Cyprus Lemasol

The creaky bones woke up a bit late the next morning and after breakfast they set out for Lemosol (Limassol to the English) with a few stops on the way. The supermarket was our first stop where we bought some fresh bread and cheese and the next stop was Cape Aspro where Aphrodite was born (near one of the rocks but we weren’t sure which). A beautiful place, limestone cliffs falling into the water, the sea murky white in places before it becomes a deep blue. The waves crash lightly on to the shore and the rocks roll around noisely as they tumble back with the waves (I had forgotten that rocks talk to you as they return to the sea). There was a family there all prepared to enjoy the day and a couple of others taking photos like us, but on the whole it felt peaceful and restful and a nice place to relax for a while.

Then onto the Kourion. It is another ruin but with an amphitheatre that has been reconstructed with some of the rocks from the original foundations. So we were keen to see it. It’s about 2,000 years old and was once the Sanctuary of Apollo and later a Christian Bishop. At one point around 4 BC it looks as though it may have been destroyed by an earthquake and one of the houses gave clues to how the locals lived in those times.  Sitting looking over the sea, high above the hill, it seemed almost impossible to imagine how people would have lived so many years ago - rather than freezing cold conditions the problems would be in the summer heat.  Eustolios of Kourion built the locals  a bath and cool place for the locals entertainment - and this was it.

And then onto Agios Nikolaos ton Gaton (St Nicholas of the Cats) but not before we followed the sign and turned left only to find it was the off ramp of the motorway – very pleased it wasn’t too busy as we were prime targets for a head on - a rather unnerving experience to say the least. The little monastery is near the salt lake (wanted to go and see it but the road isn’t that close to the lake and it looked rather swampy without any obvious paths). I was keen to see the swans, flamingos and pelicans but I guess I have seen plenty of those before. So, back to the monastery is a little oasis in the middle of a fairly arid country (we drove past the English military airbase Akrotiri which Harry thinks is used for practising bombing now - some of the peace and quiet of this area would be shattered on bomb practice days. Also learnt that the area is used to train Red Arrow pilots). We were allowed in the church and to look at the garden from a distance. Roses and hibiscus were being enjoyed by the many cats living with the monks (but perhaps not living a monks life). According to tradition the monastery was founded by St Helena who was the mother of Constantine the Great. On her trip home from a pilgrimage to the holy land she found Cyprus over run with snakes – a plague of them – and decided to send a ship full of cats to the island to get rid of them. It must have worked as we haven’t seen any more since the one Harry saw on the Akamas Peninsula and the cats are flourishing so they seem to be the victors in any fight against the snakes.  They also have some wonderful benefactors as all over the island there are little piles of biscuits and meat left by the locals.

Then on to Lemosos (Limassol to the English).  It is quite an attractive town on the shores with a little fishing port. Further around is the shipping port with huge container cranes but we could ignore that as we wandered along the promenade. We started our tour in daylight and finished it as the dark drew in - a much better time to enjoy the relaxed nature of the town with its palm trees, fountains, lights out to sea and of course all the cats getting ready for a night out on the town. There is a Carob museum but Harry wasn’t keen to go there ("It isn’t chocolate" he replied when I asked if he was interested in a visit). We wandered past the castle an old olive press,  many restaurants and cafes getting ready for the evening meals and lit with Christmas lights, little gift shops with silver jewellery, lace work, pottery, dried fruit and finally past the Mosque and Church in the town.  The castle is famous as King Richard the Lionheart married Princess Berengia there in 1191.  Apparently Richard, well known for his courage was sailing past Cyrpus on his way to the Cruisades when a storm blew one of the ships to the Cyprus shore.  On this ship was his sister and fiancee.  The ruler of Cyprus probably not recognising that there was 'a courageous man in love' on another ship imprisoned the crew and the princesses.  Richard wasn't too happy about that and he landed on the shores (not alone he had his army with him) and imprisoned the Cypriot leader Komnenos and his armies.  Grateful that he had his loved ones back he married Berengia at the castle and on leaving the island he sold Cyprus to the Knights Templar.

And that was another day over...the trip back along the motorway was uneventful.  We drove through Pafos (getting lost once again) and past a number of restaurants open for the tourist trade but with no tourists eating.
Some thoughts for the day:

• When do the Cypriots use the hay bales - is it in summer months when there is more likely to be a drought? 
• Northern Europe is having freezing cold temperatures and snow storms while we are enjoying a wintry 25 degrees.  There is problems with the EuroStar and airports and many people won't be with their families for Christmas.
• We bought some spaghetti in tomato sauce for tea and then tried to decipher the Greek instructions on the packet. We decided we couldn’t go amiss with adding water and boil till a glug and it turned out we were right.