Geoff and I
headed off on a Hellenic tour – a few days in Cyprus, then a few more in
Greece. Firstly, Larnaca in the southern
(Greek) part of Cyprus.
A mostly
flat, sun-bleached town on the beach, Larnaca was a perfect place to spend a
weekend in lovely weather, sunshine, sea and eating seafood.
After an
early start in London, we arrived just before sunset in Larnaca, with just a
short cab ride from the airport to our hotel.
Naturally we headed straight to the beach, and wandered along the sand
and dipped our toes in the water before the first of multiple dinners of
calamari!
We did some
exploration of the town – we went to the church where St Lazarus was buried
(the second time, of course). It was so
different to the cathedrals and churches that we had visited across the UK and
Europe – from the Bristol Cathedral to local churches in Krakow, Poland, we had
become used to a certain look. The St
Lazarus church was entirely different – absolutely dripping in gilt and
iconography, very little floor space and very small. Underneath the church is the tomb of St
Lazarus where people come to drink the water, or anoint themselves (and their
children) for good fortune.
Larnaca is
full of tiny streets, none of which are straight, and we wandered along them –
stopping in at little shops selling ceramics, honey, nuts and religious icons
(and bought none).
Mostly we
soaked up the sunshine, and bathed in the ocean. It was low tide during the day, so we had to
wade a fair way out to get to deep enough water, which was easy enough as the
beach is a bay with pretty calm water.
More
seafood followed, with more beach wandering.
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