spring 2014

Tuesday 29 April 2014

After breakfast we pay and say goodbye to Agrivino and Lofou . We even get a bottle of white wine to remember. We drive to Nicosia or Lefkosia , as it is called here . It is the capital of Cyprus . We find our way to the Castelli hotel in the old city pretty easily. We leave the bags in the room and go off again to return the car to Sixt. However, the office is unmanned. After a phone call with customer service we can park the car in the parking lot behind the office and drop the key in the mailbox . We take a taxi back to the hotel . After a break we go into town and have lunch in a very very simple eatery .

 After lunch we walk to the Cyprus museum, which has a fine collection of antiquities . Especially the statues and monuments of prehistoric, Hellenistic , Roman and Byzantine periods of Cyprus are very nice to see . There is a large statue of the Roman Emperor Septimus Severus ( 145-211 AD) in bronze. In a separate room , which we almost missed, finds from tombs from different periods are exhibited in a way that gives a good idea how such a grave would have been like.After visiting the museum we walk back into town and go to the Shacolas tower . It holds the Ledra Observatory , which overlooks the city . Until 2004 , this was the way to look across the border into Northern Cyprus. That is less important now, because of the open border, but it does give a good overview of the city . In the distance we see the hills with the provocative Northern Cypriot flag painted on it. The building on the central shopping Ledra Street is also home to a branch of the British department store Debenham. It has a collection of British products and even the prices are in sterling . We are having a drink on a terrace when we are called by Petsas rent-a-car . Our car , a Toyota Yaris , is ready at the hotel! The reason for the change of car is that Sixt , where we first rented a car does not allow you to drive into Northern Cyprus . Petsas does allow that, but they are a lot more expensive . For the insurance papers for the North , I have to follow the agent to the Petsas office a few blocks away.  

Read more about the separation of the island and the history on this page.  

In the evening we have dinner at Domus restaurant . A chic affair close to the archbishop's palace . Fine dining and friendly service . The food is tasty , but heavy and there is lots of it .

Weather: 24°C and sunshine.

 

Wednesday 30 April 2014  

After breakfast and coffee at Starbucks we drive the in our Yaris in the direction of Girne in North Cyprus . Or so we think. Our Garmin leads us to a checkpoint , but here we cannot go across. It is a checkpoint for pedestrians only. We need drive 4 km to the border crossing of Agio Dominiatis . That is better . Once there, our ID cards are thoroughly checked and recorded by the Cyprus Police . Then we drive through to the border post of the Turkish Cypriots of the unrecognized independent Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus . We need to get out of the car. Our insurance document is reviewed and then our ID cards again recorded. We fill in a paper which gets stamped . Would we have shown our passport and got it stamped, then we would have trouble getting back and might not even be able to enter Greece anymore . Crossing the border (or Green Line) is reminiscent of the times of the Iron Curtain and the Berlin Wall .  

After this experience , we drive towards Girne . This is a quaint town on the sea . We draw Turkish money from an ATM and drink coffee . We walk along the harbor, which is almost picture perfect. The quay is full of terraces and restaurants that are very focused on drawing customers . The harbor is full of yachts and boats for boat excursions , which are also touted enthusiastically. Next to the port is the fortress of Girne . It is open to visitors. The fortress dates back to the times of the Crusaders and was conquered by the Ottomans in the 16th century. In the 19th century the British took over Cyprus and Girne . Inside the fortress we find both Byzantine and Venetian additions. After the fortress , we quickly pop into the mosque, which has a small minaret, but can be seen from most parts of the town. We have lunch on the harbor front at Carob’s .  

After lunch we drive to Belpais . A small village about four miles away, with a 14th century abbey ruin. The name Belpais is a corruption of the French Abbaie de la paix (Peace Abbey). After the Ottoman take over the island, the Augustinian monks were expelled and the monastery was handed over to the Eastern Orthodox clergy. The chapel is still intact and usable , but the rest of the monastery was severely damaged . The refectory is now used for concerts.   We move on and drive to St Hilarion castle. This is the largest castle on Cyprus . It is a ruin , but the castle dates back to the Middle Ages and has since been expanded and destroyed several times . It has also been used by the British. It’s a long drive up there . We pass a Turkish barracks , where there is a fire practice going on. From the parking lot and the ticket office it is a steep climb to the top. The complex consists of three parts , which are built at different heights. The views of Girne and surrounding area is beautiful . We drive back down and continue towards the border post . The border crossing is less hectic this time.

Back at the hotel we rest and by 6pm we walk to Ledra Street for a cocktail . After the drinks we eat a generous sized pizza at Il Forno .

Weather: First sunny 23 degrees later cloudy 20 degrees .

Thursday 1 May 2014

After coffee at Starbucks we cross the border on foot at Ledra Street . On the Greek side, we are waved through , but - after a piece of no man’s land with boarded-up houses - on the Turkish side , we again need a form and a stamp for a visa . From a reasonably attractive and modern shopping street , we are thrown into a kind of oriental street market with cheap clothing and shoes . We walk to the Buyuk Han , a former accommodation for merchants from the Ottoman period . It has recently been beautifully restored and the courtyard holds some nice restaurants. We continue to Ataturk Square with the former British courthouse and then on to the Girne gate. The city wall is poorly maintained here , as many of the houses. We walk to the Yeni Mosque , built in the 18th century on the site of an older one. A pasha thought a treasure was hidden on the site under the mosque , so he had it demolished. Sure enough there was no treasure , and when the sultan heard of the case, he had the pasha executed. The current new mosque is no longer in use . Finally, we walk to the Sulemeye mosque. The Ottomans  converted the Catholic church into a mosque . It is a spacious place of worship , where you can walk and admire quietly. There's someone studying the Koran. We have lunch at the Buyuk Han. After lunch we go  to the hotel .

After a break we drive to Politiko about 20km south of Lefkosia , where there is a nunnery . The monastery of Agios Irakleidos is a popular destination for Greek Cypriots . Irakleidios was the son of a pagan priest , who was ordained by the Apostle Paul himself . He was martyred at the age of 60 . 400 years later a monastery was founded over his grave, which was frequently destroyed and rebuilt . The current complex is from 1773. Nuns have been here since 1962 . They still live traditionally in small cells around a court yard, where they pray and do needle work. We are not allowed to take pictures . The monastery is beautiful , but the icons are almost all new. We also want to visit an archeological site dating from the 6th century BC, but it is closed . Probably because it is May 1st (Labour Day) . Finally we drive to Panagia Chrysospiliotissa (Our Lady of the Golden Cave) , an early Christian church hidden in a mountain wall. This type of church is not uncommon in the Middle East but in Cyprus it is very rare. The church is not easy to find . There is a sign that is easy to miss in the village of Kato Deftera , which refers to a bumpy and unpaved road , on which you'll soon think you are lost . The entrance to the church is halfway up a crumbling cliff. A lift and stairs carry us up to a small chapel and a room which are interconnected with tunnels . There are many devout old ladies about. The Virgin here also helps in finding husbands for unmarried women .  

We drive back to the hotel . In the evening we have dinner at restaurant Rimi . We take mezze , which is a collection of Greek / Turkish snacks is . Very nice.  

Weather: cloudy , 22 degrees .

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