Cyprus Week 6 – The Blue Lagoon, Brunching and The Birthplace of Aphrodite
Following on from our visit to Nicosia last week, we decided that we would visit Protaras on the east coast of the island this week. Protaras is part of Paralimni which is home to some of the best beaches in the whole of Cyprus.
The beaches in Limassol are black/grey sand beaches whereas Protaras is a gorgeous light golden sand and the sea is ridiculously clear and blue! Protaras is also on the border of the Green Line to the east and you can take a boat trip to see the ghost town of Varosha in Famagusta.
When we were in Nicosia, we walked the Green Line and went to the Leventis museum to learn all about the Cyprus conflict and how the country was torn in two, as it remains today. It was interesting to see another side of the Green Line and how this was enforced in other areas of Cyprus.
Famagusta is a district made up of eight municipalities, making it the second largest in Cyprus. The Republic of Cyprus controls only the southeast section of Famagusta, which contains four municipalities including Ayia Napa, Paralimni (of which Protaras is a suburb), Derynia and Sotira. The other four are under control of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC).
The City of Famagusta (Gazimagusta in Turkish) is open to tourists and you can freely walk around and visit the shops. It is the resort of Varosha in Famagusta which is completely empty and nobody is allowed in. Before the Cyprus conflict and the division of the country in 1974, Varosha was a popular resort with sky-scraping hotels, glamorous shopping districts and some of the most beautiful beaches in the whole of Cyprus.
Varosha was frequently visited by celebrities including Elizabeth Taylor, Brigitte Bardot and Richard Burton in its heyday in the 60’s and it was described as “The French Riviera of Cyprus”. At the height of its popularity, 700,000 tourists were visiting Varosha every year and it was also home to approximately 39,000 residents.
When Turkey invaded Cyprus and gained control of the northern section of the island which included Varosha, tens of thousands of Greek Cypriots left the area, fearing violence but intending to return once the conflict had settled down. However, the resort never opened up again and it was barricaded by fences and has remained that way ever since. What was once the most glamorous resort in Cyprus, is now a decaying land of derelict and crumbling buildings.
What is both fascinating and sad, is that the resort remains largely how the residents left it. Tables in homes remain set for dinner, clothes are hung on washing lines and still line the rails of abandoned shops.
Although people are banned from entering the town of Varosha, its public beach has reopened and despite it being a lovely stretch of golden sand and turquoise water, the backdrop of abandoned buildings is somewhat eerie. The resort for now remains a “forbidden zone” but the TRNC announced in 2019 that it would start the rebuilding and reopening of Varosha in 2020, which has received backlash from Greek Cypriots and the UN has been asked to step in to evaluate the situation. For now, Varosha will remain abandoned but who knows what will become of it in the future.
Aaron and I had heard that you could see the abandoned resort of Varosha on one of the many boat trips offered in Protaras so we decided to get up early, grab some breakfast and go on a boat trip to see the abandoned buildings! Having learnt all about the history in Nicosia, Aaron particularly was buzzing to see the derelict ghost town.
We arrived at around 10am, and our plan was already derailing…none of the breakfast places opened until 11.30-12! Classic Cyprus! Once we’d had a wander up the main strip to scout out where to have our brunch, we found a little café and stopped for a coffee and croissant – there was no way we were making it to midday without eating anything. Once we’d had our coffee, we took a stroll down to the beach, heading in the direction of the pier to book our boat trip tickets.
We decided to go with Afrodite Boat Tours, purely because they had good reviews but most of the tours offered in Protaras are exactly the same, and at the same price so it shouldn’t matter too much. Most tour providers offer a morning and afternoon ride. We opted for the afternoon trip so we could go and get breakfast, and it would have been a bit of a rush for us as it left at 10.30am. Unbelievably, for a 3-hour boat journey, it was only €10 each so it was quite very good value!
By the time we’d go our tickets, and had a little stroll, it was finally 11.30 which meant breakfast time! We headed to Hippocampus which is a lovely brunch place on the main street in Protaras. We had read (on Google of course) that it did a good brunch and we were pretty much the first customers in.
