Cyprus

OTHER LINKS: Cyprus

3 OCTOBER
Departed for Lankara, Cyprus from Schipol Airport in Amsterdam via Transavia Air Lines. Drove to our hotel in Limassol (most central major town in the country) in our rented car.

4 OCTOBER
LINKS: Troodos

After breakfast, the first thing we did was look for a grocery store to buy some food. We were staying in an apartment-style suite so that we could cook come of our meals to save on cost. After that was done and the groceries were put away, we headed to Troodos to look around, because everything was closed (it was Sunday). Troodos is located on the mountain and in the winter this is where you would go skiing, although the actual village is very small. Before heading back to the hotel, we stopped for a drink in the resturant there. Back at the hotel, we just went swimming in the pool and lazed around for the rest of the day.

5 OCTOBER
LINKS: Louis Cruise Lines

Because it was Monday, the first thing we did was find out what there was to do around here. We decided on a 4 day cruise to Egypt and Israel later in the week (listed seperatly). After sorting all that out, we went for breakfast at an English resturant by the hotel. After that, we took a long walk down the beach (about an hour each way) and on the way back we stopped for drinks and a spot of shopping, before finally returning to our hotel room. After our long and hot walk (it may have been October, but it was still HOTT!!) we slipped into the pool and rested before going to dinner. Be careful! in the main tourist area, cafes/resturants come one after another and in the evening, each one has hawkers on the sidewalk trying to make you go their resturant. We found a resturant and had a mezzi. After supper I went for a walk on the beacha dn bought a few souvenirs.

6 OCTOBER

After breakfast, we walked into the old part of town to a large food market where we bought from vegetables and other food. After that, we had drinks and chips at Buckingham's Cafe and then did a bit of sightseeing. The first thing we went to was a small castle in the middle of town. After that, we visited the Amathus Roman Ruins. You can see there the sewer system and remains of the buildings that were once there. Then it was back to the hotel for a dip in the pool and supper. After supper I went for my nightly walk along the river and tourist streets.

7 OCTOBER
LINKS: Kolossi Castle

After breakfast, we took a bit of a drive in the countryside surrounding the town. Then we visited Kolossi Castle, located, coincidently in the village of Kolossi. This was supposedly used by Richard the Lionheart as a base during the crusade. After seeing this, we headed back to the hotel, packed, and headed to the cruise ship - the Ausonia. The only thing annoying about this was the ship photographer tooks pictures of pracically your everymore (an exaggeration, but still annoying) then charged like $15 a pic at the end of the cruise (of course, you didn't have to buy them). We headed to our small cabin which the four of us would be sharing to dump our stuff then headed up to the deck to watch as we pulled away. Once we were on our way, we were all called to a safety brefing and given instructions for the evening and following morning, then we went exploring. There was all kinds of things to see and do and buy onboard. Before going to bed, I took in the ships live entertainment in the lounge.

8 OCTOBER
After a 12 hour journey from Cyprus (overnight) we were approaching Haifa. After breakfast we got everything ready for the day that we would need, including water, scarves & pants, and cameras etc. then headed up to watch as we entered the port of Haifa. After going through passport control, we got on a bus that had a very good German and English tourguide then drove the 2 hours to Bethleham, which is located on the West Bank and everywhere you go you see men with guns. We had a police escort. First was a shopping spree at a souvenir store near by. I say shopping spree, because that's what it felt like! We had exactly 30 minuted from the time we stepped off the bus to the time the bus left again to get in, look around, decide what you want, buy it and get back to the bus. After donning our pants and scarves we entered the Bascillica of the Nativity. There was gold everywhere inside and nothing was roped off - I'm not very good with words, so I can't even begin to describe it. We walked down the steps into the stable (which was not made of wood - more like a stable now - as depicted in nativity scenes, but was more like a cave) and saw the spot where Jesus was born and where he lay we visited. Needless to say, it was hard to tear some of us away from there.
A lovely story, if I may digress: An ex-co-worker of mine was very religous, so while I was in Bethleham, I brought her some sand and also a candle from the Bascillica. When I brought them to here when I went back to work, she cried. She said that she hadn't been feeling very close to God recently and that the night before she had prayed for a sign that he was still with her and then I brought those things to her.
Anyway, back on topic. We had lunch (boxed lunches from the ship) and drove to Jerusalem. We had to keep our pants on and our scarves with us because we still had another Holy Site to visit, of course, all the rest of the time was spent walking! We walked through bazaars and the Jewish and Christian quarters. That was all very interesting. You couldn't really tell between the quarters, but for the religious symbols. Most of the streets we walked through were the same ones Jesus did on his way to be Crucified. Our first stop was hte Holy Sepulchure - a huge church built over all the site where Jesus was Crucified, and covered in gold. We saw where we was Crucified (the most elaborate area of the whole place, and has an alter for prayer), the spot and stone where Joseph supposedly cleaned him before burial, and the cave he was buried in. Unfortunately, we did not have enough time to wait in line to go in the cave. Again, nothing was roped off, and you could touch everything, including the stone, which most people did. We left here and continued our journey to the Wailing wall which you can see in that picture behind my mum and I. Behind the wall is a mosque. We had to through a metal detector to get into the area. After walking through a long bazzar we met up with the bus and headed back to Haifa.
After watching the boat pull away, we were served supper and then had entertainment until we went to bed.

