Week 20 - Northern Cyprus

Sunday we went to Kyrenia/Girne as a family. We explored the 16 century Venetian castle in the harbor there. This was a history day everyone enjoyed. It's a fairly well maintained site, but without a lot of fussy barricades so you really get to explore it. The view is wonderful, and you really can imagine life there in the 1400's.

There's also a shipwreck from about 230 BC that was discovered in the area and salvaged that you can view in the castle.

We then enjoyed a yummy lunch and played at a playground.

We took the bus back to Lapta and got off at our stop right by the grocery store. J and the two older kids went home, but S wanted to come in with me. Usually I go grocery shopping on my own and I know he enjoyed the one-on-one time. Later when it was time for him to write a sentence in his journal he said he would write, "I went to the grocery store." I know young kids sometimes remember the most recent thing, so I gently reminded him about the castle. He said, "Mom, we go to castles all the time, but it's not that often I get to go to a grocery store!" Such is the life of a world school kid.

Monday was warm, but J had a telehealth appointment in the afternoon and we didn't want to take the bus trip to town and chance not being back in time, so we went to the only sandy beach I've located on my walks. I'm not sure if we're allowed to be there, because we had to cut through the grounds of an abandoned hotel to get there, but it's an easy walk from the house and other people seem to do it, so we decided it was ok.  Two men were grazing their goats in the hotel garden, while enjoying a campfire and picnic, and naturally the kids were delighted to see the goats. They had fun at the beach too, though it was a little cold to swim.

It rained Tuesday and Wednesday which was ok. Actually, both days started off sunny so I got to take my walk, let the laundry at least partially dry outside, and get groceries, but by the time the kids were up and ready to go somewhere it was raining so we stayed home. We still haven't really nailed down our next destination after Beirut, so we spent a lot of those two days researching. Looks like COVID shots can't happen here, or in Abu Dhabi which was a stop we were considering adding just for that purpose. Oh well, I'm sure we'll be able to get it sometime. We'll just keep watching for opportunities.

Thursday was nice and we went back to Girne/Kyrenia, just the two younger kids, J and I this time. They had seen some boat tours advertised Sunday and wanted to try one.

It worked out well, because it's the slow season so we got two hours on a boat all to ourselves for 70 euros.

Little C got to try fishing again, but didn't catch anything this time. It was a fun ride up and down the coast. 

Friday was another rainy day, but it cleared up enough in the afternoon that we could walk down to the restaurant near our villa that has a playground and let the kids burn off some energy. It's a very British establishment. Personally, I prefer Turkish cuisine, but the grassy playground is a big draw. 

Saturday was nice and sunny again, though Sunday is supposed to be very stormy due to a "medicane," a cyclone type storm in the Mediterranean. Thanks global warming. We head to Beirut Monday, so hopefully it won't cause a delay. We decided to enjoy the nice day and explore two more sites around Girne. We took the bus to the city center as usual, then took a taxi to St. Hilarion castle, up in the mountains above the city. S is right, we've seen a lot of castles, but even he agreed this was one of the best so far. It's well preserved, not crowded, and you can explore the whole thing, including winding passages. St. Hilarion was a hermit who fled the holy land and lived in a group of caves in the mountain. Then, in the 10th century, construction of the castle (originally a single watch tower) began. Some of the chambers in the castle are actually the natural caves. Apparently, it was the castle which inspired the castle in Disney's Sleeping Beauty.

After St. Hilarion's, the taxi driver suggested we go to Bellapais Monastery. I had wanted to do that, but didn't realize how close we were, so I jumped at the chance. The monastery was built by Canons Regular in the 13th century. The kids were a little less interested in it than they had been in the castle, but J and I loved it. The drive there was certainly beautiful.

They were very interested in the four kittens we saw, one of which was particularly brave and friendly.

We returned to Girne and our favorite restaurant by the harbor there, then caught the bus back to Lapta. J walked the kids home and I went to the grocery. It was really packed, so I guess the locals think there's something to this talk of a big storm. I didn't buy too much since we're leaving Monday, but got enough that no one will need to go out on Sunday if it's nasty.

Well, so much for the hurricane. I saw four rainbows on my morning walk. It did rain in the night and we had a few showers today, but nothing spectacular. We spent most of the day packing and are pretty much ready to go. J even took S to play at The Wild Duck one last time. He was bouncing around the house too much for me to get anything done. But it's almost Christmas and tomorrow he gets to see his great aunt for the first time in three years, so those are good reasons for a little guy to bounce. Beirut, here we come!