Sky Hotel Nicosia

... where some gifts are waiting for everyone on each seat. <br><br>Our first destination is a visit to Lefkara. <br>It is the 28th of October, and every single village in both Cyprus and Greece is celebrating. It is a National holiday, and is the big -Ohi- or "No Day",( the refusal of Greece in 1940 to allow Italian fascist troops into the country). <br>On this day, all public schools organize a parade where the best student of the school ...

LARNACA MUSEUMS<br><br><br><br>PIERIDES MUSEUM &#8211; Here one can see the fascinating private collection of Cypriot antiquities acquired over the years from 1839 by five generations. <br><br>Pierides family is one of the most well known families of Larnaca.<br><br>This old family mansion was built in 1825 and includes exhibits from the Neolithic times ...

KAMARES, THE OLD AQUEDUCT OF LARNACA<br><br><br><br>A little history:<br><br><br><br>(Kamares) &#8211;as they are called in Greek.<br><br>They are found at the exit from Larnaca towards the Limassol highway. 18th century aqueduct of Larnaca, 16 kilometers long. For the adventurer the old aqueduct of Larnaca offers a tremendous challenge.<br><br><br><br>Walking in a straight ...

... The best surviving examples of this architecture in Larnaca are a) Ieronymos Varlm House on Chryssopolitissa Street, b) Efthimiades House at Nicolaou Laniti Street, c) the Larnaka Club opposite Pierides Museum on Zenonos Kitieos Street. <br><br>Similar buildings survive in the Skala Turkish quarter along Piale Pashia Street.<br><br><br><br>

... of 1571. <br><br><br><br>Before that it used to be the Catholic Church of the Holy Cross. Built in the 10th or 11th century, this church was founded as an Orthodox Basilica, but, as can be observed, one of its characteristic three corridors was demolished. Its Byzantine origin is also indicated by recently discovered Byzantine wall paintings of Saint George.<br><br><br ...

... and a day to kill, I paid my 5 Euros and away I went to the capital city. Finally, a transportation option on this island for the Ryanair crowd like me! <br><br>Forty-five minutes later I was in downtown Nicosia (Lefkosa locally in Greek), and realized the importance of this place shortly after arrival. A political division and its accompanying wall divide this island in half and this so called Green Line runs ocean to ocean and passes right through ...

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

... dividing line. The U.N. patrols the line. The two sides live in peace. Even so, once you reach the Greek side, you can see a sign that reads: "Our Demand - For the Turkish Army and Settlers to Leave Cyprus!" On a pedestrian shopping street in Greek Nicosia, I laid out some of my stories and advertised them at a Euro apiece. Meanwhile, I sat quietly in the shade and wrote. I only sold a few each day, profiting a couple of Euro's total. While I wrote a ...

... Nicosia The walls here are amazing. First you have barbed wire, and then, as this is a Venetian town, you have walls that are similar to Kotor's or any Venetian city in Croatia, which is to be expected as it is a Venetian city !!! I found a taverna straight away and ordered some lunch. Once my food arrived, a local came and joined me, spoke Cypriot to me, and as it's all Greek to me, I ignored him, he then asked. Cypriot Guy - You speak English Me - Yes ...

... we continued our journey up the mountains, and eventually made it to the top of Mount Olympus just as a brief snow fall came, and for a while there it was a total "white out". All thoughts of visiting churches and monasteries disappeared and we stayed up there for tea and ate in a little café while watching the snow melt off the trees and off the roof of the building we were in. So we have been to England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales and didn't see any snow, but here in Cyprus where ...