Cyprus, Part 1

Since we are planning to be in the Schwegen Region of Europe for longer than 90 days we needed to leave the region for a country that is not a member  so we decided to head for the island of Cyprus for two weeks so we could continue travelling through some other countries on our list. 

So where is Cyprus? 

It is the island you see in the eastern most part of the Mediterranean Sea, just off the coast of Syria, Turkey and Lebanon. It is the furthest point we will be going East and as can be seen from the map a far distance from where we started in Portugal.

We flew from Athens into Larnaca on the south of the island and were picked up by our host, Olga whose apartment we will be staying in for the whole time we were there. We decided that we would use this stop as a good rest point and not move around much. We thought the weather would be hot enough for beach time but unfortunately we were wrong and the weather was not the greatest.

Our home for two weeks...

We stayed in a small town just outside Larnaca called Orkolini which has two parts, the Village in the mountains and the beach strip down below. We were across the street from the beach which even though it was chilly we walked almost every day.

 This was the view from our patio...

 

The beach was quite long so we had many good walks. Some days the wind was calm, but most days there was wind and more wind...

There were days we thought we would blow away...

 

We consoled ourselves by saying at least it wasn't a " Nor easterner" bringing snow but these guys were enjoying the surf...

One day we took the bus in to the city of Larnaca to see the sights and have a walk about...

The first thing we saw as we made our way from the bus to the city was Europe Square which is an open space with some of Larnaca’s earliest British colonial buildings from the 19th century. Dating back to 1879, they mark the arrival of the British Empire in the city.

Larnaca is the third largest city in Cyprus with a population of approximately 72,000 people and like most of the country is on the seaside with long beaches fronting the Main Street. It was sunny that day so there were people out enjoying the beach...

This area is quite modern with lots of hotels and restaurants lining the street 

Also quite a long promenade 

People out enjoying the sun...

At one end of the beach is Larnaca Fort  built between 1382 and 1398 during the region of James-I in order to protect the town's harbour.

The fort was used as a prison in the first year of British rule. Because of its historic importance, many rooms have been transformed into a museum.

Just a couple streets back from the ocean you step into the older section of the city...

 

Don checking out the shops...

One of the most famous landmarks here is the Church of Saint Lazarus....

The Church of Saint Lazarus is named after Lazarus of Bethany, who was raised by Jesus from the dead. It was built in the 9th century to house the tomb of Lazarus who came here in 33AD and became the First Bishop and Patron Saint.  

It is built of brick inside but still has beautiful gold altars and lovely chandeliers as with all the Orthodox churches we have seen...

There were many worshippers there when we visited and they all made a trip to the crypt below where the tomb is located...

 

Larnaca is a city that is a mixture of old and New with lots of cool cafes...

 International brands...

The city receives a lot of visitors and seems like a nice city to spend some time but we were quite happy in our little town.

Another day we decided to walk up the hill 3 km to the village where we managed to get lost both going and coming and ended up in some field in the middle of nowhere...

One of the things we noticed in Cyprus was the large size of the houses and just how prosperous everything looked...

It seems as everyone drove high end cars and dressed very well, in fact Cyprus is a very developed country that is doing well economically after its collapse in 2013.

In the village we stopped at a British pub for lunch, there are many British residents living here...

Another day we had some of the best fish and chips ever at another British takeout...

One of the interesting things we learned here was the number of Russians who call Cyprus their home. We both had 5 Euro haircuts by a Russian lady called Natalya, there were Russian restaurants, Karoke bars and so on. 

The great cafe we visited everyday was also full of Russian speakers and Russian newspapers...

When we asked about it we were told that a lot of Russians came to Cyprus to invest in businesses as well as to hold their monies in Cyprus banks. In Limmossol which is another city in Cyprus there are so many Russian people that it is now called Limassolgrad.

The other city is Cyprus is called Nicosia and it is the capital city and also the only divided city in the world as  one side belongs to Cyprus and the other side belongs to Turkey. We took a bus there, about an hour's drive and went across the border between the two sides....

Here is Don crossing the border, all we had to do was to show our passports on each side on the way in and on the way out...

The city was divided following violent clashes between the Turkish and Greek Cypriots, according to the story a United Nations officer using a green pen drew an arbitrary line through the map creating The GreeN Line. So not only is the city divided, but so is the whole country creating a north and south side of the island.

As we crossed over the first thing we noticed were the Turkish flags flying everywhere...

It also appeared to be less prosperous than the south side of the city...

However it felt a lot like Turkey with a market...

Yummy Turkish Delight...

And groups having Turkish coffee...

There were lots of tour groups going through the market and like us stopped for some Effe beer at a sunny cafe...

We made a stop as well at The Selimiye Mosque which is housed in the largest and oldest surviving Gothic church in Cyprus.It was originally a Roman Catholic Catherderal which was conquered by the Ottomans and turned into a Muslim place of worship. 

Outside it looks like a Catholic Church...

With minarets added on...

Inside...

A few other shots from this side before we headed back over the border....

The city was filled with schoolchildren on tours, this group was singing what sounded like London Bridge is Falling Down.

And finally a hopeful sign near the border...