Paphos Waterfont, let the frappes begin - Cyprus

Your first reaction when arriving into Paphos is "tourist trap".  The beachfront is lined with hotels as it snakes it way around to the Marina which ends at the Paphos Archaeological Park.

So what do they say when in Paphos do as the tourists do! so we stopped on the waterfront and enjoyed the first of many frappes that would be ordered throughout this trip.

Petra Tou Romiou - Cyprus

Over the week that we were in Cyprus we spent most of time visiting the places of interest as suggest by our Loney Planet Guide. Cyprus is not super large island and you can get from one side to the other in a matter of hours.  Rather than a day by day blog, I am going for a place by place entry.

Petra Tou Romiou, but is also more recognisable by it's anglo name, Aphrodite's Rock.  It is said that as the waves break over the rock a pillar of foam is formed with an almost human shape.

 On arrival we parked at the Visitors Pavilion.  From there you walk through a tunnel that runs under the road to the beach.  With good intentions to swim, the water was a little cool for us, but it didn't seem to worry the others happily frolicking around in the clear water.  Apparently this is also a fabulous spot to watch the Sunset.

Grocery Shopping - Cyriot Style!

This was so unique it had to have it's own blog entry.  We decided to a grocery shop of the essentials and not too far from our apartment we found the supermarket.
Just like all supermarkets outside of Australia, everything is sold under one roof.  So what happens if you have you spread your goods over 2 floors, you install shopping trolley escalators of course...  Never seen them before probably wont again...

Staying awake at the Old Port Limassol

Cyprus has had a fascinating past, many invaders, settlers and immigrants have come over the centuries and the island has seen Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Lusignans, Genoeses, Venetians, Ottomans, British and Turks all seeking to take a part of Cyprus for themselves.

 One of its most famous conquerors was Richard the Lionheart, who decided he had too much on his plate trying to get a strong hold in the Holy Land, he sold it to the Templars, who realise this is harder than it looks... begged Richard to take it back who in turn resold it to a Frenchman.
Although Cyprus is still split in two, it has grown into a beautiful and thriving country. I am a bit bias as the majority of my roots sprouted from this country.
Once we had settled ourselves into our apartment we decided we needed to stay awake, so we ventured back out along the waterfront.
It seems on most Mediterranean Islands, there is an old town bordering an old port, with cobbled streets lined  with tourist shops. Add to that the Cafe's and restaurants, then throw in a castle and you will that Cyprus is not exception to the norm.

As if morphing from old to new, the Limassol Marina pulls you into modern Cyprus.  Next to the old port you will find yachts, luxury apartments and trendy restaurants lining the waterfront.  But if you are on a tight budget don't depair, you can also find KFC and Pizza Hut.

Arriving in Cyprus

We arrived at Larnaca Airport to blue skies and sunshine, which felt nice after the few weeks of winter we were experiencing at home.

A seamless immigration, all the luggage turned up, what else could we ask for … we were ready to rock and roll

The hire car was waiting for us, and with our trusty google maps, the fab five were zooming down the highway heading for Limassol.

We were staying at the Diana Apartments which where not far from the waterfront.  The building was a little old and tired, but looked good from a distance.  We had air-conditioning and a view, we were happy...

Dianna Apartments

Our View

Flying Emirates

Taking this flight was not all smooth sailing to start with.

Yes, we got caught up in the Bestjet Fiasco.

You can imagine the look on my face when I receive a rogue email Bestjet collapsing, saying something about bankruptcy, cancellations and lost flights. My first thought it was a hoax.

We were one of the lucky ones, Bestjet paid for our airfares and Emirates had confirmed our tickets.  So many people lost their money, with many turning up at the airport only to find they didn't have seats on their flights, airlines cancelled their seats as Bestjet had not handed over the money.

It was a very nerve raking few months as we constantly checked to ensure that Bestjet didn't cancel our flights and abscond with our money, which they had the capability to do.  Something, according to Emirates we couldn't prevent.

But we made it...


This was the second time that we have flown with Emirates and can I say it is becoming our airline of choice. The last couple of times that we have flown with Qantas it just feels like the standard has dropped each time.  Flight attendants on the long haul seem to be of the  more mature kind and unfortunately, of the can't be bothered kind, and if you can get them smile, you are a winner.  Well that was how I felt on our last trip earlier this year.

But our Emirates girls were all smiles and seemed more attentive.  Emirates seats are more comfortable and I am sure there was more leg room. Emirates present their meals on tray set out beautifully, as oppose to the way Qantas now deliver your meal... Unfortunately I don't have a picture from our last trip.  I know sounds picky ....  but after 12 hours of flying every bit of niceness counts.

If I was to make one complaint, which is not just Emirates, it is the touch screens on the back of seats.  Adults are ok, but really young children don't realised that by punching the screen several times doesn't make it go any faster ..... UGG!

My last flight had me googling, are there such a thing as childless flights....  LOL

Anyway it was good flight to Dubai, then a quick change over for our direct flight to Larnaca Cyprus.

Ready, Set, Go

So the bags are packed and we are ready to go, wee thought we would try something new this time.  Instead of organising a transfer to the Airport, we decided to put our Metro to the test.

Travelling light, 2 large suitcases, cabin bag and a backpack, made this decision easier.  Dragging suitcases up the road to the station, no problem.  Lifts up to the platform, easy.  Trying to stop the bags from rolling away on the train, well that was a challenge.

