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Unloxit 2024
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Unloxit 2024

Some travels both domestic and distant, kicking off with the very first day of the year.. Read more
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    January 1, 2024
    BlogarithmsUnloxit 2024Traveler

    New Year, new colours

    January 1, 2024 in England ⋅ ☁️ 9 °C

    It's 2024 and while many people were enjoying the fireworks by the river last night, I choose a morning start to enjoy London's New Year parade. After 2 years hiatus it's becoming a regular fixture again and well worth braving the January weather, This time I watch most of it from Piccadilly, at a spot before the main parade begins. Hence I can beat the crowds and get a better view of the performers as they get ready to make their way towards Parliament Square.

    It's so nice to see ordinary people getting a release from their office suits or overalls to become special for a day. With London's diverse population, there's a huge choice of ethnic costumes. I particularly like the Bolivian team bringing a rare colour to the sober tube station.

    If this is the only carnival I see this year (and I hope it isn't!), 2024 has got off to a colourful start.    Read more

  • BlogarithmsUnloxit 2024Traveler
    1

    Pilot of the Caribbean

    February 15, 2024 in Dominican Republic ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    Airborne for the first time in 2024, I'm spending a fortnight in Santo Domingo. Not to be confused with Dominica, it's the Spanish-speaking part of Hispaniola island. Punta Cana is the only place with direct flights from the London area, and the journey is comfortable and seamless. Apart from a scare at Gatwick, that is, which nearly finishes my journey before it's started. I've forgotten to complete the return half of the immigration form! Fortunately a helpful airline staff member completes it and I'm on my way.

    Arrival at Punta Cana is seamless as well. The hotel booking agency have arranged a taxi for the 20 km. drive to my hotel. They prefer US dollars cash but the local banknotes (about 55 to the US$) are attractive and portray characters in local history. Next morning, the view from the hotel balcony reveals what is typical of Punta Cana: a mass tourist destination, like Cancun in Mexico, which satisfies desires for sun, sea and sand but for me is a jumping-off point for more typical experiences.

    Without a doubt the beaches, though busy, are spectacular. But there's still space for traditional street art.    Read more

  • BlogarithmsUnloxit 2024Traveler
    11

    La Capital

    February 17, 2024 in Dominican Republic ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

    Punta Cana used to be cut off from the rest of the island but since the construction of new roads, getting around is now quite easy. A taxi ride to the bus station and a bus so air-conditioned that I wear two layers of clothes, gets me to the capital in 3 hours.

    Santo Domingo was founded a few years after Columbus' landfall in 1492 and boasts the first street pattern, the first cathedral and the first university in the New World. While lacking some of the timeworn atmosphere of Havana in Cuba, it's a vibrant bustling city of 2.5 million people.

    The Colonial centre is the soul of the city's history and Parque Colon (Columbus) is the focus of much human life, with a non-stop parade of people watching. These three men are playing merengue, an up-tempo music style with evident African roots. Not that this seems to impress the young lady advertising a local restaurant! In the same plaza we see a Dominican version of a "beer bike" which some European cities are trying to eliminate but flourish here. No one promised the Dom. Rep. to be quiet.
    But there are some quiet corners and I enjoy resting in Parque Duarte, a few blocks away, and the colourful back street housing.

    A brisk walk westwards leads to the Malecon, the waterfront where people relax at weekends. The fresh sea breeze is a good foil to the powerful Caribbean sun.    Read more

  • BlogarithmsUnloxit 2024Traveler

    Almost the Caribbean

    February 19, 2024 in Dominican Republic ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    Thanks to another good road, the 3-hour bus journey from the capital to the town on Samana is straightforward. Moving on isn't quite as easy: it's hard to work out where to get transport, until a helpful policewoman walks me to a place where I can flag down a guagua. Pronounced "wa-wa" and seeming to mimic the noise from their horns, these redoubtable vehicles are vans seating around 15 passengers and will stop anywhere on the route to pick up or drop off people. Yet again I appreciate the value of travelling light, with the small backpack on my knees.

