Hotel Club Z Kyrenia

... I heard a thu-thunk, thu-thunk noise that kept repeating itself. I began to smell ink and there it was...an old ink printing press from about another lifetime. Remember in elementary school (if you are old enough) when teachers ran dittos off on that blue ink machine and the pages were damp and had a chemical reek? This is exactly what I found here and I was transported back a few decades in an instant.

A blue line painted down sidewalks ...

... 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 ...

... even half-way romantic and picturesque, though I'd hesitate to overstate the case. The outskirts of town are even less so, mostly semi-developed, for tourism at least, and home to pubs and discos for the world's peripatetic Brits. But northern Cyprus is a ******* state of course, so I need to go at least to Nicosia, the Greek half of the divided city it shares with Lefkosa. So I do, and just the getting ...

... above some of our homes, including Norah's Café, we decided, on our esteemed leaders advice, to walk east to west as the route overall would be easier for us in 'our out of condition state'.....what a load of rubbish!!.....it turned out to be the hardest stretch we have done to date but also the most dramatic. After a council of war it was decided to start by climbing up a boulder and scrub strewn extremely steep hillside which ...

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 ...

... leaving behind bottles and rubbish. Two or three times the bus driver had to stop to ask them to behave properly. The fist impression was bad,and not quite excited with the centre either. Probably because I tried to compare Glagow and Edinburgh. We got the Loch Ness and the Highlands tour which included Glen Coe, Lochness, Inverness, and Pitlochry. It was a whole day trip. It was fun. Did some great shopping, and said ...

... very fertile. There was the abandoned obligatory vehicle which turned out to be an old pick up truck with both front wheels missing. Back on to the dreaded tarmac for the last section to the vehicle. Passed a farmer reaping the crops which we think was barley, on a very dilapidated tractor. In the distance we could see the village of Korucam where our 'finish vehicle' was parked alongside a little church that had a small amphitheatre alongside it. Back ...

... km west of Pedoulas, one of the wealthiest and best-known monasteries in Cyprus.

The first President of Cyprus, Archibishop Makarios the 3rd started his ecclesiastical career here as a monk in 1926.His request to be buried there materialized after his deathin 1977. His tomb lies 3 km west of Kykkos monastery and remains a popular visitor destination.



KAKOPETRIA , Nicosia, Cyprus greekcypriot

... It's on the coast, is smaller than Larnaca and has a national forest/park on the coast. It's only 50 kilometers which seems to be the average distance between major towns. With such short distances we will have lots of time to explore the natural, byzantine, and ancient sites on the island. Ayianapa is close to the Turkish northern section so that would be a logical area for the next days travels. We are hoping that the turkish side is cheaper.

... I found the city easy enough, as ye do, but it was a bit of a mission to find the hostel. It being a lovely Sunday afternoon the tourist office was closed. A helpful shopkeeper directed me to a B&B nearby. He was a little expensive, 15 pounds. He also agreed that although there was a hostel he wasn't sure where it was.Try near the British Consulate. He would say that wouldn't he. I did so and asked a few more people. I got vague directions, but no-one was too sure. In the ...