After a month in Paphos, we decided to move further east along the coast to Larnaca.  Mostly for a change of scenery.  Larnaca is a larger city, about 150,000 people- about twice the size of Paphos.  The first month we stayed in an apartment in downtown, the next two weeks we were a little further south.  Below is the view from our second apartment.

Surprisingly, the grocery stores weren’t as good in Larnaca.  I suspect that with a larger metro area, locals are driving to the suburbs to shop at larger stores.  Still, we found enough to cook on our own without difficulty.  We did enjoy eating at outdoor restaurants on occasion.  Below is a little restaurant near the ocean that made excellent moussaka.

Temperatures stayed in the low 60s (17c) so it was nice for walking.  There was a good walkway along the ocean, and we found quieter streets in the city for walking as well.  We did see lots of cats in Cyprus, they seem to be wild, but people do feed them so they seem to get by pretty well.

To our south was a large salt lake where flamingos stay over the winter.  We would typically see hundreds of them on the lake.

Cyrpus flamingos

In Larnacea there are lots of palm trees- this one was rather overgrown with ivy.

And a plant with interesting star shaped berry clusters.

Walking the side streets of Larnaca let us explore a lot of areas around the city.  Deb discovered this interesting building one day.

And on the beach-side, the city was plowing and removing seaweed that had accumulated on the beach.  While our families back home were plowing snow, we watched the workers here plow seaweeds.

At this time we hadn’t decided on our next country.  We had been hoping for Israel, but they required visitors to be vaccinated, and boosted if it’s been longer than 6 months.  Deb was able to get her booster when she went home over Christmas, but finding one for Tim proved challenging.  Many countries provide vaccines through government clinics, but they are limited to residents.  We considered heading into Portugal or the UK so Tim could get boosted, but one vaccination center Tim stopped into recommended sending an email to the Cyprus Minister of Health.  So Tim did, and a couple of days later he was given permission to get boosted!  So, now Israel is back on the travel list for us.   (as many of you know, we did end up going to Israel- it’s been a delight to be here when it’s so quiet and uncrowded- but more on that later)

There are two harbors in Larnaca, one for pleasure boats shown below, and one on the south side of town that houses the fishing boats.

Also in town is the Church of St. Lazarus.  Looks nice if simple on the outside, but the inside is quite different.  Inside the Orthodox church we see ornate designs with much gold leaf.

Church of St. Lazarus Larnaca

The iconostasis is a screen or wall between the nave and the sanctuary, which is covered with icons. It separates the people from the clergy.

Near the church is a mosque, and Larnaca castle.  The following picture is taken from the courtyard of the castle, looking at the tower of the mosque.

A picture showing what a typical quiet street in Larnaca looks like.

Ocean boardwalk at night.

Our second apartment in Larnaca had some issues with heat. The bedroom heater worked fine, but the main living room/kitchen heater was struggling. It would run for 10 minutes, then quit for 20. It was only able to keep the temperature up to low 60s. (~16c) We talked to the owners about it, and they suggested we needed to turn it off every 15 minutes for an hour or so to “let it rest”. I suggested this wasn’t a good solution. When they asked why, I informed them that one of the things we did enjoy having in winter was heat. So they did send someone out to look at it, and it turned out that the compressor unit was bad, and was overheating and shutting off. The next day they sent out a lift to replace it, and everything was fine after that. I’m sure the visitors this summer will appreciate having a new unit, I can only imagine how well it would have run in their summer temperatures. The picture below is from our second bedroom window showing the repair work.

One nice thing about being nomads – we still have to deal with issues like this, but ultimately, it’s not our problem. Leaking window? Balky stove? We’ll move on to a new place, and someone else will have to deal with it long term.

Well, that’s all for a shorter post. With both of us boosted, we’re heading to Israel next.

Tim & Deb