Cyprus, A Harbour

Today is the final day of my staying in Cyprus. The only thing I regret about is that I cannot stay here any longer. I would say, that 7 days are not enough to feel the atmosphere of this wonderful island. Next time I will come here for at least two weeks. At the same time, I have had a rich excursion program and have seen many thrilling places. The nature, undoubtedly, is the main attraction of this country.

Having had my breakfast, I left my luggage at the reception and went to the center of Paphos. As usual, I had a walk along seafront. Later I bought a cup of morning coffee at Starbucks and continued my airing. I also dropped in at souvenirs shops in order to buy more presents for my friends.

Occasionally, in harbour I met a Bulgarian artist Boris, who was selling his watercolour paintings. I had a small talk with him and then purchased some recognizable illustrations of Cyprus, which I still admire.

I have worked up an appetite by walking, so I went to familiar to me Blue Mare restaurant. Here I ordered Swordfish, which was really delicious. Unfortunately, I had a limited time before my departure, so I was in hurry and rushed to the bus station. Luckily, the buses run regularly, and I was just on time at the hotel. However, the transfer was late, and I could relax.

On my way back I saw people who flew with me on the plane before. They have stayed here for one week as me, but I could clearly see their satisfied and tanned faces.

At the airport of Larnaka I visited duty free shop and spent the last euros for Commandaria, which is the famous sweet dessert wine. Looking ahead, I have to admit that the wine was truly appreciated by my colleagues. But there is one useful advice: it should be served cold by all means.

The return flight on the half empty plane was successful, so I arrived home safe and sound. Home, sweet home.

Cyprus, Troodos Mountains

Today I have an excursion to Troodos Mountains with visiting one of the wealthiest and well-known monasteries in Cyprus - Kykkos Monastery.
The highest peak of Troodos is Olympus, at 1952 metres. However, we climbed at 1700 metres above the sea. The serpentine road into mountains was incredibly picturesque, so we had several stops to take some unforgettable photos.

Here and there I could see vineyards. I also noticed that pine trees are spreading here everywhere. In mountains, they have a lot of reservoirs, which are filled by rainwater to be used later. By the way, the question of fresh water is really severe on the island, and sometimes, when there is not enough snow in mountains, they have to use the desalters, which are very expensive.

Today I have learnt another word in Greek. It is 'Yasas', which means 'hello' and 'bye-bye' at the same time. Moreover, you can say 'Yasas!' (as 'Cheers!') when you drink with other people.

Now we are at Kykkos Monastery, that was found at the end of the 11th century. First, you can find here the miracle icon of Virgin Mary. This icon remains hidden behind a protective covering, and nobody is allowed to look at it. The monastery is also famous for the fact that the first president of Cyprus Archbishop Makarios III started his career here as a monk in 1926.

As a tradition, every excursion in Cyprus involves visiting a winery, where you can try and buy some wine. This time I had no intention to buy anything, however, many tourists did.

The excursion ended with visiting the charming village Omodos, the traditional settlement with amazing traditional buildings. Local people could preserve its old beaty with the tiled roofs, the picturesque upper storeys, the flowery yards, the wooden doors and the variously decorated gateways. People say that this village has absolutely Cypriot character.

Tonight we have had the fire show at the hotel. There was only one man, who performed the tricks with fire, sharp nails and broken glass. Not bad, but nothing extraordinary.

Cyprus, Handicraft

Today I travel with Ruslan Travel company. We are going to visit some villages in the area of Paphos. Actually, I was the first person who joined the trip, so I was able to choose the best place in the bus. By the way, it was a minibus because of the extremely narrow streets, which do not let to get to these villages easily and to cover all the places by a big transport.

The excursion was bilingual, and there were the English and Russian people on board. So, we had two guides who spoke English and Russian, but I could understand both of them, and that is why I learned the given information very well.

These days, the inhabitants speak Greek on the island. However, they have their own dialect.
The first word in Greek, which I have learned here, was 'Kalimere' or 'Good Morning'. I used this greeting all the time during our excursion when meeting local people.

The first place, which we visited during our trip, was a pottery workshop. This pottery runs by a Cypriot family. They started the business in the north of the island, but after occupation by Turkey they had to move to the South, to Paphos. They admit that there is no clay here, and they have to bring it from Italy or Germany.

While moving to another village we were told about some curios facts from the Cyprus's life. For example, electricity is extremely expensive here. So, it is widely spread to have deposit water and solar panels on the roof of the houses to cut down expenses. It was also interesting to find out that there is no point in owning a house close to the sea. Mostly because of humidity and salt, which damage the building. And this is why the European people prefer to settle in the mountains. Interestingly, the most popular names in Cyprus are Andreas, Georgos, Maria and Helena.

So, we arrived to the house of the family, who make the bamboo baskets. It is sad to know, that this is an endangered craft now.
Well, we were met by the old man and woman. The old lady demonstrated the process of creating a basket. Meanwhile, the old man treated us with candies and biscuits. Very nice.

It is ridiculous that there are so many churches on the island. In one village can be located up to 5 churches. Today we visited only one church 'Church of Saint Kirikos and Ioulitis'.

Later we went to a cheese factory. That was a small factory, where we could watch the process of producing goat's cheese, and at the end we tried the original cheese Haloumi. The characteristic feature of this cheese is that it can be grilled or fried without melting. Tasty.

After the great walking, we had a great lunch at home restaurant. The hostess was a really nice woman Maria, who was genuinely happy to meet the guests. We paid for the traditional meal only 12 euro, which included wine, coffee and desserts. And it was indisputably delicious.

After lunch we moved to another village to see how local people weave. There was also a small museum, which we could visit for free and see alive silkworms. Of course, it was possible to obtain some handmade goods, but I abstained from doing it.

Finally, we were driven to a winery, were we offered to taste a wide range of alcohol. I could not help buying a bottle of dry white wine.

The excursion was really worthy: the guides, the local people and the places, which we had visited, were just perfect. However, I was not exhausted during this long trip.

To conclude, I would mention that Cyprus is undoubtedly a wonderful place. So many people say that there is a special atmosphere here, and this is why they come back here again and again. For example, I have met a woman, who told me that she had visited Cyprus 14 times already.

I would say, that I was not mistaken with the time for travelling to Cyprus. I can assure, that April and May is the best time to travel here, because everything is in blossom: olive and almond trees, pomegranates, different kinds of flowers etc.

When I returned to the hotel, I went to the sea shore. I was sitting on the bank observing a fascinating sunset. That day the sun disappeared at 20:00.