Wednesday, July 8th - Paphos, Cyprus

From Bulgaria we flew to Cyprus. I will be staying with my professors Rachel and Nikos in the coming days, but first decided to explore the western coast of the island since I had the opportunity to have a travel partner. The area stretching from Paphos to Polis is the area that we stayed at for two nights. We arrived at around 1:30am Cyprus time on July 7^th and had decided to rent a car allowing us more freedom in what we saw on the island in such a short time frame. The drive all the way from the airport in Larnaca to Paphos is only around an hour and a half and is straight down a highway along the water. Though the island is so small, there is no solid public transportation system and Cypriots drive everywhere. Not only do they drive everywhere, but they do so on the other side of the road! Because Cyprus is a former British colony, they’ve adopted right-side-drive cars and driving on the left hand side of the road. Because we got in so early and had no place to be until check-in the next afternoon, I was able to practice my driving on wide open roads. In retrospect, it would have been easier with at least a little traffic because it would allow me to follow them rather than learning on my own. It’s definitely a fun thing to get used to, but it’s important to note that it’s not for very defensive drivers. I don’t consider myself an aggressive driver, but knew that I had to be when dealing with the European style. Rules seem to be followed much more strictly.

Much of the island has been connected by the new roadway that we took in the early hours of the morning, but there are still gravel paths that act as the only link to the most serene places on the island. Not getting to these places would be giving up on the real treasure of the island and giving into its overdeveloped, touristy façade. We only had a Hundai Getz (equivalent of a new Geo Metro hatchback), but we made our way slowly down the gravel paths to get wherever we wanted to go. Our first stop (before sunrise) was to Aphrodite’s Rock. Aphrodite, the Greek Goddess of beauty and love and the patron saint of the island, was said to have been born at this spot. Though it is usually a giant tourist attraction, we were able to get some great pictures of a full moon shining on the rocks. After a small nap before sunrise, we went past Paphos (where our hotel was located) to Agios Georgios where there is a smaller resort area, and then onto Pegeia for lunch. We had read in a great review in the guidebook about a St. Georges tavern and it did not disappoint. I had fried Kalamari (squid) with fries and Tatziki sauce while sipping on a Frappe (Greek-style iced coffee) as we overlooked two neighboring coves with turquoise water surrounded by the rocky cliff we were atop. After being completely stuffed we drove on to the area of Lara beach which is protected as a sea turtle hatchery yet still allows for swimmers. Because it’s not easy to get to on the unpaved roads most travelers decide not to go that far north along the shore, and the sand is some of the best I’ve seen (despite it nearly charring my feet).

On the second day, we went up to Polis where Aphrodite’s Baths and the archaeological museum are located. The baths are definitely a tourist trap, but the trip to the city was worth it as everything is very close (and driving through mountain passes on the wrong side of the road was fun!). There was also a 700 year old olive tree across from the museum that has almost split into two, but still produces olives! However, the beaches here were not as we had hoped and went back near the place we had been the day before that was closer to Paphos and had chairs and umbrellas to rent.

Both nights we ate the traditional Cypriot “meze” which is a buffet of Cypriot dishes in small portions served directly to the table. Thinking back to it makes my mouth water… The first night we went for the Vegetarian at a place called Fetta’s in Ktima (which is the northern less developed city center of Paphos). The second night we went to the 7 St. Georges just outside of Kato Paphos (which is the southern overdeveloped port city center). It was picked as by the author of our guide book as a must do. The website (http://www.7stgeorgestavern.com/) explains further about what their philosophy, but all the food and drink is created from their own crops, they serve the food that is in season and therefore the menu is never the same, they bring you food until you literally say “no more,” and they owner thanks every last table for coming. It was better than the review even talked it up to be in the half page article!