Cyprus - The Summer

Well, only way to describe it is – The Summer. Possibly best so far…

So, Cyprus. Politically part of EU, but geographically definitely not Europe. When you say your northern neighbour is Asian part of Turkey and closest ones are Syria, Israel and Egypt is really hard to imagine you are in Europe. More like orthodox middle east with Euro. Yep, interesting combination. Due to its position Cyprus was conquered by many different armies in the last two thousand years. Today it is the only EU country with a divided capital – Cyprus and Turkish Cyprus (our understanding it is sort of part of Turkey, but it is called Turkish Cyprus; not really internationally recognized; and considered occupied territories by Cypriots). Lefkosia (or Nicosia in the English version) is an interesting town, with long past and bit confused present. Churches turned into mosques, Turkish and Arab architecture in the European part, border in the middle of the main street. And definitely different face and feel of the same city in two different countries.  And then, bit away and few thousand years back in time are some incredible old ruins, Greek amphitheatres and mosaics and beautiful old churches and  monasteries from times of crusades. Something for everyone for sure. Our port in Cyprus is small town on the west coast (yes, it was because of amazing sunsets we can now see from our balcony) called Pafos.

Not sure where to start really. From Ireland we were planning on quiet time with a bit of swimming and sailing and a lot of rest (at least some of us did…). Boy, did it not turn out that way! Between diving, sailing, motor-biking and quite a lot of partying it turned out to be a pretty busy summer. This retirement thing is really wearing us down! Guess, time to rest when we go back to work…

So, diving… After long consideration (by Nives at least) we decided to go for dive master (DM) licence. Well, proved to be more work than initially thought (things usually tend to work out that way…). But, in the end we actually enjoyed the whole experience very much and learned quite a bit (thanks for that Carol!). Felt good to go for new diving certificate after more than 10 years. Needles to say, PADI changed so many things in the meantime it almost felt we were doing it in another organization (and yes, did feel like two dinosaurs…).  We also made few new friends along the way. So, now we are officially dive professionals (actually got a mail from PADI with our DM numbers just a few days ago). If you check the site it says we are now part of DM Tribe. Well, not feeling particularly tribal, but guess it is good to be The Pro now… It fits so well in our beach bum routine (tanned and almost blond as well!). We even used our friend Tom as guinea pig when he came for a visit and used our new skills. For the record, Tom went home in one piece (possibly damaged for life, but hey, he was the first). All in check now for the big trip…

And sailing… Summer sailing started with regatta in June (previous post). And continued with some good sails. Winds were not the best –  we would have hoped for bit stronger breezes to try out our new lady (by the way, name is P2 – as Pelican, The Sequel), but we still had few good runs. This is a definitely different sailing than one in Ireland – you dress up not to get sun-burnt not because you are cold! And capsizes are welcomed (actually didn’t have any… damn!) just to cool off. So, to paint a picture (before you all go off to see them J) – warm seas, blue skies and views of Akamas national park is how we spent our Thursdays and Saturdays. And few encounters with turtles were definitely a bonus! We had few ‘moments’ along the way (and yes, we are referring to Nives losing her swim suit during the race as well… something it will not be easily forgotten in the club…). We know, hard life… Not to mention quite a few memorable beach bbqs. Fire, meat, booze and then dip in the 30 degrees sea while looking at the stars and Milky Way is not the worst way to spend an evening … And then a motorcycle ride home. Add to that few pretty amazing parties and celebrations – not just ours, btw (but we both did celebrate our birthdays and wedding anniversary in Cyprus) but from our friends in the club. Yep, if it sounds like heaven it pretty much was…

Motor biking… The biggest surprise of the summer was definitely the bike. Pet of the family survived few hard years in Ireland (damp and salty weather aren’t exactly ideal scenario) and was eagerly awaiting promised dry out in Cyprus. Unbelievably, few basic repairs later it purred again like a kitten. Well, that is our opinion, but if you ask our neighbours it was probably more like a lion on heat with toothache (and no, we didn’t get evicted!... yet…). Harley immediately felt at home and marked its territory with obligatory oil patches (again, nothing from the neighbours yet – pretty patient lot actually). It was like the good old days – rides in the sunsets with sea on your side wearing only shorts and sleeveless T-shirts. Yes baby! Guess, no need to add anything to that. And even bigger bonus was that we met some great people in the Pafos Dark Legion MC club and again made some great friends. Guess this is how we spent our Friday evenings and any free time. Again, we know – hard life…

Also, this year we got a fair share of visits (thanks guys for coming over!). We had some really amazing time showing our friends Cyprus and local attractions and discovering a few ourselves along the way. Not to forget nights out on the Bar Street and getting acquainted with all this new music (guess we sort of got stuck in the late nineties). We even now know the proper moves… sort of… (thanks Veronika! J). Anyway, from culture to nature (above and below the sea surface) – we covered the lot! Had some pretty wicked bbqs as well (some may feel a bit out there to some, but hey we definitely wanted to try everything locals do). In the end, flat is still there (not burned down), we definitely went through our fair share of meat and cheese (special Cypriot cheese for bbq – halumi) and yes, you guessed – we didn’t really lose any weight as planned (ah, there is always Asia for that…). Few incredible nights in our favourite restaurant in the world (Seven St Georges) and best pizza after Brooklyn did not really help the cause.

And last, but not least – the weather… As expected: sun up, sun down. For days, weeks, months… We figured that signs used by weather people are not same in every country. In Ireland when they say sunny if you are lucky you may see sun for few hours and when they say cloudy you will not see one for sure. In Cyprus, when they say cloudy you can spot few fluffy clouds in the distance while sitting in the shade sipping a cold beer. Sad thing is we got used to heat and sun and didn’t really appreciate it in the end. It was the constant of the summer. And when they predicted rains in the October we were actually excited about them, but were rewarded with only few hours of thunder (no rain) and few showers. Ah, again – there is Asia for that… We figured it was time to leave when we started wearing long sleeves and started complaining about the cold with locals while tourists were still walking around in summer clothes  burned and red like lobsters. It is actually bad when temperature in the night falls to 20 degrees and sea is only about 24. Definitely time to leave for warmer climates…

So, in the end of October we stored the bike and boat for the winter, said goodbye to everybody (again), cleaned the apartment (again) and packed our bags (well, backpacks to be exact). We are on the way! Non-European part of Pelican, The Sequel is starting. First stop – one of our favourite cities in the world – Kuala Lumpur.

Some more pictures here.