We were not disappointed, it was indeed a great brunch. Halloumi, scrambled eggs and bacon on traditional Cypriot bread – there was just too much of it! I could have shared mine it was so big. Aaron of course gobbled his down like it was a little snack!
Feeling full to the brim, we made our way back to the pier, hoping that we would digest our breakfast before heading out to sea. Me in particular given my history with sea sickness! We were lucky, the water was calm and the boat steady so breakfast remained in our bellies. Given we were slightly out of season, the boat was relatively quiet but most of the seats were still taken.
We opted for the front of the boat (I believe the boating community call it “the bow”) and we sat with our legs hanging over the edge of the boat, feeling the cool spray of the sea on our toes, and the heat of the sun on our backs. The first stop was a church, which was built next to a new harbour where we collected other passengers.
The second stop, we believed was Famagusta, however, just as we left the harbour and were expecting to turn left up the coast towards Varosha, we turned right! We looked at each other, confused just as the tour conductor announced that we would not be visiting Famagusta that afternoon. Well. Aaron was absolutely furious. I’ve never seen him so disappointed. “THIS WAS THE REASON WE CAME ON THIS BOAT TRIP” he cried!
Luckily, we were heading to the blue lagoon, guaranteed to cheer him up, and whilst I could tell he had forgiven, he certainly hadn’t forgotten and I knew that this would not be the end of it.
The boat trip wasn’t actually that good in terms of learning things. But I suppose that’s not what you go on a boat trip for. For example, we were told facts like “97% of the time, the water is still in Protaras and 3% of the time it is still in Ayia Napa” but there was absolutely no explanation as to why. When we sailed past Fig Tree Bay, it was explained that the beach gets its name because it is lined with fig trees…probably could just about work that out for ourselves!
However, we did really enjoy it and we found the facts quite funny because they were so matter of fact and common sense!
The best part of the trip was when we approached Cavo Greko and the Blue Lagoon. Cavo Greko is a series of sea caves and rock formations. We saw Shark Rock (rock shaped like a shark’s head) and Love Bridge (the biggest natural bridge in Cyprus) where it is believed that if you kiss and make a wish whilst standing in the middle of the bridge, it will come true.
In true British fashion, Aaron and I had an awkward peck at the bridge after being encouraged by the tour guides haha – we drew the line at smoochy selfies.
The final stop was the blue lagoon, which was unbelievably turquoise (although not as bright and aqua as the water at Akamas) and we there was a platform at the top of the boat that you could jump off of! Aaron was straight up there, whereas I just jumped off the back of the boat and watched Aaron do it. We saw lots of little fishes in the water and had fun swimming there before getting back on the boat and heading back to shore.
When we arrived back, as predicted, Aaron headed over to the ticket office to voice his disappointment over the Famagusta debacle. However, the lady at the desk said that you view it from quite far away and don’t actually get to see very much. Plus, if the rest of the tour was anything to go by, I’m not sure we’d have come back as Famagusta experts.
We had a quick beer in the Yianna Marie Restaurant, which is attached to the Golden Sun Hotel and is where I stayed with my family when I was a teenager. It was strange that everything was so different, as there has been so much development over the last 12 years, but at the same time, oddly familiar and it brought back some great memories of those family holidays!
On Thursday, we went to Aphrodite Hills which is a resort in Paphos. It has a fancy hotel, a spa, restaurants, cafes and possibly what it is best known for (at least in the golfing world!) its award-winning golf course!
Aaron was very excited to play golf, but at €143 for a round, he made his way to the driving range which at €4.50 for 45 balls was more within our budget! Aaron said it was one of the most picturesque driving ranges he had ever been too and there were some amazing views from the golf course. The course itself was beautiful and Aaron is excited to come back and have a round at some point!
