Raluca Teodorescu

EN: Our last vacation for the summer was in Cyprus. We arrived there after a 2 hour flight, and for my surprise, it looked a lot like Greece. The sun was burning, I think it was like 38 degrees or more, but no one cared, we were happy to be there.On the way to our friends house, I kept staring at the area, thinking to myself how similar Cyprus is to Greece. At one point I even asked my boyfriend “Are you sure we are not in Greece?”, until I saw the well known Turkish flag on one of their mountains. As we all know the flag is there for a long time know, and you can see it from almost every part of the island.

Another thing that surprised me was how big and beautiful their houses are. Because of their high temperatures, during the day they keep the windows and curtains closed, otherwise it will get to hot inside, and you’ll feel like you’re in a sauna.

What I forgot to mention is that we landed on Larnaka airport, and our friend lives in Larnaka city, so it took us like 40 minutes to get from the airport to his place. We rented a car there, cause you will need one if you don’t want to be stuck just in one place. There is no surprise now that we never unpack when we go somewhere, we just throw the stuff in the room, put our swimsuits on and go to the sea. The water was a bit cold for me, but then hey, it was just me, no one else seemed to complain about that.

Our first meal there was the well known gyros. The best and biggest gyros I ever had.No pictures of it, cause man we were hungry!!!

Need to say, even though the temperatures are quite high during the day, they sure drop a lot during the night. Every night I wanted to put on a nice dress to go out, but ended in wearing jeans and a jumper.

The next day we woke up early to go to the beach. I said ‘we woke up early’, but it took us almost 2 hours till we left home. Why you ask? Well normal people want to eat breakfast in the morning, drink their coffees, rest a bit so their food is settled, but me I am not part of that category. If I’ll have to choose between eating or sunbathing, I choose the last one. And anyway I am not a coffee fan, so don’t really want to waste time in the morning with all that. And my boyfriend is the same, so from the next day he found the perfect solution for this..’Zorbas bakery’. Do you remember how I said Cyprus is so similar to Greece? And do you remember how I said in my previous post how amazing the Greek food is? Look at this happy kid!

For a week, every morning, before going to the sea, we would’ve stopped at Zorbas bakery to buy all kind of pastries. If you ever go to Cyprus, stop at their bakery and I promise you won’t be disappointed.

Where are the best beaches in Cyprus?

The best one will be in Ayia Napa. It’s a bit far from Larnaka, but if you leave early in the morning, you’ll have a lot of time to spend in that area.

Ayia Napa is one of their biggest resorts, and features a number of bathing beaches, on which water sports such as water-skiing, windsurfing, canoeing, scuba diving and speed boating are popular. The most popular beach in Ayia Napa is Nissi beach, which is very popular mainly with younger people in the summer and gets quite crowded.

The Square, central to the town,  is filled with restaurants, night clubs and shops, and there is no way you’ll get bored here.

The night life here is f…..g amazing. There are clubs everywhere, restaurants opened till late, karaoke bars, you name it, it’s all there! The best of them is The Castle Club. World famous DJ’s and acts appear regularly including Alex Kidd and Markus Schulz.At first we stayed in the VIP section, but later on moved the party downstairs where the craziness was.

 Other beaches include Cavo Greco,near Ayia Napa, Governor’s Beach, Lady’s Mile Beach both in Limassol, Paphos beaches, Kyrenia, Famagusta and Larnaka.

If you want to avoid the heath, you can go and visit Troodos, the largest mountain range in Cyprus, located in the center of the island.There are many famous mountain resorts, Byzantine monasteries and churches.

From here we ended up in Kakopetria, the highest village in the Solea Valley.We stopped here at a restaurant, to enjoy this amazing view, and to have some ice cold drinks to cool us down.

 

Most of our night we spent in Nicosia, the capital and largest city on the island of Cyprus. Nicosia is divided in two, between the southern Greek Cypriot and the northern Turkish Cypriot. To go to the Turkish side, you need to cross the border, and for this you’ll need your passport, or ID card. Both sides are amazing, with great restaurants with traditional live music, bars, shops.etc.

There is a restaurant near the border, where they have the best meze in town. What is meze?Meze is a selection of small dishes, hot or cold, spicy or savory. You have three choices of meze: meat,  fish or vegetarian.There is a set pattern to the dishes: typically olives, tahini, salad and yogurt will be followed by dishes with vegetables and eggs, then small meat or fish dishes alongside special accompaniments, and finally more substantial dishes such as whole fish or meat stews and grills.

Hope I convinced you to chose Cyprus as your next destination!

RO: Ultima vacanta a acestei veri a fost in Cipru. Am ajuns acolo dupa un zbor de doua ore si spre surprinderea mea Ciprul seamana foarte mult cu Grecia. Afara erau cred ca 38 de grade, sau mai mult, dar nimanui nu ii pasa, eram fericiti doar ca suntem acolo. In drum spre casa prietenelui nostru, ma uitam mirata in stanga si in dreapta si ma gandeam cat de mult se aseamana cele doua. La un moment dat chiar l-am intrebat pe prietenul meu ‘ Esti sigur ca nu suntem in Grecia?’, pana cand am vazut steagul turcesc pe unul din munti. Dupa cum stiti steagul se afla acolo de multi ani deja, si il poti vedea aproape din orice parte a insulei.

