Blogs from Cyprus, Middle East - page 15

Advertisement

Middle East » Cyprus » Paphos » Polis May 4th 2011

The owner of our hotel in Polis doesn't seem to like me a whole lot. He's friendly with J., but when he looks at me, he squints, sending me waves that seem to express: "I know what you're up to. We don't take kindly to people like you around here." He must have me confused with someone else. He offers us a drink, or some sweets? twice and we say no thank you, waiting for him to hand over the key, so we can retreat to our room. We go for a little walk around town and find that it's neat, but not much to speak of, which is good, for we are in search of peace and quiet. When we get to the centre, there are cafés, restaurants and sports pubs lining the tiny pedestrian ... read more
Akamas Peninsula scenery
Lord Satan skanking
Brits will be Brits

Middle East » Cyprus » Nicosia » Pedoulas April 30th 2011

We arrive at Larnaca airport at 2am, one of the worst possible times to land somewhere. First thing we do is compare car rental agencies, good that six of them are there and operating at this time of the night. We choose not the cheapest one, but the one with the most competent and trustworthy salesman, who offers us a decent package for six days. Our car is an orange Kia Picanto, and despite my initial scepticism, it turns out to be an alright car for our purposes. Getting used to left-hand driving again takes maybe 10 minutes, during which I have a mild freak-out, further fueled by heavy fatigue. When I have to make the first turn, I get confused and start screaming: "Aaarrrgggh!!! WHERE DO I GO??? WHAT DO I DO???? WHERE AM I?????" ... read more
Nice detail in Kolossi Castle
Wild flower
Great view over the Troödos Massif at sunrise

Middle East » Cyprus February 26th 2011

It’s hard to come to Cyprus and ignore the fact that the island is split in two. On the southern side you have the Greek-Cypriots and on the northern side you have the Turkish- Cypriots, all separated by the so-called Green Line. No there is no physical green line, it’s named so because of a General Young of the British Army who used a green pencil to identify a division of political and social unrest during the 1960’s. By 1974, the line had become the permanent border between the two. The Green Line runs from one side of the island to another, in some places by walls and sentry posts, in others merely a thin strip of barbed wire – either way it’s a glaring sign that even the most peaceful of islands can fall victim ... read more
A room with a view on the Green Line
The boy who loved his bird
More flags and tributes to the greats of history

Middle East » Cyprus February 14th 2011

As part of any Cyprus jaunt one has to include old stuff – and include old stuff we have. Cyprus thanks to its location has always been popular amongst tourists. And by tourists we mean the Romans, Venetians, Ottomans as well as those who come every year from Germany and Sweden. For centuries the island has been the hang out of choice thanks to its proximity between Europe, Asia and Africa not to mention the glorious weather, chilled out locals and resources. As a result souvenirs have been left behind. And now that we are full blown explorers we went off to investigate said souvenirs. We ventured off towards the western side of the island through the touristy city of Limassol – which apart from the old town and castle can be avoided at all costs ... read more
Pondering life as a Roman
One of thousands found at Kolossi
The once impressive town

Middle East » Cyprus » Kyrenia October 30th 2010

Dusty Roads It is strangely apt, I think, that Cyprus sits between the two continents of Europe and Asia- a Eurasian country with a Middle Eastern tag makes for a strategic, interesting placing. Reluctant indecision, is how I romanticise it. It's enclosed by the continents, shackled by the warming Mediterranean Sea, glared down at by the heat that moves only in that latitude. ... read more

Middle East » Cyprus » Kyrenia October 28th 2010

WEDNESDAY 6 OCTOBER, 2010. Alarm set for 0615 hours. We needed to be up and back to Nicosia for 0800 hrs if we could. The Dome Hotel was obviously a very grand place in it’s day, but isn’t at it’s best just now. It has a Casino, which I would guess was pretty smart. Breakfast was from 0700 and we were down about that time. Pat had some cereal, I had some toast and coffee. While Pat was finishing breakfast I went to pay the bill, but my usual credit card wouldn't work. I used another which was OK, cost 193 YTL. Back to the room to collect our belongings. Then off. At the car park to the Hotel the gate was locked so I had to go back into the reception to get someone to ... read more

Middle East » Cyprus » Paphos October 27th 2010

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
Kyrenia
Kyrenia

Middle East » Cyprus » Nicosia September 12th 2010

September 11-12, 2010 Yesterday we went for a historical tour of the city of Nicosia. Our tour guide was this adorable Cypriot women who had a pink umbrella to block the sun and a matching pink dress. She talked to us about how very old Nicosia is. It is one of the oldest continually inhabited cities in the world, for about 5,000 years! She also told us about the architecture and why some of the doorways are shaped in arches and some are rounded. Particularly when it comes to churches. She said the orthodox church used the rounded doorways and the other Christians that came later used the peaked. It was fascinating to hear how during the ottoman rule the doorways were made low and squared and balconies were made enclosed; to protect the women on ... read more
foot ball
Nicosia
Nicosia

Middle East » Cyprus » Nicosia September 10th 2010

Arrived to my new city yesterday! It was so hot coming out of the airport in Larnaca. Some of my new classmates were already there and we all had to wait a couple of hours to go to our new homes in Nicosia. My apartment, which I share with 3 other girls is so nice. It really reminds me of resort condo. There are 2 balconies and nice tile/stone floors. I feel so grateful! Today a bunch of us took an impromptu trip to the city center and got a view of the Venetian walls that surround the city's center. I feel pretty inept not knowing Greek. I am going to take Greek 101 as soon as classes start in a couple of weeks. Every time I learn a phrase- I seem to forget it an ... read more

Middle East » Cyprus » Larnaca July 28th 2010

Our surprise destination: cyprus. We didnt decide o do this part of the trip ahead of time. We thought we's want to spend a few more days at the end of the tour in egypt, but we knew early on that we didnt. Also because of the constant travelling we thought it would be nice to hit the beach for a bit. Cyprus is pretty close to egypt and a friend of ours on the tour knew someon who loved it so we booked our flights and it was easy .  Today was quite an uneventful travel day.  We were dropped off by taxi at the bus station and we took the VIP bus (safe for tourists or for people who wanted to pay more for a nicer coach) to the Cairo airport. We were ... read more




Tot: 0.122s; Tpl: 0.006s; cc: 11; qc: 83; dbt: 0.0646s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1; ; mem: 1.3mb