My World

August in Cyprus is not only the hottest month of the year but also the month when almost everyone goes on holiday. A few years ago, I used to enjoy spending time in my hometown Nicosia which is a ...ghost town in August since most people are away. I used to enjoy the empty streets, the quiet cafés despite the heat which would often flirt with 40°C / 104°  F.  That was back in the 90s when I still missed hometown Nicosia a lot. Not any more. I love Larnaca so much now ! In the morning, between 6 - 7 am, the beach is quiet, not  really crowded, it's not too hot to walk in the sun as the temperature hardly rises above 24°C  / 75°F. August is a .... lazy moth filled with the beauty and the relaxing scents of the Mediterranean Sea.

What an adventurous morning! I got up at 5:47 am as per usual, had breakfast, went walking for 74 minutes, got back home and had espressos with Alkis w hile my wonderful cleaning lady Mrs Giorgoula was doing the housework.  I had my car washed at Splish Splash while enjoying my free Cyprus or Greek or Turkish coffee - it's the same anyway. OK end of digression!Then I went to the supermarket, did my shopping and then started driving happily back home. I was so taken with Neil Diamond's songs - a double CD my friend Faith had offered me that I forgot to turn left and drove straight ahead to the Cineplex area.  Believe it or not, I got lost in Larnaca where I've been living for the last 30 years. I don't have a GPS in the car, so I turned on my mobile GPS. How sad! My mobile phone had just run out of battery! I was so frustrated that I lost all sense of orientation.Fortunately enough, I found my way back home quite by chance!

I sometimes take for granted the beauty of the town I've been living in for the last 30 years. When Alkis and I first moved to Larnaca back in November 1984, I could hardly call it home.. We both missed our hometowns - Nicosia and Serres.  Living in Larnaca wasn't easy for either of us, but very soon we both fell in love with the beautiful city of Zenon to such an extent that we no longer miss our hometowns as much as we did when we first came to live here. Having spent my childhood and adolescence in capital city Nicosia and five years in Geneva, Switzerland, as a student, I really felt miserable when Alkis and I had to move to Larnaca  because of Alkis’ work back in 1984.  Back then, Larnaca was a small, quiet town where nothing happened!  There was only one cinema, where we used to go at the weekend, a couple of shops and a few tavernas. I used to hate Larnaca and would often travel to hometown Nicosia  to see my family, shop or simply go out  on ...

Larnaca is a small town of about 75,000 inhabitants situated on the southern coast of the island of Cyprus in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea. When I first came to live here in November 1984, it looked like the middle of no where! People would stare at me as if I were an alien just because I I was different from them. Back to the 80s it was unheard of for a Greek Cypriot lady in her late 20s to have lunch BY HERSELF at one of the few tavernas then on Finikoudes Seafront. Finikoudes (the Palm Tree Promenade) is  the symbol of our town and the town centre.. The palm trees date back to bygone years but now the area boasts one of the cleanest beaches in the eastern Med which has won a Blue Flag. There are also many cafes , restaurants and bars - my favourite being  Coffee Island - the fourth in our town - and Panos Steak House. At the corner of Faneromenis and Agiou Lazarou Street is the church of Agiou Lazarou (Holy Lazarus), built in the 9th century by...

I sometimes take for granted the beauty of the town I've been living in for the last 35 years. When Alkis and I first moved to Larnaca back in November 1984, I could hardly call it home.. We both missed our hometowns - Nicosia and Serres.  Living in Larnaca wasn't easy for either of us, but very soon we both fell in love with the beautiful city of Zenon to such an extent that we no longer miss our hometowns as much as we did when we first came to live here. Having spent my childhood and adolescence in capital city Nicosia and five years in Geneva, Switzerland, as a student, I really felt miserable when Alkis and I had to move to Larnaca   because of Alkis’ work back in 1984.   Back then, Larnaca was a small, quiet town where nothing happened!   There was only one cinema, where we used to go at the weekend, a couple of shops and a few tavernas. I used to hate Larnaca and would often travel to hometown Nicosia   to see my family, shop or simply go out...