Faros Holiday Village Larnaca

... entirely new world that is unexpected and a real sensory overload. I can't even describe the poverty on the Turkish side compared to the Greek side and I can't imagine what life must have been like all those years of war, genocide and then being cut off from the world. I can't imagine life there now for that matter. But for now it's just an interesting way to spend an afternoon scouring the last divided capital city in the world for insights into life ...

... this place is a very hard nut to crack. Three highly drunk Russian guys sat behind me on the plane and I thought how odd they would be heading here. I land at the airport and discover that airlines from Ukraine, Belarus, Russia and more serve Larnaca and this is Russian holiday hell. Yep, Russians outnumber me 100 to .5. I say .5 because I am half Russian and I can't really bash on my people too hard. We'll just say they are slumming it with me outside the ...

... tacky racy lingerie, all proudly displayed on clear plastic hangers. It's like the perfect dessert after shopping for your pleasures in Billa. Maybe our friend from Finland could stop by Sofia on her way home and try out her newfound "prettiness" as she called it.

I've left all that shopping madness behind and have made it to Larnaca, Cypress. I've got plenty of time here to explore and see what this desert island has to offer.

All packing and cleaning is underway !!! Only 36 or so hours left before we hit the tarmac at Larnaca !! Just need to get the dog wormed and de-flead (not that he has them !), groomed and then buy him a travel box for the flight !

Fingers crossed all our accommodation arrangements have been made for Athens and Samothraki !

... all just fit and seemed perfect. On the return to Paphos we spotted
the spot where Aphrodite was born from the sea and her temple up on a
cliff. It was a very long day but one filled with several
interesting sites. I almost forgot...in Larnaka we happened upon the
church of St.. Lazarus where he was finally laid to rest.

... and old buildings. We
began to come across check-points to cross the green line. For those
of you who are unaware, Nicosia is the last divided capitol in the
world. Half of it is on the Turkish side of Cyprus and half on the
former Greek side. For years it was very difficult to cross from one
side to the other but fortunately regulations have eased and it was
easy to pass through. This meant the first half of the afternoon was
in Cyprus and the second ...

... days to clean up. Every time we thought we'd cleaned it all, we'd spot another drop! Anyway, not to worry, Hugh came out of hospital the next day and has since made a full recovery, with just a splint on his arm to get a tiny bit of sympathy from passers by! A little inforamtion about Cyprus, then! Known as the island of Aphrodite, Cyprus lies at the crossroads of three continents, where east meets west. You will find it floating on the waters of ...

... is certainly a great place to vacation in the early fall. Late October and early November was still quite warm to our standards, but the tourist season was over for Eurpeans so it was a good place to vacation as it was moderately priced.

Leg three finds us in Larnaca. It will be 2 pm Cyprus time (5 am Edmonton time). The weather forecast says it will be 33 degrees when we land. Apparently you have to add 5 to 10 degrees for Nicosia because it is inland. We will let you know. We will just stay in a hotel so we can rest before we go to our new home in Nicosia.

... Sunday afternoon without the cold and drizzle. More climbing brought me to 1800m above sea level and a significantly cooler and greener landscape. The mountains benefit from a covering of pine trees and lining the roads are a mix of almond, cherry trees and vineyards. The mountain villages clearly cater for tourists, and judging by the number of cars with red number plates to signify a hire car, the few ...