    The Samana pensinsula is several things that Punta Cana is not: low rise, quiet and peaceful. Its' actually on the Atlantic but might as well be the Caribbean. I'm staying at an excellent French-run hotel in the small town of Las Galeras. and a view from the balcony shows that it's not short of plant life. The streets have a pleasant outdoor atmosphere and the town is well worth a few days stay.

    Some people come to the peninsula for whale watching, this being the middle of the calving season. I'm here however mainly to indulge in the world-class tropical beaches, for which the two men outside the tour agency are negotiating a trip. Complete with a supply of cold drinks. But there are two caveats: my guide book has several nasty little warnings about robberies on the beaches. It's depressing to have to be careful even in idyllic places like this and I hope they just advise not to leave valuables on the beach while going for a swim. Another discomfort is the boat trip to what's advertised as Las 3 Playas. It's by speedboat carrying about 12 passengers and with the choppy water, it's a rollercoaster. Every 30 seconds my heart is in my mouth as the boat takes a plunge to a trough and then peaks to the next wave. It's a wonder my back stays in one piece.

    But...but...the ride takes us to Fronton, Playita (for lunch) and Rincon beaches and they are all world class. And for the final picture, I don't need a boat at all---just a 10-minute walk from my hotel to watch golden hour.    Read more

  • BlogarithmsUnloxit 2024Traveler

    Back in the S.D.

    February 24, 2024 in Dominican Republic ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    A reversal of last week's trip (guagua, bus, taxi) takes me back to a few days in the capital. This time I'm right in the heart of things, in a classy hotel on Parque Colon and a prime view from the roof terrace. At first I hope it won't be too many times that he plays "My Way" and "La Vie on Rose" on the saxophone, but after a couple of days I get to like him. Some sort of dancing display usually takes place in the afternoons. The quiet backstreets show an unhurried pace of life, even if the bronze sleeper takes it to the extreme.

    Indeed, music is never far away. It's good to know that as well as the local styles, salsa is popular---maybe from Cuba or Puerto Rico. I follow the sounds blasting from a neighbourhood bar, and then a colmado (corner shop). The music is recorded but they like to juice it up with their own percussion.    Read more

  • BlogarithmsUnloxit 2024Traveler

    Almost a carnival

    February 27, 2024 in Dominican Republic ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    To my immense frustration, there have been no Sunday carnivals as the tourist guides had led me to believe. What does happen, on 27th February, is the annual Independence Day celebration. Independence not from Spain as one might expect but Haiti, which by the early 19th century had freed itself from France and abolished slavery. As the first Latin American country to gain independence, Haiti then occupied the Dom. Rep. for 20 years, to be driven out on this day in 1844. Sadly of course, the downward spiral in Haiti's fortunes---reparations to France, the Papa Doc regime and the 2010 earthquake---have led to its becoming the lawless state of today and the border with the Dom. Rep. is closed.

    Dominicans however are hugely proud of their heritage, with the colours of red, white and blue everywhere. School parties, marching bands and soldiers parade the streets in full regalia. The Malecon brings out dozens of street food sellers to satisfy the spectators while back on Parque Colon, a lone reveller has her moment in front of the camera.

    Would I go back to the Dom. Rep? My having been there 20 years ago and with the attractions of Cuba and Mexico next door, probably not but it's been a satisfying trip.    Read more

  • BlogarithmsUnloxit 2024Traveler

    DFL again

    April 9, 2024 in England ⋅ 🌬 10 °C

    Once again I'm in Ramsgate, Kent, joining the other DFL (down from London) types. As before, accommodation is at the peerless Royal Temple Yacht Club, with its magnificent view of the harbour---which our family used in our yachtie days. At quayside level is the Victorian sailors' church, a beautiful Victorian oasis of peace and quietness.