9 OCTOBER

After breakfast and getting everything ready, we watched the boat come into port at Port Said, Egypt on the Suez Canal. The journey from Haifa was 14 hours. As soon as we were off the boat, we were hounded by dozens of street hawkers. Our bus today was English/Italian and the guide wasn't as good as the one in Israel. It took 3 hours to get to Giza, just outside Cairo. And I mean JUST outside Cairo, soon the pyramids and Sphinx will be within the city limits and that won't be good for these monuments. We passed a man using a donkey and many beautiful Mosques. Finally the 3 pyramids came into view. We spent about 2 hours around the Pyramids and Sphinx. You can go inside in the Great Pyramid, but we didn't, because it just takes you into this small room with nothing it it, do we didn't bother. Be careful of Camel drivers who will con you into spending a lot of money. We were told a story of a person who agreed on a price for a camel ride and then was taken into the dessert and not brought back until he spent another large sum of money. They will even charge you if they catch you taking a picture of them!
Next we drove to the Cairo Museum where we had a few hours to look around the LARGE museum. First I visited the King Tut exhibit and then the mummys, once those were views I spent the rest of my time looking around the other exhibits and the gift store. After leaving here, we went to the Papyrus Institute where we were shows the technique of making papyrus and could buy some. Then we went next door for our Egyptian shopping spree.
Finally we returned to the boat. Now, there were hundreds of hawkers there selling really great things for a small price, as it was the end of the day and we were the last boat out. After we pulled away, it was supper, entertainment and bed.

10 OCTOBER

After breakfast, we did some last minute shopping on the boat and gathered our things together and after we docked in Lemessos we got back to the hotel, took a dip in the pool, had some dinner, unpacked and went to sleep! A little rest after these past couple of days!

11 OCTOBER
LINKS: Kourion Site; Paphos; Tombs of the Kings

We had breakfast in the room and headed to Paphos, with some stops along the way. Our first stop was the Kourion (or Curium) Roman Site. This is actually several different sites all in the same area. First we saw the foundation of a Bascillica, and a Gladiator site. There were Roman Villa ruins with beautifully preserved mosaics, and an Ampitheatre that is still used today. A little further down the road are the ruins of the Temple of Apollo, my favorite site.
We continued down the highway to Paphos and stopped at a resturant on a cliff overlooking Aphrodite's Rock - the supposed birthplace of Aphrodite - the Greek Goddess of Love. In the town of Paphos itself are the "Tombs of the Kings" which are very interesting, and like most things in the area not roped off (at least when I was there) so you can walk through the caves and ruins (of course there are no bones or anything!). There were more mosaics here to view, in greater numbers than at the Kourion Site. Before getting in the car to go back to the hotel, we took a walk along the boardwalk. Look out for the Paphos Pelican!!

12 OCTOBER
LINKS: Lefkara

Today we travelled to the small traditional village of Lefkara, where the famous Lefkara Lace is made. All the woman in the village, as soon as they are old enough to do so make the lace - by hand - which is more like embroidered linen than lace. We were invited into a home to see how the lace was made. They were very hospitable and even offered us drinks!

13 OCTOBER
LINKS: Nicosia

Today we went to the capital city of Nicosia, which is like the "Berlin of the Mediterranean" except that Berlin in now unified, and Nicosia is not. Nicosia and the rest of the island is split in two. One side - Cyprus - is Greek and pretty much it's own country. This is where we were spending our vacation. The Northern side - Turkish Cyprus - is controlled by the Turks. You can only get to this side through Turkey. We parked in the city near the lookout point on the Green Line - the line that seperates the two sides. It is wide and controlled by the UN. This line is basically 'no man's' land. Not many people live here and most of the buildings are empty, although you sometimes saw people waving over the wall around the city. Most of Near here is the "Berlin Cafe". We walked around here on our own. We saw, but didn't go into the Opera House, museum, city wall, the Archbishops Palace. We saw a hotel, called Ledra Palace that was once a great four star hotel ended up right on the Green Line when the city was divided and ended up being Canadian barracks during the war (in the 70's) and peacekeeping. Near here is a little store that looks very gross and run down but is quite interesting. It is very popular with the foreign soldiers (mainly Canadian, UK and Swedish) with UN souvenirs and pics on the wall of past Candian soldiers. We had drinks here and did some shopping. We did some other shopping on the way back to the car and then back to the Limassol and the hotel. After supper we started doing major shopping as we only had a few days left.

14 OCTOBER
LINKS: Famagusta; Ayia Napa

We decided to have a beach day today. First though, we went to a lookout spot to look out over the town of Famagusta. This was once the main tourist resort in the Med. Sea, but is now literally a ghost town - it's on the Turkish Side. That was really interesting and I'd suggest this place to everyone. Next we drove to Ayia Napa where we beached ourselves on Nissi Beach and went swimming.

15 OCTOBER

Today was our shopping day.

16 OCTOBER
LINKS: Troodos

We spent the day on Troodos with a hike up the mountain to Kaledonian Falls. It's really great and gets more challenging the further you go. We stopped in this little village before going back to Lesmessos and packing.

17 OCTOBER
LINKS: Larnaca

Today was the day we had to leave! WE left the hotel fairly early and drove to Larnaca to look around before heading to the airport. Unfortunately, everything was closed. We walked on the boardwalk and got something to head and then headed back to Germany!