Quick change at Chatswood, Wynyard a little harder as we had to negotiate 2 different lifts to get to platform 6.  But straight into International Airport once we got there...  All up about an hour and a half, but a saving of around $50.

Having arrived sooner than we thought, we envisage we would have to wait sometime for the check in desks to open.  Seeing a couple of the Emirates girls sitting there we decided to ask what time they would be starting...  Bingo....  "bring your bags over and we will check you in now!!"

With that done and dusted we cleared security and immigration, even had time to claim our TRS.  We then made our way to the American Express Lounge. Yes, they have a lounge for card holders at Sydney Airport, 2 visits a year, so we used them both to get us in.

So it was now sit back, relax, eat and drink champagne until our flight is called.

Let the planning begin

Over dinner and probably a few too many glasses of wine, the Grossie Greek Odyssey was born.

The intrepid group was Garry, myself, my cousin Victoria, her husband Glen, and our youngest Carly is tagging along the keep the age demographic down.  OMG we were our very own version of "Travel Guides".

Well this holiday was really just about us our girls and finding our roots.  For Carly and I the Cypriot blood runs more rampart through our veins as my father ( her grandfather ) was born in Cyprus. But the three of us are connected through our Cypriot maternal grandfather.

Which leads us to  our maternal grandmother,  She was born on a little tiny island called Castellorizo. So those two spots were our focus.

With Turkey being so close to Castellorizo, we included a five day visit there, and what the hell, a Groupon Deal came up to visit Egypt, so we decided to go for that too, where our mothers were born.

A couple more dinners to make the final arrangements and we are ready to go..

About our Egypt trip - this is a temporary post to some information out there...

A few people have been asking about how we are touring around Egypt. 

We booked at 10 day tour of Egypt through Groupon, ours was land content only.  The Australian company that we have dealt with was Destination International and Cynthia has been very efficient with all our correspondence.  The company that we are with in Egypt is Chrismar. So far so good.

When we arrived in Cairo a representative was there to greet us as soon as we exited the plane.  They escorted us through immigration, which was seamless as we had already purchased our Egyptian Visa’s online.

Next was the luggage, he found a trolley and we loaded up.  There was only 4 of us so it was easy to ask him to take us to an ATM in the terminal to get money…. Haven’t check the exchange but I think it is pretty good.  We also asked if we could drop by the Vodafone stand where we purchased a sim card with 30gig of data for around $50 … you could get smaller but Gaz is hot spotting off my phone.

We were then handed over to our Cairo tour Leader who looked after us during our 3 days there.  We stayed at the Hilton Ramses.  Very nice for their standard - think Shangri La, but a lot more tired looking.  It was in a great position on the Nile and just opposite the Cairo Museum.

Security is tight as every van is checked and all bags are scanned on entry.  Prices at the hotel certainly did not reflect what you would expect to pay in Egypt $$$.

Although we had free time we decided not the venture out on our own, but left it for times that we were touring with our guide.  On our first full day we visited the Pyramids in the morning and the museum in the afternoon with an Egyptologist.  That night we paid extra to visit the Giza Light and Sound show followed by a dinner at a local restaurant. 

Be  warned, we are here in August and the heat is bad… we have a neck cooler that only lasts for 20 minutes, but now I also take a washer or small towel which I soak in water to help cool down and wipe the sweat out of my eyes.

The second day we headed to Luxor.  It was a 4am walk up call, for a 5am departure to the airport, with a 7.30 am flight.  They booked us business class – the main benefit was that we have 30 kilo baggage allowance.  Again we had some one with us right until we walked through security.  Oh and the hotel supplied a breakfast box for the trip to the airport.

Touch down in Luxor and again someone is waiting for us.  It was straight to the Karnak Temple with the guide that will stay with us for the entire duration of our cruise. 

Our ship, the Princess Sarah, is very grand looking for Egyptian standards and you can see the wear and tear.  But that is just cosmetic, the crew are wonderful and they are all our friends already.  Rooms are huge and yes we have balcony…. Well French style.

We stayed overnight in Luxor to enable us to explore both the east and west banks  ( all this  will be covered in my real blog). 

The restaurant is assigned seating according to your tour group… did I mention that we are only 4 on our tour? Although it is a melting pot of nationalities on the ship, we are the only Aussies.  Meals are all buffet style.  The food is quite good with a mixture of traditional and western style food. 

Tonight is a Egyptian themed night known as Galabiya … so we will dress up for dinner and then the party in the Lounge area… which is really the only other public area on the ship … except for the deck.  Drinks not super cheap, but cheaper than the hotel…  small cans of beer around $5 and small bottles of wine $10 (one person), soft drinks around $4. I have not tried the local cocktail yet.

When coming back on board after touring you are welcomed with a wet washer and a refreshing mint Tea.

We have 3 room stewards, 2 Mohamed’s and I can’t quite remember but I think it is Yousef… Towel animals every day …. Yay

That is all I can tell you at this stage as we are only on day three…  I am sitting in the cool of our room watching the life on the Nile pass by.  My concentration is broken by the young children waving frantically, calling out and whistling to catch our attention as we pass by their Villages.

So that is it for now and I will rewrite this and add pictures at a later date.

Gaznjo….