    More secular delights can be found with views of the beach---not fashionable but good and sandy---from the former casino. It's been converted into a Wetherspoons pub, the largest in the chain and very elegant it is too. A far cry from when I visited it in 2021, with Covid restrictions forcing me to order not from the bar but on the app---which I couldn't get to work! There's also time for a more traditional pub, the Horse and Groom, hidden in a back street in the town centre.

    Ramsgate always fascinates me with its intimate squares and gardens, that could almost be in Islington or even Kensington. The architecture is DFL too! The final shot is of a Victorian block of flats designed by the son of Augustus Pugin, architect of the Houses of Parliament and one-time Ramsgate resident. Its forbidding profile might be more suited to a prison or an asylum. Regrettably some of the block is empty and it all goes to show how even in this era of housing shortages there is so much wastage. But to look at, the building does have a je ne sais quoi.    Read more

  • BlogarithmsUnloxit 2024Traveler

    Keep on running!

    April 21, 2024 in England ⋅ ☁️ 10 °C

    This 1960s chart hit is often played to celebrate the London Marathon. It's got a carnival spirit that has returned to the streets in the spring, following closures for Covid. It's a lovely event---maybe less so for some of the exhausted runners, although even they should be satisfied by completing the challenge. More than 50,000 people take part, including many elite runners but mainly charity fundraisers. There's also the handful of celebrities; the comedian Romesh Ranganathan and the newsreader Sophie Raworth are reported to be in the mix.

    To get there, I become a sardine on the Jubilee Line, which disgorges me with relief at Bermondsey station. This spot is on the edge of the southern arm of London's docklands. It's not quite half-way along the route and a strategic place to watch, less frenetic than both the starting point at Blackheath and the finishing line in Hyde Park.

    For people-watching, the spectators are at least as interesting as the participants. Some runners, knowing where their friends will be along the route, take time out to be greeted. Others, knowing they're goal is not to win but just to finish, communicate remotely. As the day wears on, people are reduced to a walking pace but still receive refreshments along the way. The watching crowd have other ideas!    Read more

  • BlogarithmsUnloxit 2024Traveler

    House of the absent sun

    May 2, 2024 in England ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C

    (to paraphrase the famous no. 1 from the Animals, who came from here). Yes, I am in Newcastle and yes, the sun is in hiding. Not that it matters too much because there are plenty of indoor options. My hotel, next to the railway station, is a classic Victorian pile with this stupendous staircase where you can imagine the local grandees in full evening dress sweeping down to the ballroom. The view through the window gives an idea of nearby 19th century architecture.

    An elegant arcade hosts an old-fashioned music shop, while the covered market is well up to the standards of those I have seen in southern Europe. The M & S shop easily outranks the Oxford Street branch which is threatened with demolition. Venturing outside, I marvel at the perspectives allowed by the steep slope of the upper city, where the railway station and shops are, to the riverside.

    Finally, to a famous watering hole, named after the Duke of Northumberland. His surname matches that of a good friend of mine but as far as we know, no relation (as they say in Private Eye).    Read more

  • BlogarithmsUnloxit 2024Traveler

    North to the border

    May 3, 2024 in England

    The land around Newcastle was disputed for centuries between England and Scotland, and there's a border feeling about this region. It's a great base for day excursions. Tynemouth and Whitley Bay are straightforward bus rides from the city but at the former, due to recent storms access to the harbour wall is resolutely locked. Further up the coast, Blyth was once an industrial port but is now more popular for fishing.

    Further north still is the imposing hulk of Bamburgh Castle. It's best reached by train to Berwick-upon-Tweed (which some say still lies in Scotland) and the occasional bus south. It saw conflict between the English and the Scots in the Middle Ages but despite the overcast weather, it now oversees the peaceful activities of croquet players. There's a beautiful medieval church nearby.

    Finally, in the other direction is Durham, whose ancient cathedral needs no introduction.    Read more

  • BlogarithmsUnloxit 2024Traveler

    What did the Romanians ever do for us?

