Cyprus

This time it took me couple of weeks to publish this post... the problem was adding the photos! But here it is, my week in beautiful Cyprus :).

Week off in late November, and I really needed some sunshine! Ryanair flies from Dublin to Paphos, and that is where I went. The flights cost just about 70 € with 10 kg checked in luggage, and the flight takes 5 to 5 and a half hours. My flight was in the morning, so I had to take the night bus from Limerick to Dublin airport again. Surprisingly I took a little nap on the bus and also on the plane so I wasn't that dead tired when I arrived. I had booked an apartment from booking.com, and they also arranged a pick up to the airport. The driver was waiting for me there (even had spelled my name correct), and took me to the apartment, even carried my bag to the door! Good service! Very nomadic :D.

The apartment was lovely modern one bedroom apartment, about 3 km from the centre. The owners had car sales and hire downstairs, very nice couple! The bus stop was right in front of the building, and the bus runs every 10 or 15 minutes all day, the cost for one ticket is only 1,50 €. They also have a weekly bus ticket for 20 €, makes sense to get that one. I saw hardly any locals using the bus, almost all tourists. One local told me that they drive everywhere, even very short distances and everybody has a car. If it is a family of 5, they have 5 cars, sometimes 6.

I also had a view to the sea from my balconies (I had 2 balconies), and it was nice to have breakfast on the balcony looking at the sea... I was of course out every day, first days I was walking around the city, visited an archeological site, went to the beach too, and ate lots of moussaka and halloumi cheese :D. And had a few glasses of local wine 🍷.

Pics of Paphos

View from my balcony, had breakfast looking at this view every morning...

On Wednesday I went to Nicosia, the capital of Cyprus, and the last divided city in Europe. I chose guided tour, it cost just 22 € and it was a full day tour. We visited St. John's Cathedral first and then had a few hours to explore the city. I visited the Turkish side first and had lunch there. Now it is peaceful there, but of course the situation was different in the 1970’s after the occupation, Turkey occupied 37% of Cyprus, and thousands of people had to move, and many moved abroad. Guide said that 600 000 Cypriots (Greek Cypriots) live abroad. A local told me that all Cypriots consider themselves Cypriots first, and then either Greek or Turkish, and both just want to live in peace. Turkey is still the only country that has recognized the independence of North Cyprus, and most likely it will stay that way.

Photos of Nicosia

On Thursday I did another tour, to Troodos mountains and visited 3 monasteries. This tour also was a full day tour, and cost just 20 €. First monastery was Chrysorrogiatissa (can you say that fast 5 times after a few beers?), and only the abboth lives there. Next one was Kykkos monastery, that church was unbelievable! I have never seen a place like that in my life, literally my jaw just dropped when I entered. No photos are allowed at the church, so you just have to take my word for it, or visit yourself :). Twenty monks live in Kykkos according to our guide. After that we drove to Pedoulas to have lunch in a traditional tavern. And the last stop was Omodos, and the Monastery of the Holy Cross. Omodos was lovely little place with probably thousands of cats. I saw cats in the other monasteries as well, and everywhere in Cyprus, but Omodos was just full of cats! The scenery on this tour was just amazing, and it was a lot cooler in the mountains. In the winter they have snow for a couple of months even, and there is also a ski center. You can ski in the morning and swim in the sea in the afternoon :).

Photos of the Troodos mountains tour

Friday I just stayed in Paphos, visited the Tombs of the Kings, and enjoyed the sea and the sun. The temperature was over 20 degrees all week, about 22 to 25 every day, a couple of short rain showers but mainly the weather was just perfect. I really have missed the Mediterranean soft and warm sea breeze.

Photos of the Tombs of the Kings and the archeological site

I have a new phone with a decent camera (finally), and I took a lot of photos of flowers everywhere I saw nice flowers. Here's my flower photos.

