Discover the Island

Many of the people we've spoken to tell us that three weeks is too long to spend in Larnaca. They probably have no idea of our pace in exploring. If we do one thing per day, we're likely to say, "Whoopee, what a busy day!" A couple of days ago, we did two! yep, two activities in one day. First we found St. Lazarus Cathedral and a lovely gift shop featuring the work of three artists and then we attended a private Cocktail Workshop. 

We arrived at Sun Moon Creative Center for our workshop with Pan. It is a lovely space and also has an art gallery featuring the work of his wife and daughter. We were able to meet them near the end of our time learning about cocktails on Cyprus.

The bar where we learned about cocktails and Cyprus

Pan, our instructor and the owner of Sun Moon Creative Center taught us not just about mixing cocktails but about Cyprus as well. The ingredients used in almost all of our libations were grown or produced on the island--brandy, sparkling lemon, walnuts for garnishes, dried lemons and limes, zivania, commandaria. A martini is your favorite drink? Then you have to have one made by Pan. It will be nothing like the typical vodka or gin martini but it will be both delicious and refreshing. 

We made and drank three cocktails. The first for us was a brandy sour made with Cypriot brandy. Then we each had two individual cocktails based on cocktails we might order at a bar. For me this was an Aperol spritzer and a martini but neither of Pan's version were like anything I had ever had. They were delicious! 

The question is to shake or stir?

The answer is delicious--

What a delightful way to learn about Cyprus!

And now a word from "cheeky" Dennis...

My drill instructor just informed me that I have until 08:00 hours tomorrow morning (1/20/2025) to write something for the blog.  Failure to do so will "result in loss of privileges until I decide to return them." she said...so here I sit writing (I get terrible headaches when I lose privileges. 

(CM's rebuttal--if I were a drill sergeant, this guy would have huge deltoids, triceps and pecks from all the push-ups he'd be doing. Geez!)

Yesterday, we left Larnaca at 8:30 AM for a 9 hour bus tour of part of Cyprus. Cyprus is an island in the eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea, just south of Turkey. It's roughly 150 miles long and 50 miles wide with a population of about 1,250,000 people. Enough geography? Temperature here is around 70 ℉ during the day with mid 50's at night. This is winter in Cyprus so tourists are minimal and that's why we're here. At these temps, it's still much warmer than B'ton, and again, that's why we're here. 

We visited the walled city of Nicosia (capital of Cyprus). The wall was built by the Venetians, the history here is long and complicated. 

Then we headed up into the mountains where we saw a bit of snow at around 3500 feet. We visited the Asinou Church with its mosaics from the 12th Century. The Troodos Mountains are dotted with small UNESCO world heritage designated churches of simple exterior design that can't quite prepare you for the elaborate Byzantine paintings that fill the interior from ceiling to floor.

Asinou Church

Sorry, photography is not allowed inside the churches. From here we went to Troodos Square and then back down to the port city of Limassol where we wandered through the "old market." Back on the bus and 1 ½ hours later, we were back home in Larnaca for dinner and a drink. 

Stay tuned--Den E. Baby 😏