    May 24, 2024 in Romania ⋅ ☁️ 29 °C

    They created a wonderful country, that's what! It's not an obvious tourist choice for Brits but that's what we like about it. Firmly ensconced in eastern Europe, it's the only country in the region whose language is related to Latin and hence, Italian, Spanish and the rest. Although in the EU, Romania has its own currency, the leu (plural lei), a quirky infrastructure and is the home of Dracula, but since the downfall of Communism it definitely has ambitions to go places.

    So the three of us (Russell, Alan and I) arrive on a balmy afternoon where the temperature is perhaps 10C higher than that at home. The first full day we get to see that while Bucharest is nothing like as famous as say, Budapest or Prague, it's a dignified place with broad boulevards and 19th century monuments. The main branch of Christianity here is Orthodox and there are numerous tributes to this, mainly in a Byzantine style.

    Bucharest is packed with both quiet corners and noisy avenues---some of which boast outrageous parodies of styles from earlier ages. And it can be proud of a handsome population. Which is more than can be said for the President's palace, the giant folly from Ceausescu's time!    Read more

  • BlogarithmsUnloxit 2024Traveler

    Trainspotting in Romania

    May 26, 2024 in Romania ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    Our first foray from Bucharest is not the smoothest. At the Nord railway station, the indicator shows Platform 7 for our departure but when we get there, it has gone blank. Shouting the single word "Sibiu" to the one uniformed official on the platform, we find that the train sitting there is to a different destination. But not to panic: after this train has pulled out, it's not long before our train heaves in and we are ready to board. Albeit the coach numbers are not in numerical order and are pasted on sticky windows to the train carriages.

    The rolling stock dates from the early Ceausescu years but the seats are quite comfortable. Sibiu is less than 200 miles north-west of Bucharest but it's in no hurry and takes a nearly 6 hours to get there. But hey, we get there! A taxi from Sibiu's station takes us to an airy apartment with separate rooms for the one unit (not easy to find for a threesome) in the city's modern quarter. And we're now in Transylvania............

    It's easy to see how Sibiu, a city of about 150,000 people, has become an UNESCO World Heritage Site. There are three squares of varying size and a wealth of ancient city walls, churches and public buildings. Well worth a day of our time. There are various gastronomic pleasures of the naughty-but nice persuasion, even if at the outdoor bar we ourselves become naughty-but-nice pleasures for the midges. Maybe they like our northern European hides, even though these are rapidly darkening in the Romanian sun.    Read more

  • BlogarithmsUnloxit 2024Traveler

    Dracula was here

    May 28, 2024 in Romania ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    The train from Sibiu to Sighisoara is not in a hurry but fortunately, neither are we. When it pulls into our stop, a walk across the river takes us to some beautiful lodgings with charming staff, two double bedrooms and a living room with sofa. And here are some views of the Orthodox cathedral, from a window under the eaves of our hotel, and from its restaurant.

    Having hit Sighisoara during an outbreak of thundery weather, we virtually write off the first day but on the following day are treated to the medieval delights of this UNESCO-listed city. Due to its small size (25,000 people) it's very walkable---or would be, but for the steep gradients. In keeping with its backwater nature, the 13th century clock tower is anchored on early afternoon while numerous towers and spires survive from the following centuries.

    Over the years the city changed hands between Germany, Hungary and Austria but is best known as the lair of Romania's most notorious son, Vlad the Impaler---whose father Vlad Dracul gave rise to the Bram Stoker legend. But luckily even those miniature bloodsuckers, the midges of Sibiu, are absent here!    Read more

  • BlogarithmsUnloxit 2024Traveler

    Castles and palaces

    May 31, 2024 in Romania ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    Another unhurried train ride to Brasov. The two train staff sitting near us don't have a lot to do; the lady at the buffet counter manages one trip up and down the carriage while her colleague passes the time on his phone or asleep. The station at Brasov is a delight, the wall paintings giving a foretaste of what is to come.

