Please note that everything I did on this trip was done with utmost care
and attention to corona regulations. If you're going to travel, travel
safe!
I know that my experience of quarantine has been nowhere near as bad as
that for some people, but one thing I missed after all those months
inside my house was, as this blog may suggest, travelling. I in no way
wished to put myself or others at risk from the virus, but knew that if
it was possible to travel safe, I was going to give it a shot.
Armed with face masks, hand sanitiser, and heaps of alcohol wipes, I
booked myself a trip to Cyprus. Knowing the country was only letting
travellers in from 'safe' countries, and insisting on tests before
arrival, as well as being a fairly isolated island in itself, I figured
that this would be as good a place as any to test the waters of corona
safe travel.
Upon touchdown in Larnaca, I hopped into a taxi to head to my Airbnb for
the duration of my trip. Finding it was a challenge in itself, as the
directions I was given was Flat 202, Pacific Building (building name
changed for privacy purposes!). As it turned out, there were 7 different
Pacific Buildings, each with their own Flat 202. After walking up and
down the street multiple times, I called the Airbnb host to confirm.
'Yes, Pacific Building'. 'Which one?' 'Pacific Building, at the front'.
(What?) After getting nowhere, the cleaner came down to stand outside
the correct building, which turned out to be 2 blocks further than the
given address, and about 18 buildings away from the first Pacific
Building. I sanitised the apartment, and then time for bed.
On my first day in Larnaca, it seemed right to get a lay of the land. My
first stop was the Tourist Office which I imagined wasn't getting too
much passing traffic these days. The lady there was able to suggest
some day trips for me to do, and point out the main beaches, which
seemed to be the highlight of Larnaca.
I walked up to Finikoudes Beach, a long stretch of sand lined with
socially distanced deck chairs, with heaps of mostly chain restaurants
across the road - Starbucks, Pizza Hut, TGI Fridays. There were also
heaps of kiosks where you could buy drinks and ice cream for next to
nothing, which definitely came in handy when temperatures hit 34'C
(feeling like 39!)
From Finikoudes I headed down the beach via the Church of St Lazarus, a
pretty building filled with gold painted Saints inside. A long promenade
brought me along the seafront and past about 20 ice cream shops in a
row - it was only right to stop at one of them so I sampled a strawberry
chocolate scoop from Da Vinci. Delicious.
I continued down to Mackenzie Beach where the lady at the tourist office
had told me I could go for all my clubbing needs (in this crazy time? I
think not) Again, the beach was full of deck chairs and bars and
restaurants which I'm sure would usually be stuffed to the gills at this
time of year.
I made my way back to the apartment to get away from the heat for a
while before venturing out later in the afternoon towards the Salt Lake.
Unlike the beaches, the lakeshore was completely deserted, and I found
myself wondering were I to perish from the heat (quite possible), when
anyone would find me... Thankfully I made it to the lookout point in one
piece and get pleasant views across the lake and towards the hill topped with wind turbines.
Little did I know that I would be returning to the Salt Lake that
evening after researching the best place to watch the sunset. Yes,
whilst the beaches might be nice, they are facing completely the wrong
direction for sunset! I wandered back to the lake and perched myself
down to watch the spectacular sunset with not a soul in sight.
In spite of already having done close to 40,000 steps for my busy day, I
still had a bit of energy left, so walked back up via Mackenzie beach
to see what life was like at night. Surprisingly, it was the ice cream
shops that seemed to be busiest - obviously the best night time activity
in Larnaca.
My friend arrived in the wee hours of the morning, which meant Day 2
would be much of a repeat of the first day so that he could get to grips
with what to see too. But first, breakfast. At this point, I really
should be sponsored by TripAdvisor since I rave about them so much, but
they have yet to let me down yet. TA suggested Stoana Kato for
breakfast. The menu was extensive, and I opted for Superfood Menu B -
pancakes, a bowl of yoghurt with honey and granola, two poached eggs on
toast, and what looked to be a whole avocado for under €9. That avocado
alone would have cost me more than the whole meal in Australia!
Not only this, but it truly was delicious, and the staff were very
helpful in helping us decide just what off of the massive menu we should
order. My friend got an iced coffee with a scoop of their homemade
cookies and cream ice cream, and let me tell you that that in itself was
life changing.
The rest of the day was much the same as the day before, with the
exception of actually getting in the sea today. Beautifully pleasant
warm water and very shallow, so even the least confident of swimmers
would have nothing to worry about.
As the day began drawing to a close, we decided to make our way to
dinner at Maqam Al Sultun, at the foot of Finikoudes Beach. This
Lebanese restaurant had yet another extensive menu, and I was happy to
see they had the option of a Vegetarian Platter for one, meaning I got
to try a variety of different dishes: falafel, baba ganoush, hummus,
tabbouleh and more for under €15! Yum.
As you may have gathered, by this point I had seen practically all of
the hotspots in Larnaca, but if there was anything else to see, you can
be darn sure I was going to find it. My first stop was the Medieval
Fort, which helped me pass half an hour or so wandering around the small
complex, with the fortifications allowing an unusual view of the beaches
from higher up.
I had hoped to visit the Salt and Pepper museum, because who wouldn't
want to visit a museum dedicated to Salt and Pepper shakers, but sadly
it was closed and looked likely to remain that way until further notice.
The last thing I could think of doing was visiting the Panagia
Faneromani Church which, like St Lazarus, had a pleasant architectural
design, although it too was shut so I wasn't able to check out what it
might be like inside.
Having thoroughly ticked off everything in the vicinity, the only thing
left to do was eat. My destination was Refuel, a super quirky ice cream
and juice bar along the promenade. The owner, Chris, served me two
scoops of a traditional Cypriot flavour made with the syrup of what
looked like a dried bean, and chocolate orange for the ridiculous price
of €2. 3 scoops would've been just €2.50! I was tempted, but something
told me I'd be eating more than enough this trip...
The afternoon's activity consisted of catching the bus to Kiti, which had
been recommended as a nearby town worth visiting. We spent a little
while trying to find the church which, whilst beautiful, was without a
doubt the only thing to see in Kiti, and I think we ended up taking more
time waiting for the bus on the way back than we did actually in Kiti.
At least wasting time waiting for the bus led us all the way up to dinner, and we headed to Alasia along the promenade for souvlaki and an unusual halloumi filled ravioli. Whilst the food was decent, the service was good but slow, and I was desperate to catch the sunset again, so I legged it to the Salt Lake right after our complimentary watermelon was served to watch the remains of the day from the olive grove. Couldn't have asked for a better end to the day...
Stay tuned for more of my Cypriot adventures coming soon, including travels to the country's biggest cities, ancient ruins, and a trip to the bottom of the ocean... To be the first to know, make sure to check me out on Twitter @CiarasCountry, and let me know where I should aim to travel to once the word gets back to some normality by dropping a message in the comments below. Thanks for reading!
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