Memories and hints of a travelling IT professional.
Πάνω Λεύκαρα is a picturesque village in the mountains known for the craftwork and especially lace produced here. It also offers nice views on the mountains and a beautiful ancient church, the church of the Holy Cross. Strolling through the narrow streets of this village is nice, but the marketing of the community is so strong that sometimes large crowds of tourists are dropped off by buses. Just get a coffee somewhere and let them pass by.
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Exploring Cyprus means looking at many old stones. The climate of the island and the rough, mountainous landscape made it possible. Halfway between Λάρνακα and Λεμεσός you can discover settlement structures used 8,000 years ago. In the Neolithic period people created the settlement Χοιροκoιτία with small round houses next to a river.
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Close to Λάρνακα you can find a large salt lake. During some months it is completely empty and you can walk on the salt (which was exported in former times) like in a moon-like landscape. In other times the lake is filled with water and gives a home to pink flamingos. You can walk around the lake on a nice path with many picnic areas.
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South of Λάρνακα you’ll find many nice hotels and apartment houses close to the sea. Especially in off-season you can get good prices here, but you’ll have a reduced amount of touristic infrastructure around you. If you’re hungry or thirsty the Cyprus Fish Tavern at Περβόλια is a traditional place that can rescue you.
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The island of Cyprus is a place that you can best explore by car. Many interesting places are far away from civilization and every city on the island can be explored within one day. Therefore, I planned a roundtrip in the Greek part of the island and booked a different hotel for each and every day. On the first day I arrived already in darkness, had to navigate while trying to stay on the left side of the road and I didn’t want to search for a car park after a long day of travelling. That’s why I booked a hotel at Λάρνακα that would normally never see me, the E-Hotel.
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When driving a car in Cyprus you can learn something about history: the island was once a colony of the British Empire! And there are even still today two British naval bases that belong to United Kingdom. For you this means mostly one thing: to drive on the left side of the road. Typically, this switch inside your head is easy, you just need to remember to give way to cars coming from the right when entering roundabouts. What always happens to me is that I try to enter the car on the front passenger side. Always good for a laugh…
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The island of Cyprus can be accessed via three airports: Lárnaka (LCA) and Paphos (PFO) in the Greek part of the country, Ercan (ECN) in the part occupied by Turkey (open only for flights from Turkey). The airport of the capital city Lefkosía (NIC) is closed since 1974 and can only be used by UN forces. The most important hub is LCA with around five million passengers per year.
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War and remembering the victims of war is still today a controversial topic at Kassel. The city was in the past and is still today a center of weaponry production. In World War II it was therefore a target of massive attacks. Even today you can find the traces in vast air-raid shelters and in the face of the city: the historic city center never returned to its former beauty after it was completely burned down in the last world war. In different areas memorials can be found for the victims of war and especially the victims of fascism. The memorial for soldiers which died in both world wars was closed for renovations for many years and vandalized directly after reopening: the Ehrenmal at the Karlsaue.
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Romania isn’t the typical tourist destination for western Europeans. In their heads the country is associated with poverty, migration, and crime – only Bram Stoker and his vampire tale are linked to Romania with the same intensity. In reality, it is a country full of friendly people making the best of their situation. A country in development with a coast at the Black Sea, a country with vast forests (housing the biggest population of brown bears in Europe) and a long history between the east and the west.
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In the past the main market of București was located on Piața Unirii and attracting the farmers of the region to sell their products. If you want to find something similar today, you need to get to Obor, an area in the northeast of the city (belonging to sector two). There you’ll find a vast area with indoor and outdoor market stalls selling vegetables, fruit, meat, and every kind of goods.
Continue reading “Piața Obor”