    For my money, Brasov is the nicest of the cities we visit outside Bucharest. There's a lively pedestrian area and in the improving weather, dozens of choices to eat and drink outside. Some of the architecture reflects its German heritage, besides which there's a wealth of elegant but now decaying 19th century piles.

    There are two must-do excursions from Brasov. The first is Bran Castle, a Saxon/German fortification whose tenuous connections with Dracula are much exploited. To be honest, at a weekend it's got something of a theme park atmosphere and we prefer Peles, reached on the following day by train. Regrettably it's under repair but we get a taste of late 19th century grandeur enjoyed by King Carol I. And the railway station of 1913 is fantastic.    Read more

  • BlogarithmsUnloxit 2024Traveler

    My other football team

    June 4, 2024 in Romania ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    For the final time we wind our way down the hill from our eyrie in Brasov to the station. As you can see, the trains are a bargain at about 5.50 lei to the £, and are built sometimes for comfort but never for speed. At Bucharest we evade the posse of taxi drivers who refuse to use their meters and walk a couple of blocks to find an honest one. There are alternative forms of transport and while the underpass looks like a metro station it is what it is, an underpass with shops.

    The balmy weather has returned but it's always a bittersweet feeling to be back in a place we like but knowing it's our last full day. There's an open-air World Press Photo exhibition, which is studiously ignored. And little corners of the city show contrasting places of worship: the predominant Orthodox practice and the surviving Jewish community.

    Eleven days past and time to get back to Stansted. But the good news is that in the days to come, Romania win their first Euros 2024 match 3-0!    Read more

  • BlogarithmsUnloxit 2024Traveler

    North-west passage

    June 29, 2024 in England ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C

    It's the end of June and time for our annual trip to the Lake District. Eleven of us converge in Keswick to stay in two cottages near the river, for walking, talking and drinking. The start of an excellent week.

    It's good to see evidence of unspoilt wildlife. But it's a slightly ambiguous sign: do people think red squirrels are dangerous? We don't see any on our walks but we enjoy the beautiful rolling scenery and this tiny chapel at the hamlet of Littletown. On another walk we pass the elegant mansion of Rydal Hall, now converted into a hotel. and the oddly named Grot summer house. The end of that walk leads to Grasmere, and Grasmere means Tweedies, a favourite watering hole to shelter from the water from the sky.

    The wettest day of the week takes us on a boat ride on Windermere. It's combined with a steam railway which leads almost to Morecambe Bay. Finally, despite the uncertain weather, it's time for an ice cream back at our base in Keswick.    Read more

  • BlogarithmsUnloxit 2024Traveler
    11

    A different ball game in Somerset

    July 12, 2024 in England ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    Well, not the game exactly, but Cricket St. Thomas is the name of the Somerset village where I spent a recent weekend with some friends. Lying just off the A30 in beautiful rolling countryside, it's a former stately home converted into a smart hotel. The word cricket comes from the Saxon word "cruc" meaning hill or ridge. And this settlement dates at least from the Domesday Book, although what we see now is this lovely pint-sized early 19th century church and the 18th century mansion which featured in "To the Manor Born". A stroll around the grounds allows us to fantasise about how it must have been for Viscount Hood, whose family had connections with Lord Nelson.

    An excursion is seldom complete without a nod to Monty Python, so it's a must to drive to Ilchester, the village whose "fermented curd" is referenced in the famous cheese shop sketch. Ilchester---the most popular cheese around here! Sadly, although the village has three pubs it has no cheese shops. Plenty of beer but no Cheddar!    Read more

  • BlogarithmsUnloxit 2024Traveler

    Weycation

    August 12, 2024 in England ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    Holidaymakers have left London in their thousands and it makes sense not to beat 'em but join 'em. I was last in Weymouth during that strange period in late 2020 either side of a "lockdown lite", when everyone knew there was likely to be a deeper lockdown after Christmas. This time however the town is enjoying what is mostly sunshine in August. My lodgings are, unlike the barracks-like place on an industrial estate I stayed at in 2020, are bang in the town centre in a quiet back street a stone's throw from the railway station. It's called the Dolphin but there's healthy competition from other pubs. There's a friendly atmosphere downstairs and it's in the Good Beer Guide!

