Perfect Paphos

I have never written a travel review before, and to be honest, haven’t really read that many either. Therefore, I’m not really sure of the customary layout, so I’m going to do mine in the form of a holiday diary.

The benefits for us for staying in an apartment rather than a hotel meant that we were more able to come and go as we please, and with our own kitchen could stay in and cook for ourselves of an evening if we wished. We were able to find out anything we needed about the apartment or the surrounding area in just a quick phone call, and the owner also arranged for some food to be in the apartment ready for our arrival.

This time, we had no problems with our flight and got to Paphos exactly on time. A taxi had been arranged to take us to an apartment, and we shared this with another guy who was going to the same apartment block. The apartment we were staying in was in a block called Tala Hills, up in Tala. It was about a 20 minute ride from the airport in the taxi (which looked like a hearse all in black with 3 doors on each side!) and cost us £C30 for the three of us.

We arrived at our Tala Hills apartment at about 2.30am. You can tell that Paphos airport is relatively small from the fact that we had picked up our suitcases and were on our way within 30 minutes of landing. The airport was about 25km from where we were staying.

We decided then to drive down to the supermarket just outside Tala to pick up a few bits, and then we went down to the square in Tala Village to have a drink. Tala Village is under a 5 minute walk from our Tala Hills apartment block, and has a couple of restaurants and places to drink, as well as a couple little shops. We sat down outside and had a beer each (Keo being the beer to drink in Cyprus. Brewed on the island, it is available everywhere). After that we decided to drive down to Paphos Harbour where we saw Paphos Castle, which is the smallest castle I have ever seen in my life! This was originally built as a fort to protect the harbour, but was destroyed and rebuilt after an earthquake in the thirteenth century. I’m not sure that there is much more known of the history of the castle, Wikipedia tells me that several archaeological excavations have taken place in order to find out more about its past.

The next day was Friday, and we decided to bring out our true sun-worshipping selves and head down to Coral Bay Beach. Again, this was a drive away, so we drove through Paphos to get to it; about 20 minutes from our apartment. Parking here is free also, and only a tiny walk from the beach. The beach itself isn’t huge, but there was enough space for everyone there. I’m not sure what it would be like in mid-Summer though. We paid for the use of two sun-loungers and umbrella, which cost £C3.75 for the two, and then settled down for some hardcore chillaxing. This is a very child-friendly beach. There is a bar right on the beach where you can buy drinks and typically English food such as chips and burgers. When you head down to the beach there is a sign pointing you in one of two directions, one for water sports and one for sunbathing. We headed down the sunbathing route, but could see people bobbing about on jet skis and the like. The weather on this day was very hot, about 35 degrees C, but yet the sea was still freezing! It wasn’t too choppy though, and was nice for a paddle. We decided to spend most of the day here, soaking up both the sun and the atmosphere.

That evening we walked down to Tala Square and ate at ‘The Square Bar and Bistro’. An English woman, who we assume moved her family out here to open it, as all the waitresses spoke English as their first language and all looked slightly similar, ran this. On heading in we were asked if we had booked a table, as they had entertainment on on a Friday night. Unfortunately we hadn’t, but there was a table spare outside where we had a nice view of the square, so that was fine. I’m not the biggest fan of people singing when I’m eating my dinner anyway! The food here was delicious, I had melon and sorbet to start, then lamb, and then apple pie. All a bit English I’m afraid! It really was nice though, and the wine I had also was very drinkable. This is a restaurant I would definitely recommend to anyone staying in the area, the price came to under £C30, and as it was only a short walk from our apartment was perfect for us.

Pictures of Paphos (Cyprus)

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Driving

After our day acting like children we decided to head out and see what the nightlife in Paphos was all about. We ordered a taxi from our apartment, and headed down to Bar Street, which we had been told was the place to go. Our taxi driver was very friendly (if a bit manic with his driving!) and he pointed out to us where the restaurants and bars were after he dropped us off. We decided to eat at a Cypriot-Steak Restaurant called Agapinor’s, where I had garlic bread and then Sirloin Steak, and my boyfriend had breaded mushrooms and then the Agapinor Steak. Again, the food was delicious and very reasonably priced. Drinks also were cheap, I had a martini and lemonade and it was about £C2. As we were given our bill we were also given a complimentary shot of coffee liquor for me and a brandy for my boyfriend. Not being Brandy or Coffee drinkers it didn’t really make much difference to us, but it’s a nice gesture nonetheless. Our bill, again, came to under £C30.

Sunday we headed again down to the Port, mainly to get some stamps. We were planning on going on a glass-bottom boat today, but it was so windy and the sea was so rough we decided not to. We spent most of the day lazing about the apartment, going for a swim in the pool and sitting out on the balcony. We had already decided that we wanted to try a traditional Cyprus Meze, so that evening we headed to Pentaras Restaurant in Paphos to try it out. A Meze is a traditional Cypriot feast in which about 20 dishes are brought to your table. All the guide books advised not eating anything for at least three days before, so I was a bit dubious about how much food there would be, but actually it was just the right amount of food. Saying that though, my boyfriend ate far more than I did! At first you are brought bread with a variety of dips such as houmous and mint yoghurt, and then you are brought things like potatoes, olives, meatballs, and then some chicken and pork kebabs, sausages and lamb. The majority of what we had was delicious, and the things I didn’t like were due to personal taste rather than them being cooked badly. This was also very good value for money, at £C9 per person. We had dessert here as well, and altogether the bill came to under £C25. There was a lot of traditional Cyprus food on the menu, and this is definitely somewhere we’d head back to if we were in the area again. They also gave us a shot here, so it must be a Cyprus thing; my boyfriend was the lucky recipient of yet more Brandy, and I got Banana Liquor! I managed about half of it before we made our exit.

We decided to spend the rest of our afternoon playing mini golf. When we had gone to the beach and paid for our sun-loungers we were given a leaflet about a mini-golf course near the Water Park. This was about £C5 each, and run by a really friendly old man. The course was 18 holes long, and of course I won, even getting a hole in one on one occasion! The only problem with this is that there wasn’t much shade round the course.

We had a fantastic time in Cyprus, and would definitely visit it again. Every single person we met, whether English or Cypriot, were really friendly, and although a lot of the areas we visited were very ‘touristy’ there was a lot of tradition around us. Also, it wouldn’t have taken much to travel a bit further to see some real Cypriot history and culture. This is definitely a place for people with young families, old families, or just a group of friends. There is so much to do and see, and I would definitely recommend you going sooner rather than later before the place becomes strictly tourists only.