I enjoyed my week in Cyprus so much! There's a lot to see and I could've stayed for 2 weeks and explore the island more. On Friday, my last evening, I even googled for jobs in Cyprus :). Not going to apply anywhere, at the moment, but Cyprus could very well be a candidate for my next location when it's time to move on again. But that of course depends on if I can get a nice job there first. Well, now I have to wait 1,5 weeks weeks until my Christmas vacation in Palma de Mallorca.

Otherwise weeks just go buy… It is getting cold and windy and rainy and sometimes cycling to work is not so pleasant. But I have good gear for that, just not waterproof shoes so I put plastic bags to my feet :). When I bought my sneakers, the sales person told me they are showerproof. Well bs! Every drop gets in, so thanks Foot Locker! After Mallorca I have no trips booked, so after that it is time to start planning and booking my travels for 2019 :).

I went to a lovely violin concert at University concert hall. They had 2 violinists (they are brothers originally from Slovakia), a pianist and a double bass. They played traditional Russian songs, like Moscow nights etc., and also more modern pop songs. It was so enjoyable, can't believe that kind of sounds come out of violin and you can play violin that way!

And one last note, I found my next eternal love; hot water bottle.

Shetland Islands

I have to say right away that Shetland is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen! I knew that this time of the year is not the best time to visit, and I did get some bad weather, but also sunshine. I was just hoping it wouldn't rain non stop, and it didn't. I booked my flight with KLM, for some odd reason the best flight choice was to fly from Dublin first to Amsterdam, then to Aberdeen and then to Sumburgh. Return ticket was about 265 € and the travel time was about 8 hours, so I had very short layovers. My flight was early in the morning, and I took 1.30  a.m. bus to the airport from Limerick. Travel days can be long and exhausting…

I asked both in Dublin and Amsterdam if my bag is going to Sumburgh or do i have to collect it in Aberdeen. In my tag it said Sumburgh, but KLM couldn't check me in to Loganair flight. I knew I had to do check-in in Aberdeen, but in Dublin they said my bag should go to Sumburgh automatically. I asked that again in Amsterdam, and I was told that my bag is going to Sumburgh, all I have to do is check-in, and that will activate the baggage transfer and that is all I have to do. Perfect. Well. That bloody one time that I actually listen to instructions and follow them, they were wrong. I should've collected my bag in Aberdeen and I found that out at the check-in. Of course passengers can't go back anymore to baggage claim, but the lovely helpful lady at the airport got my bag for me. I apologized because I was given false information at other airports, and she said “it's ok, we do tell them but they don't listen”. I don't think I am the only one who has done that. And they even thanked me for my patience! The reason for all this is that there is no customs in Shetland so you have to go through customs in mainland Scotland. They have only domestic flights, except at summer they have flights from Bergen. I don't know how they handle the customs issue then.

Got to my last flight too, and that is the smallest plane I have been in, just 33 passenger seats! Quite noisy and bumpy ride too… Took the bus from airport to Lerwick, it takes an hour and costs £ 2,90. Already on that bus ride I fell in love with the place. And I saw Shetland ponies. And lots of sheep. I had rented an apartment on AirBnb, and it was located just across the street from the bus station. I spent Thursday evening and Friday just walking around Lerwick and taking lots of photos. Lerwick is the biggest town in Shetland islands, about 7000 inhabitants. Small town, and I was surprised to see in the centre 5 oriental restaurants! Two Indians and three Chinese, I think that is a bit strange… In the centre there is a music store, and in it's window I saw a book “AC/DC for ukulele”. As I posted on Facebook, not really the first instrument that comes to my mind for their music, but hey, who am I to judge. I went to tourist centre too, and the guy there recommended a couple of day trips I could do.