    Weymouth is an unassuming place, a bit like Ramsgate which I visited in the spring. It's got a lively promenade and has had some illustrious guests:
    in the early 19th century King George III was brought here in the hope of curing his insanity. It also has a prestigious sporting history, having hosted the sailing events of the 2012 Olympics. The lift bridge which links the inner to the outer harbour was completed in 1930, has a mechanism modelled on London's Tower Bridge and opens every 2 hours in the daytime.    Read more

  • BlogarithmsUnloxit 2024Traveler

    St. George's in the South-West

    August 13, 2024 in England ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

    This amazing church would seem more in place in a big city, as in St. George's in the East, London---with which it is roughly contemporary. Or even Italy, looking at the baroque spire. But here it is on the almost-an-Isle of Portland, connected to Dorset's mainland by the Chesil Beach. And what a contrast to my last visit in the greyness December 2020, when the country had emerged from a "lockdown-lite" only to descend into a deeper lockdown until the spring of 2021. A walk from the nearby village of Southwell takes me to Portland Bill, with onlookers viewing the lighthouse (or their phones). The Chesil Beach is a famous example of the stones being graded so that those on the southern end are larger than the ones up towards Lyme Regis. It's said that smugglers could tell where they had landed from the size of the pebbles.

    Lyme Regis itself, an unhurried 2-hour bus ride from Weymouth, is a resort popularised by the novel and then the film, "The French Lieutenant's Woman". The final two images show the village of Abbotsbury, known for its swan reserve but also the warm brownish limestone of its historic buildings. Much less troubled by crowds one might find in the Cotswold villages.    Read more

  • BlogarithmsUnloxit 2024Traveler
    1

    Barceloner

    September 12, 2024 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

    While solo trips can be very quiet at times, their benefit is giving photography my undivided attention. And Barcelona, where I am staying for 7 days, fulfils this to perfection. A metropolis of at least 2 million people, it's been a major port since Phoenician times and with its cultural attractions, is thought by many to outrank Madrid. They might also say that I'm not in Spain at all but Catalonia.

    Arriving at dusk, I dive into the restaurant next door with its warm welcome and seafood paella. Almost immediately I see a reference to a northern city of a different kind, but am thankful to be staying by the warm Mediterranean. Barcelona is the scene of numerous elegant plazas, including Medinaceli, my favourite, and Merce, site of a baroque church. But the building that gives this corner of the city the Barri Gotic is the huge medieval Cathedral. Its cloister has a cool, calming feel, and the resident geese (13 in all) are said to represent the age of Santa Eulalia at the time of her martyrdom.

    Back in the streets, there are some glorious antique shop fronts while returning to Placa Merce, I'm in the right place at the right time for a procession. The Maradona shop shows the Hand of God in a different light while politics take a hand in this rally calling for a free Iran.    Read more

  • BlogarithmsUnloxit 2024Traveler
    1

    Setting a good Eixample

    September 14, 2024 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    Not that this fascinating quarter of Barcelona means Example, but its name means "extension", since it was added on to existing parts of the city in the 19th century. You don't see that many grid patterns in cities outside the Americas (although Valencia has a smaller version) but this one is remarkable. After it was conceived, the architect Antoni Gaudi and his followers latched on to it in a big way, using his unique take on Art Nouveau called Modernisme. Other architects clung to a mish-mash of French chateaux and Scottish baronial. Wonderful!

