Category: Northern Cyprus

Journey fine. Just couldn’t resist a final pic of our wonderful coastal walk.

As described in the special post, it was Eileen’s birthday which comprised much eating and drinking. And yes, that was a G&T at lunchtime.

The rock to the right of the palm tree has a castle right on top.

Getting closer:

Made it!

Various views on the way up – and again it scores well on the stupendicity/cost ratio!

Then back down to Kyrenia Castle.

And one of the best things is the coastal walk, so repeats of previous views.

Home tomorrow.

A special bonus issue for a special birthday.

Breakfast on the Terrace

Yes – that really is a chocolate biscuit.

Coffee in the Mountains

Lunch in Kyrenia

Fantastic dinner at Hurma Restaurant.

It has had a bit of a food theme, but there was some sightseeing as well. Happy Birthday. xxx

Usual. Glorious morning sitting on the terrace. Real difficulties in reading the iPad because the sun is too bright, but if that isn’t classified as a First World Problem ….

Anyway, plans to visit a couple of castles were really stymied by more heavy showers. Indeed, we parked in the car park in Kyrenia for about 20 minutes and didn’t even get out of the car!

But got a walk on the beach later on.

The storm passed through – apparently closing parts of Nicosia and Famagusta. Normal service of blue skies to be resumed.

And so to Kantara Castle, which allows me to introduce the formula of stunningicity / cost. Try these (cost to get in £1!).

And a short detour to a charming little Greek Orthodox Church:

With small models of famous N Cyprus historic buildings – not a crazy golf course but there’s an idea …

A few things come to mind on a wet day on holiday:

– pleased we’re not camping (really pleased)

– pleased that Patrick (local permanent resident) was able to explain how to turn the air conditioner into a heater

– Netflix helps

– lunch

Patrick had told us about a local “5 star” hotel that does a buffet brunch for £10 (including drinks).

Rather a nice way to while away a couple of hours.

And to read in our house:

Managed to just about dodge the heavy showers:

And to think back to sunny days just gone and look forward hopefully:

Decided to have a trip out to “the pointy bit”.

Fantastic scenery but should have taken more literal notice when the guide book said it was a bit like the Gower Peninsula.

We agree!

But met Mesul who owns the Blue Sea hotel. He caught the fish then grilled it:

Then on to what we understand to be something like a Greek Orthodox equivalent of Lourdes – certainly plenty of coaches.

And met by the welcoming committee in the car park.

Didn’t bother with the beach:

But gather the weather is lovely back home!

Beautiful morning, so chilled on the terrace – as per previous days.

We’re getting the hang of the place. I mentioned before about the massive over development, and the thousands of houses only half built. A bit like this:

Anyway, hauled ourselves out in the afternoon up to the mountains.

Frescos not quite 1,000 years old:

And then Kyrenia again for a mooch and dinner.

You can see it’s getting greyer. Forecast for next few days is “inclement ” so probably more exploration coming up.

As per usual, we’re beginning to settle into some sort of holiday rhythm – especially coffee on the terrace looking over the Med.

But today we came up with a plan – part of it worked and part didn’t!

Salamis – the remains of an enormous ancient city still being discovered.

And quick Q – any ideas what this room was?

Yup – communal loo for up to 44 people.

So that all was great – although note what’s coming.

Actually we dodged it but the plan was to go to Famagusta, have a decent lunch and walk around the old town. But we took against the prices (which would have been stupidly cheap in America but were about 3x what they should be here). Curtailed sightseeing – although did spot the cathedral with a minaret.

Pleased to be back.

Just chilling. Morning walk took me upwards today – glorious.

Didn’t then get going until we ventured out to Bellapais in the afternoon.

Challenging to find – surprising given its size and importance.

Then treated ourselves to a posh dinner.