During the 2012 holiday season, my family (Mike, Carrie, and Mom/Jan) and I decided to travel to Cyprus to see visit Lori, Demetris, Alex, and Sofia. I’ll try to give an overview of the first half of the trip, and hopefully this will inspire my siblings to fill in the rest.
December 22-23: Travel
We took off from Boston on the 22nd for an overnight flight to London. We flew Virgin Atlantic, so we were lucky enough to have those little TVs in our seats. I watched American Reunion before falling asleep while watching The Dictator. The plane also had a bar, which was pretty neat.
We arrived in London where we confronted a 7-hour layover by napping in the terminal. I think my mom might have got a facial or manicure as well. Following the layover, we boarded our Cypriot Airways flight for a nice little 5-hour flight to Cyprus. Arriving around 9:30 in Larnaca (where the airport is located), we were greeted by Lori, Demetris, Alex, and Sofia. The kids were a little shy at first….but they soon fully remembered who we were. After picking up the rental car, we made the quick drive to Nicosia and the hotel to get some much needed rest. Driving towards Nicosia we saw the Northern Cyprus flag illuminated on the mountains overlooking Nicosia. The flag was also visible from our hotel balcony, nice little in your face from the north to their southern foes. Reeeeeeal classy, but at the same time kind of cool.
December 24-25: Christmas in Nicosia
The next morning we awoke somewhat late, but well rested and ready to take on the day. Carrie and me were fortunate enough to make it downstairs in time for breakfast, which was delicious. Lori and company soon arrived, and we drove the short distance to old Nicosia. It took some getting used to driving on the left side of the road, but fortunately Lori and Demetris are both pros at this by now and were able to drive us around (it was also nice as it kept Mike from driving).
We spent a good amount of the day wandering around old Nicosia. We checked out a bunch of shops, visited a cool little museum/bank that had a bunch of old coins and other artifacts, and checked out the border. Demetris knew one of the guards at the crossing, so naturally he had to go say hi. We stopped for a great lunch at a little café type place and visited a shop where Mike made friends with the owner and bought some trinkets.
We then drove to a different section of the Old City, where we walked around the neighborhood and tried to visit Demetris friends. Here we were able to see another boarder crossing, as well a part of the dead/buffer zone. It was kind of surreal seeing this, something that we’d just never witness in the USA that’s just so normal in Cyprus. We walked the neighborhood some more, seeing the Archbishop of Nicosia’s residence and stopping for Mike to try some pretty sour oranges from the trees that pepper the landscape. After a long day of sightseeing, we drove through some very narrow streets (thanks to Demetris) to a local bakery, Zorba's, where we got dinner to take back to the hotel (and Alex’s favorites “orange cake”). I was personally thrilled to find that Lemon Fanta was sold here…by far the best type of Fanta and a favorite of mine from my summer spent in Spain.
Christmas morning greeted us with Carrie and me attempting to visit the gym. Finding it closed (it was Christmas Day after all), Carrie taught me some pure barre exercises in the stairwell. Following breakfast, Lori, Demetris, and the kids greeted us at the hotel, touting the presents Santa had brought them. Alex was thrilled to show off his Police truck, as was Sofia with her Barbie Horse.
We loaded up in the cars and headed over to Demetris' mom’s house, where they’ve been staying. There, we met Demetris' mom, Elektra, and exchanged presents with the kids. Mike and I received APOEL jerseys, while Carrie got shot classes (naturally) and a nice ceramic cup. The kids seemed to like what we got them as well, stickers/coloring books for Sofia and helicopters for Alex. That’s the nice thing about 3 and 5-year-olds, they’ll pretty much love whatever you get them. Mike then diligently helped Alex build the presents he’d got earlier in the day. It was very nice meeting Demetris' mom…she didn’t speak a ton of English but nonetheless was amazingly welcoming to us (this would be a theme throughout out time with Demetris' family, the welcomingness, not the lack of English ability).
After presents we went upstairs to where Demetris' sister Diana and husband Mihalis live, along with their kids Alexis, Stefanos, and Tatiana. We’d met them a few years ago when they came to Boston and stayed at our cape house, so it was great to see them again. Soon after our arrival, we were joined by Demetris' brother Themis, his wife Maria, and their kids.
We were treated to some great Cypriot hospitality including great wine, and fantastic food. Christmas lunch (which was the big meal) was massive and included tons of great food, with the star being the souvla (lamb that’s been grilled for hours). It was absolutely delicious and I was in a nice little food coma following the meal. Naturally, the kids barely ate at all and spent the meal running around and doing whatever kids do. That is, except for Sofia, who held down the fort at the kids table. After eating we hung around and chatted, while the kids played a cool Harry Potter Wii game. Mike was also able to get a quick game of FIFA in (or really half a game), with one of the twins.
Towards the evening, we packed up the car and prepared to head towards Limassol where we’d spend the remainder of the trip. Hopefully, my siblings will post something about this portion of the trip soon. Otherwise I might have to write some more, since they’re slackers like that. HUGE thanks again to Demetris and his family for the fantastic spread of food and the amazing hospitality they showed us. It was really a Christmas Day to remember.
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| Crazy narrow streets |
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| Mike trying a sour orange |
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| The border |
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| Lunch in Nicosia (Jan and Steve) |
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| Just hanging out |
