Movie Recomendation

"Once" is a such a beautiful film and I was lucky enough to watch it on one of our plane rides during the trip. It stars Glen Hansard, from the band The Frames, and Markéta Irglová and is set in Dublin. It is not exactly for the "Dumb and Dumber" crowd but if you like independent films or musical films, it is a must-see. It is a bit of a romance but don't be afraid - it is subtle - unlike most of the crap coming out of Hollywood these days.

What the Hell Happened Next?

Sorry for the delayed post. The last six months have been rather insane and I am now, finally, emerging out of the zombie-like state that comes with having spent days on end intensely focused on an attempt to complete a master's degree. I'm not done yet - but the pressure is off a bit (for now...).

Anyhow, with that lame excuse for not finishing the blog of my "epic journey", let us continue:

After Cyprus, we flew back to London en route to Brentwood in Essex for a family visit. The plan was to get the Picadilly Line into the city then transfer to a train that would take us out to Brentwood. However, the Picadilly Line was not running when we arrived at Heathrow (yeah, the major tube line was completely shut down for hours). So, sleep-deprived chaos ensued... (sound familiar?). In the end, we ended up having to spend our life savings on a Heathrow Express trip to Paddington Station followed by an intense transfer to Liverpool St. Station. I say it was intense because we had three large suitcases at that point due to all the beautiful christening presents that Rosemary received, carry-ons, a stroller, and Rosemary to deal with. There are quite a few stairs in Paddington Station and no elevators that we could find. It is also extremely crowded. I am sure we looked quite silly and it probably seemed like we should be wearing Hawaiian shirts, Tilley hats, socks with Birkenstocks, and perhaps we could have even made it more direct with neon signs flashing "tourist".

In the end, we did make it to Brentwood with only a few emotional scars and had a lovely visit. We were lucky enough to get a ride back into London (yes, in a car) and then took Virgin Trains (sounds a bit rude!) to Wales and Irish Ferries back to Dublin. I really wish I had photos of the train ride through England and Wales. The coast of Wales is stunningly beautiful and as we were traveling through there, a thunder storm was darkening the sky over the ocean while the sun was still shining on the other side. Unfortunately traveling with a two-year old involves a fair amount of "entertaining" and does not free up much time for photography. Another time though, I hope... I would love to set foot on those beaches some day...

One other thing, being aboard the Irish Ferries ferry (I have no idea how to properly write that) was strangely familiar. The only major difference was that unlike BC Ferries, alcohol was served in the restaurants.

Photo time:

Holyhead Ferry Port in Wales:

Irish Ferries:

Coming in to Dublin Port

Capo Bay

We had originally planned to return to Nicosia on Friday. However, as the end of the week approached, we realized that we were not ready to leave the shores of the Mediterranean. We were still feeling rather drained from all of the traveling and another day of rest was needed.  On Thursday afternoon, we walked down the road from the Silver Sands to the Capo Bay Hotel and were able to secure a good rate for Friday night. 

I began to refer to Capo Bay as the "Night and Day Hotel" as the difference between it and the Silver Sands was like that of night and day. The staff were genuinely friendly, the lobby was huge and inviting and most importantly not full of smoke. When we walked into our room it also did not smell of smoke. Instead, there was a non-obnoxious hint of essential oils. The carpet seemed to be slightly damp from being steam-cleaned before our arrival. The  bed was fitted with luxurious linens and was almost as comfortable as the bed at home (the benchmark test of bed comfort). All of the toiletries were made by L'Occitane which, for those not in the know, is a brand of snobbish French skin care products that the Bourgeoisie generally reserve for special gifts or the ultimate chrome-fixtured yuppie bathroom.  Most amazingly though was the knock on the door just after our check-in. I opened it to see a smiling lady holding a small bottle of wine and a fruit plate. I initially thought that something had gone wrong and we had been sent someone's room service order by accident. After a five second, "Ummmm...?" I was graciously told it was free.

 

The pool area of Capo Bay reminded me of the grand pools of five star resorts in Mexico - except the Capo Bay pool full was full of Cypriots. There seemed to be less tourists and more Cypriots, by far, at Capo Bay than the Silver Sands. In fact, when we tried to extend our checkout on Saturday morning we were told the entire hotel was booked by Cypriots coming to Protaras for the weekend. We even tried to pay for another night and were told it was not possible.

