I'm in heaven!

Finally, I'm here! And it was all worth it. At this particular moment, I am sipping an ice cold grapefruit juice in an internet cafe in the beach town of Larnaca. When I arrived at my hotel at the break of dawn, I was much too excited to sleep. I tried. I really did! But the morning sun crept onto the bed, through the open sliding glass doors, and the deafening cacaphony of the local birds chirping kept me from nodding off for too long. It's all good. I remember well how the sound of the birds would fill my room as a young girl on my first morning of summer vacation. The air felt so light... and summer stretched before me, long and inviting.

Bright and Early
from my hotel room at the Lysithea Hotel

So, I'm clattering away on this modern computer in a modern internet cafe, with a modern example of tinny Greek music playing in the background. It's truly an updated version of days gone by. The drink is not luke warm. The chairs are shiny metal in modern, curly shapes. Used to be that we would sit on wooden chairs with woven seats, bazooki music would be blaring on the radio, and the proprietor would bring out small, worn bottles of spit-warm Coca Cola, with a straw in them that was too short for the bottle. After you had drunk a few sips, you'd lose the straw into the bottle and would have to keep fishing it out to take another drink.

Earlier, after a hasty shower, I went next door to the market and bought some halloumi (local sheep's cheese for the uninitiated), Greek olives, and pitta bread for my room. I also found a medium sized local watermelon, a Cyprus orange, and an apple, that the shopkeeper threw in for baksheesh. As I was carrying my shopping bags back to the hotel, the rental car driver was pulling up with my car. Great timing! Murphy must have stayed behind in London. After I stowed my stuff in my room, I taught myself about driving on the lefthand side and took off for the town of Larnaca. (My apartment hotel is in a quieter area near the beach.) I parked my car in the car park and have been meandering the winding back streets of town. In a bakery, I found a small loaf of local bread (psomi) and a hefty piece of baklava. This will be dessert or an afternoon snack when I get back to my room.

Tourist shops in Larnaca

A side street in Larnaca
(notice how they park whichever direction they want)

Beach-Front Promenade in Larnaca

This afternoon, I may bask in the sun for a little while and then take off to do some more exploring.

I will end by mentioning the intense emotion I felt when I exited the airport this morning. As I looked out my hotel window and listened to those chirping birds I had a deep feeling of ownership. The birds were MY birds. The sun was MY sun. The eucalyptus tree by my balcony was MY eucalyptus tree.


Stay tuned for more stories from Paradise.