    If you want to know why there are no pictures of the famous Sagrada Familia church, the queues outside other major sites put me off, plus I did go there in the 1970s. But there was enough local life in the Concepcio covered market to keep me occupied.    Read more

  • BlogarithmsUnloxit 2024Traveler

    Little Barcelona

    September 15, 2024 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    A half-hour walk from the Barri Gotic leads to Barceloneta---or a train ride from the grand Francia station would lead out of it, if one were inclined. It's a lively quarter on Sundays. The fascinating criss-cross streets go back a century before the Eixample, in what used to be the fishing port but is now getting gentrified. Cafe society abounds in the main plaza, complete with 2- and sometimes 3-piece band, while I dip into a small corner restaurant for an eggy lunch. Everybody else is taking up some rays!

    7 days in Barcelona are not really enough.    Read more

  • BlogarithmsUnloxit 2024Traveler

    CATalonia

    September 16, 2024 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    If you want to know why there are no pictures of La Rambla, one of Barcelona's most famous sights, that's because improvements are turning it into a giant road works. But there's another Rambla across from there, in a quarter called El Raval. Rambla, by the way, takes its name from Ramal, an Arabic word meaning seasonal stream, although there are few other signs of the Moorish occupation. This Rambla was part of a project around 2000 to clean up a sleazy neighbourhood. Partly successful, the area retains an authentic look little visited by tourists.

    The giant cat is a creation by the Colombian sculptor Fernando Botero, and nearby I get a break for tapas in a local bar. The area is no stranger to street art and ordinary graffiti, and it has a vibrant covered market, the Sant Antoni. Also notable are signs of immigrant cultures, from the Arabic and sub-continental worlds.

    Back in the Gothic Quarter, the high life carries on untroubled. 7 days in Barcelona? More like 7 weeks!    Read more

  • BlogarithmsUnloxit 2024Traveler

    Island life

    October 14, 2024 in Cyprus ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    October brings on another Mediterranean trip, this time with my partners in crime Alan and Russell. The beer mats are a giveaway; less time is spent on culture than on some trips and more on refreshments. I have to say that the beer in Cyprus could be better but it's cold, wet and alcoholic!

    From the international airport at Larnaca, we travel to Paphos on the west of the island, and are pleased to find out that intercity buses are convenient, with several stops in each city and ticket payment on board. Oh, and they drive on the left.

    Cyprus has a noble history and there are signs of it with the fortress remodelled by the Ottoman Turks when they were in occupation, and some attractive Orthodox churches. However the focus is resolutely on tourism and relaxation, which we are keen to enjoy. The weather is perfect and in the ten days that we spend on Cyprus, it's often warm enough to sit outside in the evenings.    Read more

  • BlogarithmsUnloxit 2024Traveler

    Cyprus by the sea

    October 18, 2024 in Cyprus ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    It's little more than an hour's bus ride from Paphos to Limassol and thanks to a previous visit by Alan, we have the inside knowledge to get off at the right stop and walk to the apartment. Getting into it, unstaffed as it is, is like accessing Fort Knox but once we're in, what a view!

    The next day we're on again to the capital, Nicosia, our only inland stop. We pile into another choice apartment in a quiet part of the city. Historic monuments are thin on the ground; historic music, less so with sounds from the Doors and Creedence Clearwater Revival from the nearest watering hole! Nicosia is one of the world's few divided cities and while there are Greek-style churches on our side, a simple checkpoint takes us to the Turkish side for a few hours. It's fascinating to see at least one church in French Gothic style, dating from the 14th century when a motley crew of Franks and Crusaders occupied the island before the Ottomans took over.

    And so and with some regret, back to Larnaca, which is very much a holiday resort. Here's a sample of some of the eating and drinking places we have visited along the way. Nowhere in the world (except presumably Afghanistan) can one escape an Irish pub. Note the spelling of the Flinstone Snack Bar in Paphos, actually rather a nice bar. Although most of the local food has been very good, perhaps our best meal is chicken tikka masala, also in Paphos. It's up there with anything in Brick Lane or the Balti Triangle!    Read more

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