Since we were unable to extend our check-out time, we had to vacate our lovely room at noon. We spent the rest of the day at the pool and the beach and were able to clean up in the gym/pool changerooms. I was really hoping for a late check-out since out flight was not until 1:55 a.m. and a nap would have been very nice indeed.

Capo Bay Pool

Interesting Sign in Front of Fig Tree Bay - apparently burgers and fries, pizza delivery men, and crazed children playing ball are not allowed 

We headed to Larnaca for 8:00 p.m. to meet up with the family for our last dinner in Cyprus. We did not go the fish meze restaurant  from earlier in the week. Instead we went to a different restaurant that overlooked the beach, near  the promenade. The Larnaca airport was fairly close by and it was a strange sensation watching the  planes take off into the sky over the moonlit water knowing that we too would soon be leaving Cyprus.

The Cousins Playing with Rosemary at the Restaurant

Here is a really cute video of all of the kids playing a 'hug Rosemary' game right before we left. The weird looking white mounds in the background are ovens (they weren't being used at the time).

I always have a particularly difficult time leaving people and places I have become fond of. I have memories of fits of extreme wailing in the Fort Lauderdale Airport at the end of trips to visit my Grandmother - quite the traumatic experience for everyone involved!  I have mellowed a bit in my approach now, but the feeling is still there. I was very sad to say farewell to the family and to Cyprus. As we drove away in the taxi I wanted so much to stop and turn back and stay in Cyprus and become a part of that world. But logic overrode impulse (and I don't think Tony would have gone along with it anyhow) and we made it to the airport.

By the time we had checked in for our flights and walked to the gate, we were exhausted. Before this trip I was a very nervous flyer. The ability to sleep in airports or airplanes - or anything with the word "air" in it - was unfathomable. I used to pace back and forth, certain of my untimely demise, waiting to board the aluminum can of doom.  But during this trip I  learned that exhaustion overrides paranoia. I fell asleep on an airport bench with one arm tightly wrapped around Rosemary's stroller (she was sleeping too) and awoke just as the flight was boarding. I decided to make a quick dash to the W.C. before we boarded and I was attacked by a giant bug that looked a bit like a mutant cockroach. This thing was fearless! I was dancing around in the stall trying to keep it off me and it kept going up on my foot and trying to crawl up my leg! The airport was a bit of a bug zoo. The Teenage Mutant Ninja cockroach wasn't the only giant bug I saw and there were loads of mosquitoes too.

I dozed a bit on the flight. We were served breakfast at some point. I vaguely remember eating some sort of rubbery crepe full of goo and a small cup of strawberry-flavoured Cypriot yoghurt. Rosemary also got the goo crepe but she did not wake up to eat it. 

I was happy to finally get a non-Nescafe coffee in the Munich Airport. It was not really a memorable stopover other than that.

The flight to London was totally uneventful. I was a bit disappointed that the mini sandwich had pastrami in it. I ate the mini Mars bar and had some very needed coffee though.

Wednesday - Kourion and Paphos Day Trip

Kourion:

The Legendary Birthplace of Aphrodite:

Wheat Fields Along the Highway:

Tombs of the Kings:

Castle At Paphos Harbour:

Area Around the House of Dionysus:

House of Dionysus Mosaics:

Monday Afternoon - Protaras

We had a wonderful time in Nicosia, but it was time to move on to Protaras for some beach time. Protaras is a family-oriented resort town. Unlike its big brother, Ayia Napa, it does not cater to the Euro club scene crowd. Instead it is full of family friendly pubs – all of which seem to have some form of karaoke in the evening (I'm not kidding) as well as celebrity impersonators. Some of the pubs even had play areas for children. All of the pubs seemed to be open air. The tourists in Protaras seemed to be mostly from Britain, Russia, and Sweden. There were many Cypriots as well. We did not meet any other Canadians or Americans the entire time we were in Cyprus.

