3 DAYS EXPERIENCE IN CYPRUS.

Larnaca beach in the evening.

This picture can show how many people really walk along the streets in this city, which is the 3d largest city of Cyprus.

Imagine, lovely morning, summer 2017. Me and my family were thinking of a place to go on summer holidays. After some research I found out that there were no more evocative place to spend your holidays than Cyprus. Then there was another challenge - to choose the city because this island gave us so many choices to think about. And after a couple of days our choice fell on the most picturesque coastal town which engaged our attention immediately - Larnaca.

One of the reasons why we have chosen this city was that it was one of those cities that straddles the line between old and new history of the island. One minute you can be strolling the sidewalk weighed down by all your shopping bags, and the next you’ll find yourself walking under the arches of an ancient Byzantine aqueduct or through the ruins of an ancient Mycenaean city.

Day 1.

As soon as we got off the plain we felt this difference of climates in Cyprus and Belarus (the country where i used to live). The temperature was about 40 degrees and we talked to the citizens, who told us that this was really comfortable for them as sometimes the temperature could grow until 51 degrees, which sounded incredibly shocking for us. So, this might be a problem for people who don’t like such weather. For example I am usually as white as a ghost, so I had to put my sunscreen crem on every two hours.

The next challenge that we had was “What to wear?”. And I will give you some tips that really helped me that summer. There are no strict limitations, connected with religion, but you should check out the dress code as some restaurants, museums and churches may have some taboo. But you should better have a hat or something to cover your head as the blazing sun didn’t spare anyone. But we were so excited about this island, so nothing could stop us from investigating it, as 3 days was a really short amount of time we started our day with exploring the city.

Larnaca castle, Larnaca.

The nicest part of the city is the old city, where you'll find the Larnaca castle. The city is in the center of Cyprus and is the best place to drive from one city to another.

Larnaca castle – the castle of Larnaca is not to be missed. It is located at the end of the dike and towers over the many restaurants and shops in that area. On the top of this fort you have splendid views over the bay and you can make some selfies with the canons. This was the first place that we have decided to visit, as it was the first on TripAdvisor. We were impressed with the quantity of tourists, who visited this castle that day, but this is still one of the greatest castles to visit in Larnaca so this will be my advice number one. As this place is popular for visiting there is no strict dress code, but you still need to respect other people’s beliefs.

Day 2.

Flamingos at the Salt Water Lake, Larnaca.

They often first arrive at the Akrotiri Salt Lake, not the Larnaca lake.

This day was more exciting than the first one, as I enjoyed nature and one thing I was looking forward to do was to see flamingos. During summer lots of these graceful birds alight in Larnaca. The giant salt water lake is shallow enough to let the animals on stilts search for food. BUT there is a couple of details that you need to know before going to this lake. You want to see the flamingo’s? Don’t wear your best shoes because the ground around the lake is wet mud and will make your shoes dirty in no time. If you want to see the flamingos in close-up you don’t have another choice though… And (it might be upsetting) you will not manage to pet these birds, as they are wild and probably they will not enjoy some tourists to touch them and try to feed them. Still, this place was fishing on compliments, those birds were my favorite part of the trip because we had nothing like this in Belarus.

As we all know, food is an integral part of every culture and we wanted to know as much as possible about that place. So, we have decided to visit one of traditional restaurants. It was really hard to choose out of all options, but we stopped on the restaurant called Kalamies Beach Restaurant (Protaras).

Kalamies Beach Restaurant (Protaras), Larnaca.

On this picture you can see fresh toasted garlic bread and aromatic dips like their taramosalata and melitzanosalata. These are appetizers that are usually served before the main dish in all traditional restaurants.

This family-owned beachside eatery specializes in seafood meze (traditional meal), just as it did 30 years ago. Kalamies can feed many people at a time in the Santorini-inspired dining room or on the breezy terrace overlooking the ocean. Though on the expensive side, what you are getting is the freshest catch prepared the traditional Cypriot way. Whet your appetite with the ocean views and sultry island backdrop. So, if you want to spend your holidays in Larnaca, don’t forget to visit this restaurant, as it will please you with good dishes for reasonable prices. I enjoyed this place and I will come there next time we will visit Cyprus.

Day 3.

This day we started with thinking about the place, which would finish our “3 days trip”. But then we realized that we’ve never been to the beach that summer and as all members of my family really enjoyed picturesque nature of Cyprus and we were so lucky, because that day the Sun was smiling at us and the sky was clear. So, we had no doubts about the place we were going to, me and my mother have decided to go to one of the most dazzling beaches on that island and it was the Finikoudes Beach.

The Finikoudes Beach, 2km from Larnaca.

This picture was made from the hotel room, which is situated right on that beach. It actually shows how huge that beach is.

This strip of smaragdine sand extends 2km from the Larnaca Marina down to Psarolimano wharves. Even if the beach isn’t your thing, walking the Finikoudes promenade will take you through many attractions, which Larnaca presents to its tourists, such as Larnaca Castle (which I mentioned before), Buyuk Camii mosque, the old Turkish Quarter of the city, etc. The beach itself is one of the most fashionable on the island. My advice for you is to take some time and discover the restaurants areas just behind the main street.

Well, I think that my story and my experience of travelling to Cyprus may show that all my family enjoyed that trip. And here I gave you some advice, that could be useful for me before this adventure and told you about places, that I was lucky to visit in 3 days. But all the cons are closed by positive moments. And acquaintance with this wonderful island changed my mind regarding trips on the seaside.