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Winter in Cyprus
 The tasteful tartan ribbons on
the branches of pine in
the Christmas decorations overhead would not have looked out of place
in my native Scotland , but
we were in St Andrews Square at Limassol in Cyprus. The folk around me
were not wrapped up in scarves and overcoats, but clad in shorts and
sports shirts. Many were tourists from who had flown out earlier to
spend
Christmas in the sun.
It seemed a wee bit removed
from the robins and snowman image of Christmas but we were in fact
much closer to the real thing. Overnight trips to the Holy Land were
listed on the excursion board in our apartment hotel.
Regular sailings take
you to Israel and Jerusalem. It seems a little strange to see buses
with 'Bethlehem’ on their destination boards. By the way
it's a number 22 and if you want to take the road to Damascus
that is the number 23
bus.
Back in Cyprus on the wide
sweep of Episkopi Bay people relaxed on sun beds or visited the
beachside tavernas.
The
waves were pounding in so there was no swimming.
A girl climbed a
deserted lifeguard’s tower and with her Sony Walkman plugged to her
ears, stretched out her arms, leaned into the wind, and did an
excellent impression of Kate Winslet on the bow of the Titanic.
We turned towards the foot of
the cliff and found yet another archaeological site full of impressive
columns.
It was surrounded by a rusting fence and scrub-land, it had
yet to be made into a show place.
 Of all the sites and we saw quite a few, I think that the
‘Sanctuary of Apollo’, was the most impressive.
There was enough
of the façade still standing to give you an idea of just how
magnificent the place must have been. You had to keep telling yourself,
“This existed two thousand years ago!”
As in the UK, driving is on the left and all cars with red
number plates are tourist cars, so they can well be Russian, Italian,
German, Dutch or Swedish equally unfamiliar with the roads and driving
on what they consider to be the "wrong side" of the road.
Incidentally when motoring
inland you have to be wary of goats and of vehicles suddenly coming to
a stop in front of you. The main reason for this when the local
drivers talk to a friend going the other way!
We drove out to Avardimou
Beach. The few kilometres of winding road is too narrow for tourist
coach traffic so it means that when you have passed the fields full of
vines and arrive at the little Kyrenia Restaurant, the atmosphere
remains relatively peaceful.
It was very pleasant to sit
there watching the waves rolling in and sip wine from the vines. A
couple nearby was writing postcards home that had a view of
 'Aphrodite's Birthplace.' it
was just a few miles along the coast and our next stop.
When
we got there a sea of white foam was surging around the massive rocks
and we reckoned that the 'Goddess of Love' had chosen a pretty
impressive place to rise from the waves.
On the island,
myth and legend are mixed with the stones of reality. The ruins
of the Temple of Aphrodite and that of Apollo are evidence of cults
that reach back into antiquity.
Carnivals
are still organised in honour of God Dionysos and the speeches of
Sophocles and Euripides continue to ring out on warm summer evenings
at the ancient amphitheatre at Kourion.
 History of the more recent
past can be found near Pafos at 'The Geroskipou Folk Art Museum.' It is really a house with fascinating courtyards where even
at this time of the year giant poinsettia trees are in bloom and a
mass of vibrant, red bougainvillea spill from the balconies.
It was pleasant to wander through its cool rooms and
absorb impressions of the lifestyle on the island from the turn
of the century.
Pafos was the ancient capital
of the island, that was back in Hellenisdtic and Roman times.
It's harbour is still lively, and down by the sea, fish
tavernas and souvenir shops attract visitors. It's a fascinating real
town too, in contrast
with Agia Napa at the other end of the island
which has been largely overtaken by
a lively tourist development.
 The name Agia Napa , means
'Holy Forest' and it overlooks a harbour full of leisure craft and
tour boats, (most with very reasonable prices.)
At this time of year we found that
Agia Napa's broad sandy bay
with its palm trees was almost empty.
There was a choice of a about a
hundred sun-beds and
only a few folk lay back bronzing in the sun,
no doubt having completely ignored the ritual of basting of the Christmas Turkey.
Report
by Allan Rogers
Factfile
Cyprus Tourist Office
0172 73569 8800
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