It took a little over an hour to get from Nicosia to Protaras. I had found a great rate at the Tsokkos Silver Sands, 65 Euros per night for a room and breakfast for 2 adults and a child, and on first glance it seemed we were at the perfect hotel. The ultra-chic lobby was quite impressive and the view was amazing. The room fine and we had a great view towards Fig Tree Bay (well, minus the bit of construction out front). However, the most disappointing aspect of the hotel was how full of smoke it was. The lobby, the pool area, and even the restaurant usually had a thick cloud of smoke. Even our room was full of smoke thanks to either our neighbours or someone smoking next to the air conditioning intake. It is going to take a while for the smoker's cough to go away...

View From Our Room at Silver Sands

Another Photo of the View 

Fig Tree Bay

Restaurant at Fig Tree Bay

More Chocolate Ice Cream

Cute

Making an Ass Out of Myself at the Beach

Swimming

Night Shots of Protaras:

"Lip-Licking Flavour" (at least that's what they claim)

Direct Marketing

We Didn't Go Here for Some Reason...

They Also Had a Full-Sized Teepee in the Restaurant Courtyard

The Flinstones Restaurant had a guy driving around Protaras in a Flinstones-like car all evening broadcasting "Yabadabadoo!" over and over again

Rock the Casbah 

Home of the Killer Cannoli

Uh... Yeah...

Monday Morning

Somewhat jetlagged still, we work up early and sat out on the patio of our room. The sun was just rising and the heat was still bearable. Tony and I shared a Keo (it was 7:00 p.m. In Victoria, so we figured it was okay to be having a beer at this time). We took a few photos of the view and Rosemary played with her toys. Within an hour the temperature had crept up and the patio floor and building walls began reflecting the heat creating the sensation of being in an oven. We moved inside.

The views of Nicosia from our patio:

Today was the day for Rosemary to have her first bath after her baptism. According to tradition, her godmothers had to bathe her and dispose of the water in a place where no one would step. In this case, the water was put in a garden. Rosemary also spent some time playing with her second cousins.

Family

Sunday

After another wonderful breakfast with lots of halloumi, olives, and fresh orange juice, we walked to the Cyprus Museum on Museum St. The museum is very unassuming from the outside and the surprising lack of security is deceptive – the collection is truly world-class and in any other city it would be much more formal and full of shatterproof glass and alarms. The museum houses a very impressive collection of antiquities found in Cyprus spanning the Neolithic period to the Roman era. It is all set up in chronological order and it is very interesting to see how tools, weapons, and art evolved over time. One of the most amazing exhibits is the hall of Classical and Hellenistic statues which, among many other statues, also includes a large marble statue of Zeus. None of the statues and busts are behind ropes or glass and you are able to come right up to them and touch them (although, you might get in trouble for touching them, I am not sure). I also found the collection of ancient coins quite interesting. I would have liked to spend more time at the Cyprus Museum, but Rosemary got bored after a while and started fussing so we had to move on.

The next stop was on Ledra St. At Heraclis for more ice cream. Once again, Rosemary was thrilled with the chocolate.

Chocolate Ice Cream At Heraclis

In the afternoon we headed to Larnaca for seafood meze. Larnaca is a seaside city about an hour's drive from Nicosia. The main airport is there as well as a large commercial shipping port. Larnaca has a beatiful palm-tree lined seaside promenade and there are many vendors, entertainers, restaurants, luna parks (the Cypriot term for amusement park), and an outdoor stage. There is also a medieval castle and mosque at one end of the promenade. It was a bit like La Paz, Mexico (minus the castle and mosque, of course).

For meze, we went to a seafood tavern near the marina. Once again, it was plate after plate of food. There was octopus, calamari, deep-fried whole fish (several different kinds), fish kebabs, deep-fried whole crabs, mussels, and lots of non-fish items like pita, tzatziki, homous, olives, chips, etc. Of course, I had some of the local Keo beer too!

The Restaurant

Deep-Fried Creatures

After we ate, we went for a walk along the marina and promenade. Rosemary got very excited when she saw a merry-go-round and I had to take her on it.

On the Merry-Go-Round

"Super Softy" Ice Cream Truck at the Marina

Fishing Boats 

Castle

A Show on the Beach

Candy Vendor

On the way back to Nicosia, the police had closed parts the highway in an attempt to control the amount of traffic on it. It didn't make too much sense because all they succeeded in doing was to clear the highway and bring the other roads to a crawl. It took us several hours to get back.