Cyprus Week 8 – Ayia Napa & Swimming in the Rain

We had company this week! Our friend Jim arrived on Wednesday so it was a quiet start to the week, trying to get as much work done as possible so we could spend the rest of the week with Jim.

Unfortunately, the weather has been a little sketchy this week, which is so unlucky given we’ve barely had any bad weather since being here!

Thursday was Jim’s first day, and we woke up to grey cloud and drizzle, still warm, but not exactly beach weather! We decided to make the most of a bad weather day and gave Jim a tour of the Marina.

After a full tour of both the new and old Marina, we stopped off for a Gyros at Rosemary Fast Food which was a tasty and relatively cheap lunch before heading to Agora which is a new, converted indoor market. It has all sorts of independent stores inside, as well as lots of different food and drink places where you could grab a bite to eat or a drink. We headed up to the rooftop bar and sat in the covered area as it had begun to rain at this point and grabbed a drink whilst we caught up.

After we had finished our drinks, we walked through Old Town which was very quiet, given the weather and the fact it was mid-afternoon when most places are closed in Cyprus. However, we stumbled upon a little bar called Guest in the cobbled side streets and decided to grab a pint. Classic Brits – when it rains, turn to beer! It was actually a lovely little bar, and the bar staff were very friendly and welcoming – we’ll definitely go back!

After this, despite the weather, I thought we should still head to the beach and go for a swim and spent the time in Guest trying to convince the boys. I wanted Jim to at least be able to go to the beach on his first day and guaranteed we’d still have a laugh. The response to this suggestion was lukewarm at best, and the dreary, rainy drive home did nothing to help my cause!

However, on returning home, I managed to lure them out with the promise of a few beers. We grabbed our little cool bag, filled it with a few beers each, put our swimmers on and headed toward the beach. It really was a grey day but because the air temperature wasn’t so warm, it almost made the sea feel really warm! We spent around an hour in the sea, which was so still and calm (despite the storm which was clearly on the way!) and played catch, using one hand of course, given the other was firmly holding onto a bottle of beer. We had a right laugh, and we were all so glad we went! We returned to the flat for a hot shower and meal before spending the eve in front of the TV – we had a busy day planned for Friday!

We woke up bright and early on Friday morning as we were going to Ayia Napa Waterworld and spending the night there! We were all buzzing for the park, and it was to be Aaron and I’s last water park of the trip so we were excited to finish the set! We left at 9am, arriving promptly at 10am, opening time! It was ancient Greece themed, so the rides were named after Greek Gods and the park was decorated with Greek statues and temples.

Given we had company, I felt that I had to go on all the big-boy rides and as Jim and I headed up to the top of the kamikaze, I felt sick! But I did it! To be honest, you go so fast and there’s so much water spraying in your face that you don’t really know where you are…until you get to the bottom and the ridges of the slide rip the skin on your back off! It was good fun, but I have to say I preferred watching the boys come down, legs flailing at the end!

One of my favourite rides was called Icarus, and it was one where you went on as a pair in a double rubber ring. It was such good fun, and scared me so much my legs started to shake! It was a great laugh and we had a good time at the park – one of my favourite days on a holiday.

Once we’d finished in the park, we went to find our apartment for the evening. We’d decided to see what the Ayia Napa nightlife was like whilst Jim was here so rented an apartment overnight. After fun at the waterpark we were all starving so got showered and headed out for something to eat and a beverage! As we left the apartment at around 7.30, it all felt a bit strange. It was so quiet and there was nobody around. As we approached the “strip” everything was dark and completely closed and we wondered whether it had all closed for the season, which seemed strange as it was the weekend and also Halloween.

We found a Mexican restaurant that was not only open but had a fair few people inside so we decided to have dinner there. Very nice, Mexican food and frozen Margaritas (which the boy’s were convinced were alcohol free!). After we’d eaten, we walked back down the strip and we’re pleased to see that some of the bars were opening. At this point, it was around 8.30/9pm. We spoke to a guy who worked at a bar not far from our apartment and were told that it wouldn’t be busy until 11/12. Only 2-3 hours early then! So, we went back, grabbed some beers and had a few drinks and played some games before heading out again.

In the two hours we’d been at the apartment, the whole town had transformed from being eerily quiet to a classic European party destination, loud music pumping out, bright lights and lasers lining the street, men and women with drinks vouchers and offers all trying to get you into their random themed bar; Pirate Dance Bar and Bedrock (Flintstones theme!) doing a karaoke night – there was certainly something for everybody.

We went to Senior Frogs for a drink (you guessed it, a massive frog on the front of it!) and had a happy hour cocktail, before moving onto the Pirate Dance bar, where we admired many people between the ages of 17-60 dance around a pole, and then onto Ambassaden for more cocktails and music which was absolutely jam-packed! We did briefly pop into Bedrock, but the karaoke was so bad we had to leave before we had chance to have another drink – I’ll never listen to Robbie Williams, Angels ever again! Having rinsed the happy hours and drank our body weight in cocktails, we made our way back to the apartment in need of our beds and about 6 pints of water.

The next day, we woke up feeling a little fragile but mostly on a comedown from all the sugary drinks. Once we’d checked out of our hotel, we plan was to head to Nissi Beach, one of the best beaches on the East Coast, with white sand and turquoise shallow water. Luckily, the weather was a little hazy but still pretty warm and sunny.

I had thought that the beach would be fairly quiet, given it was now the end of October and so way out of season. However, once we arrived (after grabbing some pastries and coffee from the bakery of course!) we were surprised to see that the beach was packed! We found a quiet space to put our towels and spent the day chilling, reading and snoozing! The clouds came out to play at around 3 so we packed up and made the trip back to Limassol for a relaxing evening.

We’ve spent the Sunday at our favourite Sports Bar, Gerrards, watching the football as Jim is a lifelong Aston Villa fan and they were playing so there was only one place to watch!

Jim is here until next Friday and my friends from Essex are visiting from Thursday so it’ll be a full house in our little flat next week but I am soo excited to see them! The weather is also looking a little cheerier next week so we’re hoping that Jim will be able to enjoy a bit more of the Cypriot sun!

Until next time!

Meg xx