Cyprus Part 3 of 3

So, after our excursion to Nicosia we thought it might be worth renting a car for a day or so to do our own exploring on our own time, in our own way. Well, it was! We found a good deal at a place right across the street from the hotel, and we headed out with a couple of maps and some advice we'd been given by a nice couple we chatted with in a local curry house.

We headed west towards Pafos, but took the coastal road, as recommended. We drove out of Limassol, past the salt lake area to our first stop, nestled in an orchard area - a small castle in Kolossi, which wouldn't have made a half-bad summer place (with the exception of the lack of running water and electricity) and after which we sat at a local lean-to drinking fresh squeezed orange juice and enjoying the surroundings.

We continued to drive along the coast road admiring some stirring views, beautiful churches and mosques, and visiting several places of archeological interest. These included one of the largest on the island, Kourion, home to the House of Eustolios and which is also complete with a fully-restored Greco/Roman theatre. We also visited the Sanctuary of Apollo and the famous rock said to be the birthplace of Aphrodite (Aphrodite's Rock :) and a number of other very interesting (albeit very hot and dusty!) places, the last of which was the Tombs of the Kings (which is not actually for Kings, but some rich dudes anyway...)

We did a bit more driving toward the northwest portion of the island, hoping to get to the Baths of Aphrodite (which we didn't reach until another day) which was, I must say, the only really disappointing part of our trip! - not what we'd expected to see after quite a challenging journey. A very small, unattended, quite unremarkable spot. But still cool to have visited.

We also took a journey up and through the Troodos Mountains (where the temperature can be many degrees cooler than at sea level). We overshot the main road we should have taken, so were on a secondary road - which at times was treacherous (consider significant heights, and roads full of hairpin turns and switchbacks, with very few guard rails .... (and which later helped us make a decision *not* to try our original plan to get to another destination using what are shown on the map as "loose surface roads" much later in the day). And it took far longer than we'd anticipate, between the road conditions - and the fact that we hadn't considered that elevations were marked in meters - not feet - doh! At nearly 2,000 meters high, that's a substantial difference (than close to 6,000 feet).

Anyhow, the town of Troodos, when we finally got there, was lovely and we enjoyed the cool weather, fresh corn on the grill, some ice cream and some very serene and relaxing surroundings. On the way down the other side is the Kykkos Monastery, the largest and most famous on the island, and dating back to 1100. I know that we were in some of the oldest parts, but it was so immaculately kept that much of it seemed new. And clearly it has been expanded to accommodate such modern-day necessities, like a garage to house the many diplomatic vehicles and other vehicles housed there. And in the nearby market area, I found it inconsistent to may brain to see a robed monk, sitting on a stone wall - talking on his cell phone. But I guess technology knows no bounds. This is a monk yes, but we are also really in the middle of absolutely nothing else. I hope he gets a good deal on roaming charges :)

We made what turned out to be a wise decision to turn around after we'd gone up and over, to go back up and over from whence we came, but had we not done so, likely would have ended up in the middle of a sparsely-populated area of the island with no street lights and no real idea of which direction to take. As much as we enjoy watching Ray Mears and Bear Grylls documentaries about surviving in the wilderness, we were glad not to have had to put any of what we've learned into practice.

At the end of our three days of car journeys, we were exhausted but it was just the right amount of this kind of holiday and we'd spend the rest of our visit staying local, lazing by the pool and sea and tuning out the world for a bit. Nice.

We made friends with the proprietor (and wife and cousin) of a restaurant we quite enjoyed, called Dejeuner. We found overselves there on several evenings. And they must have liked having us around, too, because they gave us a very nice bottle of wine one evening "on the house." And each time after the first, any single glass of wine was larger and more full than the servings of other patrons. That worked out nicely, didn't it?

Now, there are other proprieters who weren't so keen on us. Not because we'd done anything wrong. But we were not the young, thin, single, barely-dressed young women that they wanted in their clubs. We were old, fat, married, and fully-dressed. No free drinks there, no sir!

Alex, naturally, found a die-hard football fan at a local pub (shock). The owner of Shakespeare's Pub in Limassol is a Chelsea supporter. He did give Alex a bit of grief about his beloved Wycombe Wanderers - but he was respectful. And he *also* gave us some free shots...what kind of impression are we giving these people ?! :) Could be that he wanted to get us too drunk so that we'd continue to pump money into the bar-top trivial pursuit machine. He was entertained, too, by the competitive nature and male/female dynamic that is highlighted when a husband and wife jockey to win.

Now, there was a bit of karoake, but fortunately nothing captured on film (or audio!) Let's just say that we decided not to return to that pub, at least not this time. And we didn't go looking for more, like we did in Portugal :)

We did, however, stay long enough that we were invited by our new friends (including the above-referenced cousin) into the underground disco that opens after the street-level pub must close for the evening. And we stayed for about 4 minutes and realized that we are just way too old (and too fat, and too married and too fully-dressed) for this sort of nonsense of staying out 'til 5 a.m. - and we grabbed some fast food and went to bed.

We also weren't able to capture on film one other thing that I was quite intrigued by, for some reason. Perhaps it is just my love for and healthy fear of the motorcyles. Let me first say that Cypriates are kind of crazy drivers, fast drivers...daring drivers. And it wasn't unusual on any evening on the high street in Limassol, for groups of motorcyles to drive by, all "popping a wheelies" (to nearly a 90-degree angle) - and for some length of time and distance. And sometimes with passengers on the back. I was just fascinated so we tried to capture it, but our luck and timing were just not with us. We did, however, get a great shot of a giant cockroach! Hey, no place in the world is 100% glamorous :)

This is the last of the films from Cyprus.