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..