All posts tagged: Cyprus

So Long, Cyprus

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This is going to be my last post about our trip in Cyprus. It was a short stay. I didn’t even get the chance to see north side of the country. Hopefully, we will get to see it again one day. For the last day, we took our rental car on the road again. The destination was Limassol. Limassol is the second largest city in Cyprus, and it is on the southern coast. When we reached the city, we could see many newly built seaside resorts. I have heard it’s one of the most popular destinations in Cyprus. Now, I understand why.  It has beautiful beaches, modern lifestyle and ancient history. The historical part of the city is well preserved. Although it was the end of September, the temperature was still about 28-30 degree. If you ever want a late summer holiday, I think this is the place. Kolossi Castle On the way to Limassol, we stopped at Kolossi Castle. It’s about 14km from Limassol. It was built in 13th century and rebuilt in 15th …

Cyprus (continued)

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Today, I want to take us back to Cyprus again. One cannot visit Cyprus without looking into their ancient history which can be traced back to 10th millennium BC. We probably all know Cyprus is divided into Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot.  This time, we only had time to have a brief visit to few places on the Greek side. After a day at Larnaca, we rented a car and drove to west side of the island. The first stop was Kiti. Angeloktisti Church, Kiti This small church is the one attracted us to Kiti. The church was built in 11th century over the ruins of  an Early Christian basilica. The name of the church means “built by angels” in Greek. The story behind it is ancient Kition moved to Kiti to escape from Arab invasion. They wanted to build a church dedicated to the Virgin. However, one day, the church foundation was moved to a different location overnight. Although the villagers didn’t know why, they decided to change the church location. As a miracle, …

Larnaca, Cyprus

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I guess I need to start from Larnaca. After all, it was our first stop for this trip, and we truly enjoyed our stay in this city. Nice warm weather, beautiful sea and beach. On the second day, after a lovely sunrise and warm freshly baked breakfast , we thought it would be a good idea that we just hung around in Larnaca. It would give us some time to adjust and recover a bit from the long-haul flight and jet lag. Certainly there were things to see and do in this beautiful city. Agios Lazaros (Church of Saint Lazarus) Be honest with you, this is the first Greek Orthodox Church I have ever seen. The church was built in 890 mainly with limestone blocks when St. Lazarus’s tomb was discovered. It was built over the tomb, and we still can go down to the sanctuary to see it.  The remains were moved to Constantinople and then to Marseille long time ago. The gold covered iconostasis is magnificent and breathtaking. I have never seen anything …

Good morning, Larnaca

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After a 14-hours flight and another three hours one, we finally arrived at Larnaca, Cyprus. After check-in and a quick dinner, we hit the pillows long and hard. Then, jet lag kicked in. However, Sometimes it’s a good thing. We woke up at 5am and decided to have an early morning walk on the beach. So quiet. The city was still sleeping. There were few people swimming in in the sea. Some were walking the dog or jogging alone the seaside. It’s probably the best time of the day to enjoy the city before the heat and heaps of tourists like ourselves wake up. We walked on the beach. The city is waking up. More and more people emerged on the street, jogging, cycling, fishing. “Kalimera!” They greeted each other. The water is crystal clear and calm. We sat down and waited for the sunrise. I admit I haven’t had a chance to watch sunrise in such a beautiful place for years. I had forgotten how beautiful it is. Apart from the time we spent …