Turkey and Greek Islands

Cruising the Aegean

Cyprus

Limassol skyline

On June 17, we were headed for Limmasol, on Cyprus, the island that would take us as far east of North America as we’d ever been. In fact, when we got there we were closer to Beirut, Lebanon that to any other world capital we’ve ever visited, including Moscow. Closer to Cairo than to Istanbul or Athens, the largest cities on our itinerary this trip. I don’t think that actually entered my mind that morning; I was just excited about having sort of a day off from planned activities. Judy had signed up for a bus tour of the island, but I was planning to just take the shuttle bus into the city and walk around a while. One of the shipboard people gave me a map, told me what I could see if I walked around the area of the drop-off point, and smiled as I walked away.

Judy headed out for a panoramic tour of Cyprus on a bus, and I took the shuttle to Old town. I planned on walking through the Molos and visiting the castle. The nice lady at the destination desk gave me a map and told me Richard Lionheart was married there. (Actually she was Austrian and we had to discuss language differences when I finally figured out that “Richard Coeur de Lion” was Richard the Lion-Hearted.) By that time, Judy was well on her way in her tour of the Island. As I learned when we met back up in the afternoon, Judy’s bus tour was fairly wide-ranging, as her photos show. Here’s what she had to say later.

I’ve always loved the idea of going to Cyprus; for some reason it sounds exotic to me. I looked forward to experiencing Cyprus. But. On a bus? Well, better than nothing, I suppose.

I boarded the air- conditioned streamlined bus with a guide who obviously knew a lot but found it difficult to express in more than rudimentary English. Now, I don’t blame her for this because I can only speak English, not three languages other than my own. But, it did hamper my understanding of the details about this beautiful island. We drove for quite a while through villages, vineyards, olive groves and along the coast. The bus finally stopped at a roadside cafe and small castle up the hill. Unfortunately, we were not going in, but had to look at other travelers entering the square “castle.” I took pictures of greenery. At the cafe, I made use of the facilities and bought a trinket, as one does.

I asked a new friend to look after my bag while I walked across the highway to see the main attraction of the location: the birthplace of Aphrodite. Well. It was a rock just off the shore, a rather large rock with waves crashing against it. Supposedly, the young lady was born of the foam of these waves! There was no one there to confirm or deny the fact. I got on the bus again, after retrieving my bag, and snoozed my way back to the ship.

Limestone strata, Cyprus

Judy’s ride was fairly wide-ranging, as her photos show. The one with various strata of limestone show what is purportedly one of the few places where the limestone is above the surrounding landscape surface nowadays. The Crusader’s Castle is described in one source as a “stronghold.” I guess that wouldn’t attract as many favorable reviews as a “castle,” not around here, anyway. I was surprised to learn that the thing I thought was a prickly pear is known here as a Barbary fig. Who knew?

After Judy left on her tour, I had to wait until the open shuttle time started. I enjoyed the short ride away from the dock and into the city. After I got off the bus I referred to the map, walked off with confidence, then discovered my error and reversed. I was quite near the waterfront and decided the castle could wait. I wanted some of those sea breezes I’d heard about. With that thought, I was off to the Molos, on the edge of the waterfront.

Milo’s in Limassol, Cyprus

The Molos, as I learned that morning, is a” multi-functional park” stretching about a mile from the harbor toward the new parts of the city that have tall buildings, modern architecture and all that we could see as we approached earlier that morning. Along the Molos there’s a fun mix of restaurants, playgrounds, benches, different places where there are piers into the sea from the walkway, all spaced out between sections that are just green and inviting. Most of those highlight a different sculpture, really nice to see, but I was disappointed to learn the artists were not identified. I enjoyed my walk, but didn’t quite make the full length of the Molos before I turned around and looked for a refreshing draught. I cooled off with a beer at the harbor then went back to the Grandeur. No castle for me.

After we met back up, we shared our adventures, went to trivia, and headed down to Prime 7, the onboard steakhouse, for dinner. In contrast to our meal in Pacific Rim, this one was so-so at best. The most interesting part happened when a waiter was plating Judy’s lobster tail and flipped it onto the floor. A flush and blush later, it was replaced, of course, and our meal continued without further incident. After that it was time to head for bed.