Ce am uitat sa mentionez e faptul ca am aterizat pe aeroportul din Larnaka, iar prietenul nostru sta in orasul Larnaka, care e la o distanta de vreo 40 de minute de aeroport. De aici am inchiriat o masina, pentru a ne fi mai usor sa ne plimbam dintr’o parte in alta a insulei. Nu e nici o surpriza deja faptul ca nu despachetam niciodata cand ajungem intr’un loc. aruncam toate bagajele in camera, ne schimbam rapid si plecam direct la plaja. Apa mi s-a parut putin cam rece, dar poate sunt eu mai friguroasa, in final am fost singura care a zis asta, restul erau ca broscutele in apa.

Dupa baie am mers sa mancam. Sincera sa fiu, am tot cautat noi restaurante pe langa plaja, dar parca nimic nu ne incanta, asa ca ne-am tot invartit noi pe ici pe colo pana am dat de un mic local la marginea strazii. Aici am mancat cel mai bun gyros de pana acum. Poze din pacate nu avem, motivul… eram atata de lesinati de foame incat tot ce aveam in minte era mancare si nimic altceva.

A doua zi ne-am trezit dis de dimineata cu gandul de a merge si noi ca tot omul de dimineata la plaja, nu in amiaza mare, cum faceam de obicei,  cand soarele arde ca nebunul. Ce sa zic ca m-am trezit degeaba, pentru ca oamenii normali se trezesc, iau micul dejun, beau o cafeluta sa prinda putina energie si apoi merg in treburile lor. Ei bine eu nu fac parte din aceasta categorie, unul la mana nu beau cafea deloc, iar doi la mana, daca ar trebui sa aleg intre a lua masa sau a merge la plaja, aleg tot timpul plaja. Prietenul meu e cam la fel ca si mine, iar de a doua zi a gasit el solutia perfecta ‘Zorbas Bakery’. Zorbas Bakery e o brutarie foarte renumita in Cipru, unde gasesti cele mai bune placinte cu branza ever!!! Daca mergeti in Cipru, neaparat sa va opriti la ei.

Unde sunt cele mai bune plaje in Cipru?

Cele mai frumoase sunt in Ayia Napa, putin cam departe de unde stateam noi, dar cum zice si proverbul ‘Cine se trezeste de dimineata departe ajunge’.

Ayia Napa este o statiune localizata in partea estica a insulei, si dispune de una dintre cele mai bine cunoscute plaje din Cipru, totodata este una dintre cele mai animate statiuni , cu restaurante, cluburi, cafenele, discoteci, aqua parc, muzee si magazine. Cea mai populara plaja de aici este plaja Nissi, preferata de majoritatea turistilor.

Viata de noapte aici intrece orice asteptari, nu degeaba Ayia Napa a fost comparata la un moment dat cu renumita Ibiza. De la cluburi de noapte, discoteci, restaurante, la baruri de karaoke, tot ce vrei gasesti aici. Unul dintre cele mai tari cluburi e renumitul Castle Club. Unii dintre cei mai renumiti Dj sau artisti vin aici, printre care si Alex Kidd sau Markus Schulz.

Alte plaje renumite sunt cele din  Cavo Greco,langa Ayia Napa, Governor’s Beach, Lady’s Mile Beach ambele in Limassol, plajele din Paphos , Kyrenia, Famagusta si Larnaka.

In cazul in care te saturi de stat la soare si vrei sa scapi cat de cat de caldura, poti sa mergi sa vizitezi muntii Trodos, aflati de-a lungul centrului insulei Cipru. Aici gasiti manastiri, biserici frumoase si peisaje care o sa va taie rasuflarea.

 

De aici am ajungs in Kakopetria, cel mai mare sat din Valea Solea.Tot aici ne-am oprit la un restaurant, pentru a admira si noi privelistea in liniste si de ce nu sa savuram si ceva racoritoare.

Majoritatea noptilor le-am petrecut in Nicossia, capitala Ciprului.  Este singura capitală divizată din lume, partea nordică (turcească) și partea sudică (grecească) fiind despărțite de o “Linie Verde”. Pentru a trece dintr-o parte in cealalta, o sa ai nevoie de pasaport sau un act de identitate. Ambele parti sunt nemaipomenite, fiecare avand restaurante la care se canta muzica traditionala, baruri, magazine, etc.

Aproape de granita dintre cele doua, este un restaurant unde am mancat cel mai bun meze din tot Ciprul. ‘Meze’ este o selectie de mancaruri servite pe platouri mici. Poate fi de peste, carne sau vegetarian. Indiferent de tipul de carne folosit, meze’le conţine farfuriuţe cu aperitive comune: o salată horiatiki (varză, castraveţi, roşii, ceapă, capere, măsline), feta, hummus, tzatziki, vinete preparate în diverse moduri, cartofi prăjiţi,  orez, pitta, pepene verde, măsline, ardei iuţi şi celebra brânză halloumi.

Sper ca te-am convins sa incluzi si Ciprul in lista ta de vacante!

Photos taken by Todea Andrei