Blogs from Paphos, Cyprus, Middle East - page 4

Setting the scene - October 2010 A quick update first, we have now been living in Pegeia (pronounced Peyia)since December, 2009. We had a heatwave over this summer and enjoyed several of our friends and family visiting for holidays from more Northerly climes. When we left the UK and took four months to drive over to Cyprus, the car was only one year old and did not require it's first (UK) MOT until 18 October, 2010. At which time, as we did not wish to register it in Cyprus, it would no longer have valid insurance. As the summer of 2010 rushed past Pat and I had a discussion and decided that our only sensible option was to drive the car back to England, sell it, fly back and purchase a car locally. This would then ... read more

The 24th September, 2009 was one year on, from when our journey started. What a wonderful year, with many and varied experiences. They say travel broadens the mind. I agreed with the sentiment before and even more so, now. We had decided to celebrate the day, by having a day out and visiting the monastery at Kykkos. Having looked at the map, we decided to go via Polis, not the most obvious route, but some of the roads in the mountains, we were not sure about. We set off just after nine, and headed North to Polis. The drive was uneventful and we headed East from Polis in the direction of Pafos forest. Our objectives, were to see Cedar valley, visit Kykkos monastery and find Archbishop Makarios’ tomb. The area is mountainous and the road is ... read more

Sunday 7th June, 2009 We had decided on a beach day and took a drive up to Ladies Mile Beach, just outside Limassol. The wind was kinder to us today than on our last visit and we there spent a very pleasant time soaking up the sun. I hadn’t realised how gradual the drop was and you can walk quite a way out before you achieve much depth. There were a lot more people about today. We had a lunch at the Café. Monday was a visit to the Archaeological World Heritage site just off the harbour. We saw more of the mosaics, that we missed last time. A warm day and a great place to stroll around. A very big site. We had a snack lunch in the Seagull, with a view overlooking the harbour. ... read more

We spent more time travelling around visiting places, with Pat’s mother. Friday, 15th May, we strolled around Kato Paphos, had drinks at the Seagull restaurant overlooking the Lido. Saturday, 16th May, we had a long drive out and visited Kolossi castle, and the on to Akrotiri, to look at the RAF Station. A short drive around to Ladies Mile, where Pat and her mum had a paddle in the water. Lots of time spent down memory lane again. Sunday, 17th May, 2009, Pat and her mum went to Church in the morning and then we took a drive up to Latchi, and had some lunch overlooking the harbour. Stopped at the little harbour at Agios Georgios on the way back. Monday, 18th May, 2009, a quiet day and we decided we wanted to see a proper ... read more

Following our return, we have been gradually settling further into our new life. There are a number of legal, business and personal matters that we need to sort out, not least our residency, the car, water, electricity, home internet access, finding how to best to get mail and so on. There are a number of ways of founding out information: you ask someone who has done something similar, you ask the body or organisation itself, you look at local information, advertisements can help. Sometimes, if you don�€™t want to know an answer, don�€™t ask the question, which is not a bad philosophy, but, in a country, where you haven�€™t lived before, sometimes, what isn�€™t important to you, can be very important to them, so burying your head in the sand, isn�€™t the ideal solution. One of ... read more