Panayia Galatarkotissa

Paphos, a UNESCO World Heritage site, is a city in south western Cyprus. Since we already covered the UNESCO Antiquity site in the last post we'll try to talk a bit more about the rest. It's a very mixed cultural country. The primary language is Greek and they use the Greek alphabet (making us illiterate in yet another country). However, it was also a British colony from 1878 till 1960. As a result, they have British outlets and drive on the wrong side of the road. The northern half of cyprus 5 is also occupied by Turkey with a UN controlled demilitarized zone.

Generally, Paphos is a typical beach town. The water front is lined with bars and restaurants. All you stroll the harbor you'll hear as many British accents as you do Greek. Some restaurants feature nightly traditional Cypriot dances to entertain tourists. Another hallmark of the island are cats! Paphos was particularly well stocked though and they often walk around inside of restaurants as well. This is probably a remnant of Ottoman rule on the island.

Inland, you'd be hard pressed to tell a picture of Cyprus apart from Tuscany in Italy or Andalusia in Spain. Vineyards, Olive groves, and Cyprus trees stretch mountainous landscapes. Homes with a water view can fetch 4-7 million (or so we were told).

A lot of Greek style food can be seen here. Skewered meats, baked lamb, whole fish, and stuffed grape leaves are seen on the menu in many traditional restaurants.Read more