TRAVEL: Nicosia & Limassol, Cyprus

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! 

After my first week in Larnaca and my deep sea dive (read about that here), I had a big weekend planned, starting on Friday with an early bus to Nicosia, Cyprus' biggest city. First stop, the tourist office to pick up a map and find out everything that I needed to see and do. I started by wandering around some of the city's churches, mostly Orthodox with interiors coloured floor to ceiling in gold, portraits of saints and the like everywhere, and even chandeliers. I never would have linked decadence with religion, but these churches highlighted that it could most definitely be done in a tasteful way.

My journey brought me down to the border between South Cyprus and the Turkish side of the island, North Cyprus. Nicosia is basically split right in two and usually I think you'd be able to pass between the two sides without much issue, but due to the current situation, the borders were shut. Still, I found it strange to think that a city itself was completely divided like this, with barbed wire and gates literally slicing streets in two.

I headed down to Famagusta Gate, the old aqueduct, and the Liberty monument which seemed to be the main things to see in the city. The city was deserted, and it felt strange to be walking around what I assumed would usually be a fairly bustling city.

My day in Nicosia ended with a trip up to the 11th floor viewpoint at the Shacolas Tower which offered views of everywhere I'd walked around, as well as into Turkish Cyprus and the stunning Selimiye Camii mosque. I was also interested to see that the mountains on that side had huge Turkish flags painted on them, just in case you forgot where you were. From up here, the border was invisible, and it looked as if you could just walk right across to the other side. If only.

A few days later I made my way to Limassol, the second largest city in the country, and also the furthest from where I was. Indeed, once we arrived on the outskirts of Limassol, I thought we were already there, but it took about another half hour to actually get to the main part of town.

Being a Sunday, the tourist office was closed, so it was up to me to make my own route. Thankfully I stumbled across a pedestrian map which suggested a route I might like to take, so I walked from the old port to the upmarket marina, filled with expensive boats and nice restaurants.

From there, I spent an hour or so wandering the empty streets of Limassol, admiring the architecture of some of the churches, the boutique shops, and arty graffiti. My adventure brought me back to the Promenade which was probably the prettiest part of the city with a long palm tree lined avenue which was very well designed.
 

I knew that I wanted to head to Kourion that afternoon, and with only 3 buses running on Sundays, had ample time for a Greek lunch of halloumi gyros at Tavernaki and a refreshing bubble tea from Bubble Tale.

We walked up to the bus station only to find that the bus timetable was completely different to what was suggested online. Rather than waiting close to an hour for a bus which may or may not have shown up, we hopped in a taxi to take us to Kourion.

Situated about a 20 minute drive outside of Limassol, Kourion is a large amphitheatre high up in the hills. Not only was it interesting to explore the amphitheatre, mosaic, and ruins up here, but there was also a fantastic view out towards the sea.

Since the taxi service was getting little to no service at the time, we had agreed to stay with the taxi driver for the afternoon rather than catching the bus back, and this also meant that we were able to head to another destination - the Sanctuary of Apollo.

Here we found even more beautiful ruins - pillars and stairs and what looked to be part of a temple. It was just us and a resident cat (we nicknamed her Aphrodite) who loved belly rubs and showing visitors around her 2000 year old home. It was a shame to have to leave her behind as I'm sure she was happy to have the company. The Sanctuary was a wonderful place to visit, and I was glad to have seen some of the Cypriot ruins.

There's more Cyprus adventures to come, including a trip to the beautiful Ayia Napa, and even more excitement in Larnaca. Make sure to stay tuned by following me on Twitter @CiarasCountry, and I'd love to know where you're planning on travelling to once the world gets back to normal - leave me a message in the comments below :) Thanks for reading!