January 25, 2008

We're back! Three days without internet and it feels like we've stepped off the planet. Last week we left off to do some touring on the motorbike. We ended up going into the village of Peyeia to check it out for Stephen and Cathy who will be visiting there from Cairo next month. It is a beautiful spot - way up in the hills with spectacular views. Unfortunately, it is not too near the sea, where I know Stephen will want to spend many hours kite-surfing, but I am sure he will manage. Peyeia is a bit too far out of the way for us, as you have to go down all the way into Paphos before hitting the motorway, which would add an extra hour each way to the Larnaca airport - which it seems Dale flies into more often than the Paphos airport, which is ten minutes away.

Dale also mentioned that we were putting in a gas fireplace last week. Well - due to all things Cypriot, especially the time element - it was only half done, and is supposed to be finished this coming Wednesday. At this rate, summer will be here, and we will be wondering what on earth we wanted it for in the first place! We really only had one very cold week - which I am afraid to tell that the low was 4C. Yes, I am a wuss. But I swear my blood has thinned out, and I remember being that cold in Winnipeg. So, that being said, I think I will pick up a few more winter things on our trip to Comox in March. I hope you are all still speaking to me by then.

Dale has now headed off to Cairo, to fly with Adam for a bit, then back on the Global when things quieten down on the CJ3. We had a lovely time in Ayia Napa. It was sunny and during the day reached about 17C. We drove up to Paralimni and wandered about for a bit. Three churches of note are the contemporary church of Ayios Georgious which is exceptionally large. Next to it is an older church dedicated to the same saint, dating back to the last century. Ayia Anna is the oldest of the three, dating back to the 13th century. They are side-by-side in a large square, surrounded by various shops, including more shoe stores than any mall I have ever been in. And I just love the selection - everything is so fashionable and very European. What fun!

The next day we were off to the caves at Cape Gkreko. We did a huge hike all around the Cape in search of the caves, only to discover them by car further down the road. But it was a lovely day and a lovely hike, and we saw other caves high up on the sides of the bluff. We also found the ones closer to Ayia Napa, but never did find the one pictured in the guidebook. In the evening our hotel featured a Carribean buffet followed by a quick game of Bingo and a cute little comedy act that had to rely on acting instead of language, since there were Brits, Norwegians, Swedes, Germans, and of course us. All in all, a fun day.

Today we found the Monastery in Ayia Napa. The original cave forms the orthodox chapel, and the rest is Venetian architecture. It is on a very large parcel of land in the centre of the town, with terraced gardens and it looks like newer barracks behind closed gates and a new modern church out front. We then checked out of our hotel and headed for Larnaca to do a quick tour. We had lunch at a seaside restaurant, then found a medieval fort to wander around in until we had to leave for the airport. We will have to go back to the east side of the island again later, as there are so many more places to go and things to see and do.

Meanwhile, I will try and download some pictures and send this out. I hope you are all well and we look forward to hearing from you.
Love,
Laurel
http://www.villas2let.com.cy/category-about-ayia-napa (cut and paste - just ignore the ads)

19 January 2008

Another birthday has come and gone and Dale spent it skiing and snowboarding indoors. Dubai is a fascinating city if you like architecture and excess. The mall was 4 times larger than any I had stepped into before. Sales were good and I managed to move some of my wardrobe up a decade or two. Now back in Cyprus with Laurel, we have had a good week with friends and neighbours. Travel and discovery is still so easy to do within a short distance from our home.

One routine that we have developed is Mon – Wed – Fri Ams., Laurel goes to Curves with her friend Linda while Dale joins, Linda’s husband Peter on a Mountain bike trek. Last week was particularly harsh with 2 and ½ hours of sluggin up the mountains only to come back down with almost full brakes on while we negotiated a mistaken route that led to something that teenage boys from Vancouver Island would relish but middle aged + weekend athletes, dread. It was fun but I haven’t worked out so hard since “Boot Camp” when I was 19. Good thing there is plenty of good food and beverages to replenish the old bod.

