
What a fantastic two weeks we had in Cyprus, and what a lovely country it is. There's so much history there, some of the best archaeological sites I've ever seen. We managed to get to quite a few, having hired a car for 10 days, and it would be hard to pick just one favourite from them.
The mosaics at Paphos would be hard to beat, but so too would the subterranean Tombs Of The Kings, the early Roman examples of plumbing at Amathous, the amphitheater at Kurion and the breathtaking Sanctuary Of Apollo Hylates.
Then there's the churches and monasteries, particularly those up in the mountains. 10 of the Troodos churches are UNESCO heritage sites, and justifiably so. Most look like nothing more than a barn from outside but inside they are a wonderment of ancient frescoes and painted icons - we got to see two of them. And if frescoes and murals are your thing, and you're not put off by religious opulence, then you'll find Kykkos monastery stunning. It really did take our breath away, the phrase "jaw dropping" was invented for this place.
Natural beauties included Aphrodite's Rock (main picture), the Akamas peninsula and the countryside in general. Visiting in spring was a real boon as everywhere was a carpet of flowers (this is a field from near Amathous). I don't know all the flower varieties, but there were convolvolous and statice of various shades, poppies and gypsophila. I imagine it all looks a lot more barren by summer.
The mountains were a little disappointing, being not very scenic. Not at all like the Alps, nor even The Lake District, Wales or Scotland. They're just a bit "soft" looking, not giving at all any impression of height, the only clue to that being the chill in the air (8 up there opposed to 26 at the coast). The treasures that the mountains held though (churches, monasteries, old villages) more than made up for that, and the gentleness of the mountains made driving in them a lot easier than I'd expected.
Did I mention food yet? Food plays a big part in our holidays and the food we had on Cyprus was superb. I'd say that at least 10 of the meals we had there would rate in our list of best-ever meals, with one place in particular standing out - The 7 St. Georges in Geriskipou village. Here the only meal they serve is mezze and the dishes keep on coming until you tell them to stop. We totalled 26 dishes on our first visit and 24 on the second. Our first taste of Lebanese food too, at a place in Nicosia, proved to be quite sensational. Again we went for a mezze-style approach only this time the dishes were not mezze sized and we ended up totally stuffed!
We took one trip into the northern part of Cyprus, that part of it occupied by the Turks since 1974. We went to Famagusta, an old venitian walled city that was formerly Cyprus' main tourist resort. I'd seen a few pictures and read a few descriptions of the place and I was hoping it would be worth the long treck.
It was worth it and then some! The city is packed with huge churches in various states of repair. Some almost perfect, some totally ruined, but all immensley picturesque, especially as the rest of the city is low-rise and the ruins tower above them giving a real sense of scale. My only regreat was that the long trip gave us so little time there. Next time we'll hope to go for longer.
Before the holiday I'd wondered if I'd like Cyprus. On returning I'm wondering just how soon I can go back there.
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