Four Lanterns Hotel Larnaca

And to think yesterday my biggest worry was not seeing anything interesting at all in Cyprus. What I saw today absolutely blew me away and had everything I look for in my travels...it was gritty, raw, real and not sanitized for the tourists. To date this is the most fascinating stop on my world tour. I didn't find any natural beauty or spectacular ruins but what I did find is a pretty amazing human interest story. I feel kind of stupid now worrying about ...

... than I have spent on airfare for this trip. Public transport between the airport and downtown Larnaca where I am staying had quit for the day so I had to suck it up and take a 10 Euro taxi ride. Yep. $15 bucks down the tubes in a flash. Do you guys realize that taxi ride was more than it costs to fly Ryanair between London and Marseille or between Malta and Pisa$$$???

Funny thing is I did actually roll up into my cheap hotel in a Benz but I saved ...

... unlike here where it's all out in the open.

But back to my point...Billa provides a shopping experience I have never before seen in a supermarket. Just when I think I have seen it all, I find one of those travel experiences in some Bulgarian grocery store underground next to the subway station. All right there grouped together next to the registers (manned by dour matrons) where we would keep the tic tacs and magazines were mints ...

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 !

Sunday, July 5th, 2009
This began one of the longest driving
days of the entire trip. If you get the chance look at a map of
Cyprus. We left Nicosia and headed to Agia Napa. En route we
stopped at a fishing village and several famous beaches. From there
we headed to Larnaka where following conflicting signs to the
Larnaca, Cyprus lantian1979

... in Turkey, relatively speaking. The
Turkish side was a bit more run down, however, signs of EU
intervention abounded demonstrating new agreements and a desire to
preserve the past. We came upon the top site in Northern Nicosia,
the Selimiye Mosque which combines medieval Christian architecture
with Islamic influence to create a most stunning Mosque. While
walking around the grounds, a gentleman by the name of Rammadan
(pardon the spelling) came and spoke ...

... eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea, pointing longingly towards the shores of Syria, Turkey and Lebanon. Whilst parts of Cyprus have been overrun by keen developers if curiosity draws you out of the resorts, you'll discover small country villages and some lovely near deserted beaches. Walking in the gorgeous Troödos mountains you can inhale the scent of the citrus groves or climb to the medieval castles with their shimmering island views. Having ...

Spent a week in a resort hotel in the city of Limmosal. Toured the entire island except for the Turkish portion on the top third of Cyprus.

Most of the tourist signs are in 1) Greek 2) Russian and last but not least 3) English.

This ...

A house, 6 adults, 2 kids, 3 continents - where can they all meet? Here's where our extensive search led us - Larnaca, Cyprus. Cyprus turned out to be a beautiful place for a family vacation - warm weather (especially for April), a nice house with a pool, lots of interesting history. And of course we enjoyed being together in one place.

... 2 Euro per person, it was also the cheapest on my travels. My neigbour was one of the many UK army personal on the island and we shared a bottle of wine till it was too chilly to sit out. Donkeys Toe nails cutting Full of beans _______________________________________ ____________________ 14 Oct, Thursday Start point: Trodos Circular tour of the mountains Chatted to the other 2 campers, arranged to meet ...