Our new Gas Fireplace was delayed for one more week and we look forward to it as the evenings are cool and the cement homes with tile floors are ideal in summer but need help heating in winter. The sun makes the days fabulous but cloudy days require us to augment the hotwater with electrics and use the aircon units in reverse.

We are off to discover on the Motorbike again today. Perhaps to see Tomb of the Kings and further west of Paphos. Next week we will be going to Ayia Napa on the east coast for two days with friends and then Dale will return to Egypt to fly with Adam on the CJ3 again. Our plan is to be in Comox after Dale’s simulator recurrent course sometime in early March. Hope to see so many good friends and family then. For now check out the largest skyscraper ever. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burj_Dubai

January 8, 2008 from Cyprus

I can't believe a week has gone by, and I am back in Cyprus. It was a nice relaxing week in El Gouna, which we may have mentioned before as being on the Red Sea in Egypt, south-east of Cairo. Dale only did one turn-around while we were there, so we fit in some fun touristy stuff.
The 'authentic' Bedouin dinner definitely fit into this category. It also included a camel ride and being entertained by a variety of dancers including the usual belly dancers and another whirling dirvish, while we sat on cushions around a low table and ate too much BBQ and many other treats from the buffet. We didn't take them up on their offer of smoking the Shisha pipe.
We spent an afternoon out at Mangroovy Beach, but only watched the kite surfers. We rented bicycles another day and toured around downtown and the marina then walked it all the next day, so we could pop into the shops. The rest of the time was taken up swimming, going to the gym and oh yes, of course, eating.
I had originally planned on coming back on the 10th, but as Dale's schedule changed again, we moved it up to the 7th, and today Dale headed off to Dubai. He will be there for his Birthday tomorrow, so I hope he will do something fun – like ski!
Meanwhile, I have been trying to catch up on the regular stuff over here. Because Cyprus has changed from the Cypriot Pound to the Euro, all our accounts were inaccessible for a while, and today I finally paid my bills and picked up a new chequebook etc. Hopefully by the time Dale gets back I will have caught up on the rest of the housework and laundry, so we can continue to check out more of Cyprus.
Take care and do keep in touch.
Love,
Laurel

January 2, 2008

Happy New Year. And we started this one out crazier than ever before. So, I will try and catch you up to now. Things remained fairly calm after Christmas until the 28th. At that point, Dale's schedule went out of control, so I went back to Cyprus and figured I would see him in a week or so. However, as his schedule is wont to to, things changed again, and I found myself flying from Cyprus to Cairo to Hurghada and landing at 11:45pm on the 31st. Dale met me at the airport and on our ride to El Gouna he popped the champagne in the back of the van (much to the surprise of our Muslim drivers). So that is how our New Year started - driving through the desert drinking champagne. As soon as we arrived in El Gouna, we were off to a very wild party. There had to be a thousand people crammed into a very large tent with the loudest live music and people dancing everywhere. Everything was provided - drinks, fabulous food, cigarettes. The decor was amazing - crystal chandeliers, disco orbs, glittering gold stars and moons also hanging from the ceiling (can you call the top of a tent a ceiling?). And even bathrooms - did I mention it was a tent? There were sitting areas of couches and tables and chairs, and lots of tall tables people stood around &/or danced. Most people were under 30, but we did see a few nice Grand folks, so anything went. We got back to our room around 3am, exhausted but exhilarated. Is this a sign of things to come for the New Year? Yikes!
So now we are at the Sheraton Miramar. The weather is lovely - around 25C, the food and entertainment top notch. The resort has so many unique villas and the walking trails are well decorated with numerous cacti and flowers etc... Last night we went to dinner with live belly dancing and a whirling dervish demo and tonight we head out into the desert by camel for a Bedouin dinner with entertainment again. All part of the hotel activities. We keep saying when it is good it is really, really good! More again later. For now Happy New Year. Love Laurel
Cut and paste link below to see nice shots of the resort..

http://www.thomson.co.uk/destinations/africa/egypt/egypt
-red-sea/el-gouna/hotels/sheraton-miramar-resort-el-gouna.html