VISITING A COUNTRY FOR THE FIRST TIME IS ALWAYS an adventure. Especially when you know virtually nothing about the place. We were not certain if Cyprus was a country and not part of Greece. We even had to check at the airport to confirm that the currency of Cyprus was still the Euro. Answers would have to wait until we could find a guidebook.
Modern Larnaka
We had booked an apartment at Les Palmiers Luxury Apartments right on the beach in Larnaka. Les Palmiers had all the bells and whistles, a full kitchen with a washing machine, two bedrooms and a nicely furnished living room. But the bells didn’t ring and the whistles hardly tooted. Wi-fi wouldn’t connect in our first flat so we changed rooms. Then the washer broke and the heating/AC didn’t work. Half of the light bulbs were dead and the shower was a mere trickle. Still it was a great apartment and things began to look up when we found a Lonely Planet for Cyprus.
A gift from Venice
As it turns out, Cyprus is a country — at least the southern part. It’s a card-carrying member of the EU and a former British Crown Colony, which explains the driving on the wrong side of the road. Before that Cyprus had been in turn, Greek, Phoenician, Egyptian, Byzantine, Roman, Lusignan, Genoese, Venetian and Ottoman. We will figure it out in time.
