of all to see the shipwreck Edra lll which had come out of Limassol with its load of plasterboard in November 2011, and got stranded on the rocks in the cove that had sea caves and monk seals !!!

Next was the highlight of the trip – The Avakas Gorge Trail! It started off quite ok along a path and then it became slippery with mud (they had rain overnight?) and rocky! We had to cross the stream 5 or 6 times so most people ended up with wet feet (We didnt as we had taken our waterproof walking boots!!) We only had time to walk to the beginning of the gorge ( I think the drivers wanted us back safely, as there were a lot of warnings about falling rocks and dangerous water in the winter!) I suppose the whole walk was about an hour so not too bad!

Off road again, across the mountains to the Baths of Aphradite which was a 15minute stop where we didn’t walk down the many steps to see, as we had seen it last week, and were completely underwhelmed!! Off road again (it was pretty bumpy this bit!!) and drove along a narrow ledge with sheer drops one side to the Blue Lagoon. It was gorgeous! A bit of a climb down (I declined!!) Chris went down! I took loads of photos from the top of lovely clear blue water. Drove back the way we had come only we met a off road buggy on the narrow bit of the ledge! He was unable to reverse so we all had to clamber out, whilst our guide drove the vehicles past. I don’t know how the buggy was going to manage as it had stalled and couldn’t go anywhere, and he had his wife and baby in the back too! So stupid! Then it was down to a restaurant for lunch, where we sat with another couple who told us that a buggy had gone over the edge a couple of years previously killing himself and both passengers!!

On towards Latri Bay and Polis before we turned up to see a couple of old villages up in the hills, Off road again, down to Adonis Baths and waterfall, which was a long way down a very twisty road!! At Adonis Baths we saw the Amphitheatre of Pampos Theodorou (Completely renovated!) the Worlds largest statue of Aphrodite (10 metres high) , Statue of Zeus and also Priabos (Big willy and tail!!) Athena – goddess of Wisdom. I had the feeling that it was all completely engineered, but it was good to see the Waterfall and the small lake. Also walked to the start of Adonis gorge but could see it was muddy so didn’t bother! Also time was running out!!

Back to our hotel 5.15pm where we had a quick look inside of the church opposite us ( Theoskepasti Church) and watched the sunset from the Harbour.

Sunday 26^th February 2023

Our pick up wasn’t until 12.20pm so we re-visited Phaphos Archaelogical Park and visited ‘ The House of Dionysos’ which was closed 18^th-25^th Feb so we were lucky it was open today!! The House of Dionysos is a luxury Roman residence built during the end of 2^ndC and was destroyed in the first half of the 4thC, probably by an earthquake. It was excavated between 1962 and 1965. Loads of mosaics, all in situ, and covered over by a shed to protect them from the sun! Amazing stuff!!

As it was a beautiful, hot, sunny day wandered back along Paphos Harbour and then had a coffee, enjoying the last of the sunshine – knowing we were going back ( only for a week!!!) back to UK and 7c through the day!!

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