Whilst Aaron practiced his swing, I had brought my laptop and sat to do some work with a coffee in a Costa Coffee at the resort. I sat in the terrace next to a little water fountain and it was actually a really pleasant and relaxing place to get a bit of work done!
Once Aaron was golfed out, we stopped for a quick drink in the club which overlooked the course. It was so pretty, and in that moment (and that moment only) I understood the attraction of golf!
Aphrodite Hills is very close to Aphrodite’s Rock, which is considered the Birthplace of Aphrodite, and the place where she first rocked up after being created by the ocean. The locals say that if you swim around the rock three times, you’ll be blessed with eternal beauty. Needless to say, we did an extra lap just to be certain! Just kidding, it was quite a wild day in the sea, and after being slapped in the face by a few too many waves, we abandoned the quest for beauty before completing one lap!
Finally, we get to the weekend! It was actually a lovely weekend! We went to the Limassol Wine Festival on Friday which was €5 each to get in.
Chris and Lex go to the Wine Festival most years and they we’re surprised at how different it was when compared to previous years. Usually, there are many different wines to try, there are stalls selling foods and artisan goods and there are a lot of people with a lot of different types of entertainment.
Due to Covid, and poor planning thanks to Covid, the festival felt a little bare. Also, there were only a few different types of wine (most of which we had seen in Lidl), available to buy by the bottle (but at three times the price of course). However, it’s what you make of it, and we had a great time watching the traditional dancing, singing, freestyling(!) and entertainment with a refreshing bottle of wine.
The food was both expensive and sketchy, with the meat including animal skulls in it, which was freaky to say the least. Sometimes though it is the worst events that ending up being the best – they’re so bad that they’re good. We had great company though, and it made me laugh so much at how angry Chris was that they were charging people to get in given the limited number of things to do – he was raging!
The glasses were also a bit expensive to rent, so in classic British style, the four of us drank straight from the bottle. However, in this instance, it was the Cypriots who came up with that idea, not us I swear!
On Saturday, Aaron and I went to Pier One, although I thought we were never going to make it, and Aaron might kill me he was so hangry by time we arrived – it took an absolute AGE to find a parking space – around 25 minutes. However, it was all worth it when brunch arrived at Pier 1, a bar-restaurant which overlooks the sea and is based in the Limassol Marina.
Aaron had a Cypriot inspired Full English and I had one of the tastiest breakfasts ever, scramble egg, asparagus and feta, over Greek Brioche called Tsoureki – I’d never have put them together but it worked! It was such a lovely setting to have breakfast, and very relaxing after the stress of driving round the city trying to find a space to park!
After brunch, we had a little mooch around both the old marina and new marina, making mental notes of all the places we wanted to come back and eat at! Whilst we had spent a fair amount of time at the old port, we hadn’t really explored the new port, which was really impressive. There are houses on the water which we’re dream homes and we were discussing which one we’d like to buy. We later found out that they were worth several million pounds…looks like we’ll be sticking to our little flat after all!
During our wonder, we came across the Limassol Coffee Festival which was €12 each but we thought, “When in Rome” and “why not?”. I’ll tell you why not, there was literally nothing to do apart from drink coffee, there was no entertainment, interesting talks or ANYTHING going on at this “festival”, it was just a bunch of stalls selling coffee. Also, once you’ve had one coffee, do you immediately want another? We worked out that to make it worth the ticket, we needed to have a minimum of 4 coffees but there was nothing to do in between. They also didn’t appear to sell water and it was around 30 degrees so we were severely dehydrated and desperate for some shade. We ended up leaving after one very expensive coffee. NEVER MIND. Good job we didn’t go with Chris, he thought the wine festival was a rip-off at €5, he’d have had a heart attack at this coffee “festival”.
It’s been such a fun and eventful week. Next week we’re off to Paphos for waterpark number 2, to check out another traditional Cypriot village. We’re also going to spend some time planning our next destination and the logistics of travelling around the UK in December without a car – fun times!
Come back next week to read all about it, and see a few of our holiday snaps!
See you then.
Love,
Meg
xx