Lerwick, and probably all Shetland, seems to be an interesting mixture of Scottish and Norwegian, and you can easily see that in the architecture. Lots of Viking influence there, even the bus station is called Viking bus station. There's also a lot of places with Norwegian name, such as Holmenkollen (saw a house named that), King Harald Street and St. Olaf's Hall. Unfortunately didn't get a chance to go to Shetland museum since it is closed on Sundays and Mondays. I just ran out of time! It would be so amazing to come back here at summer for a week, and take the overnight ferry from Scotland. Was thinking about doing that now, but then I found out how rough the sea can get already in October and they have to cancel the ferries quite a bit.

Here’ the photos of Lerwick

On Saturday I did the day trip to Unst, the most northerly of the islands. It takes 3 hours to get there from Lerwick with public transport. First a bus, then a ferry to Yell, then a minibus to north Yell, and another ferry to Unst, and then another minibus to Haroldswick. You can't buy one ticket for the whole trip, but get all the tickets separately. There is one resort in Haroldswick, but pretty much everything was closed now. But I went there for the scenery and to do some hiking. Unst and the trip there is just breathtaking! I know I am repeating myself, but everything in Shetland Islands is just so beautiful!! First the weather was clear, but then it started to get foggy and rainy and even windier so after 2 hours I got back and found this lovely place, Victoria's vintage tea rooms! The minibus picked me up from there so it was great to get some hot chocolate before that ☺. In Haroldswick you can find Britain's most northerly church, pub (it wasn't open so couldn't visit) and tea room (the one that I just mentioned). The way back to Lerwick was very dark and rainy, but luckily I saw the scenery on my way there. I was prepared for the weather, but still it was freezing!

Photos of Unst

On Sunday I didn't do another day trip, I just wanted to rest and relax… I should've stayed there for 5 hours and I think it is a bit too long. In October many places are closed already for the winter, and there are no tours until April again. That limited my options a bit and didn't get a chance to see puffins! I saw Shetland ponies but only through the bus window so the photos would've been too blurry. That means I have no photos of them, but trust me, they are very cute <3. Sunday was very quiet, most places are closed on Sunday, and I enjoyed walking around (yay, no people!!!). I guess people there are used to harsh weather conditions, because I saw many people without a jacket! Or the jacket was open, or sleeves up to their elbows. Indoors many were just on their t-shirts. Unbelievable, they are tougher than the Irish! In Limerick just a week ago I saw a guy in shorts and flip flops :D. If you think Finns can handle the cold, guess again. Finns are very good on complaining about the weather, no matter what the weather is. That implies to 95% of Finns. Finns can handle the cold (usually) outside but we are dressed like the Michelin man, but we are used to 20 degrees inside. That is called insulation and central heating, take a hint Spain, Portugal and Ireland!

Monday it was travel day again. My plan was to take an earlier bus to the airport, and walk around to take photos of ponies, since the main pony area is between Lerwick and Sumburgh Airport. Lucky me, it was a bit rainy when I left, but when I got to the airport, sky totally opened and it was raining so much! I love the ponies, but not that much! So I just stayed at the airport and stayed warm and dry at the same time. And this is tiny airport, just two gates. The small walk from the gate to the plane was just crazy. It was so windy and rainy, probably the same feeling if someone is shooting small rocks to your face with a cannon. The wind nearly blew me away. It was a very long travel day again, I arrived at home at around 1.40 a.m.

I definitely recommend Shetland if you love nature and outdoors and you want to have a quiet relaxing holiday. But visit between April and September to get the most out of it. Now I am having that post travel depression when it feels like did I even travel anywhere?

Otherwise everything is great, I am enjoying the apartment and I have a great flat mate! I got a bike, and I am cycling to work. I even have a yellow cycling jacket. Seriously, it is so bright yellow I need sunglasses to look at it. In 3,5 weeks I will have my next holiday, then I am going to Cyprus for a week! Never been there before, so that will be my country number 43 ☺. It won't be super warm then anymore, but hopefully at least warmer than Ireland! Will try to finish my post on nomadic alphabets before that, but knowing myself… maybe not :D. At least I will post about Cyprus.