Golden Tulip Golden Bay Beach Larnaca

... etc. I didn't feel like I was anywhere special or unique as I wandered down Ledra Street which is a pedestrian shopping zone. I still hadn't found what I was looking for but wasn't leaving Cyprus until something unique to the island crossed my path. And there it was at the end of Ledra Street...the Green Line and a border checkpoint.

Now before we cross the border I need to give a brief explanation of why this country is divided into two. Cyprus ...

... sites in five minutes. Most people are here for the luxury beach enclaves further out but that is not my or my wallet's scene. So the Russians and I are sharing a neighborhood south of downtown whose "beach" is waves crashing up against the asphalt road that sits ten feet above the water. I was told that people accidently drive off the road and take the plunge from time to time. Now that would make my trip worth it to see a Mercedes butt end up in the water ...

Where Shopping is a Pleasure. Isn't that Publix's slogan? I found a grocery store called Billa where shopping may not be such a pleasure but their checkout stand can put you on a road to some. Now visualize the g rated checkout stand at Publix. All the "racy" tabloids are covered up because God forbid should someone steal a glance at Britney Spears sans panties. Besides, our magazines but a big black rectangle over anything worth looking ...

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 !

... fort ended with us parking the car and eating lunch...a mere
100 yards from the castle. From Larnaka we headed back towards
Limassol in order to visit Ancient Amathous and Kourion. Kourion,
although at the end of the journey, was perhaps my favourite. Here I
saw the ruins of the temple to Apollo as the sun was going down. It ...

... 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 ...

... Thekla on the very well-maintained dual carriageway. Nicosia is known locally as Lefkosia and is the world's last divided capital. The barbed wire and guard towers of the Green Line cut the town in two, with the northern side being the capital of the self-proclaimed Northern Cyprus and the southern half being the capital of the Republic of Cyprus. The division occurred following an attempted coup to unite the island with Greece in 1974 which led ...

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 ...

... and she finally let me through. We flew British Airways and they feed you non stop and supply you with plenty of free booze. Not a bad deal. For some reason they seated me away from my mom and Alexandra. Again, not a bad deal. So far this airline is winning major points with me. So I am in an aisle seat with a married couple sitting on the inside. They didn't speak english or greek, so I didn't have to make with the nice and ...

... your real name!) were artists who had just purchased an apartment in Limasol and were due to move in a few days. For the time being they traveled around the island on a severely restricted budget - so much so that Mike had fashioned a fantastic mug from a water bottle! Blue Peter presenter in a former life I think.. Combining our ingredients we came up with a super meal surpassed only by the quantity (not ...