Cyprus-bound! It was the end of May, and I was at the end of my UK tourist visa, trying to figure out where I could travel to that was warm, beachy, cost-effective and not stamped in my passport yet. I pulled up the handy Google Flights page, and that’s how I landed on Cyprus.
Cyprus is unassuming and beautiful. It has roads lined with these giant, thin, green trees that gives you a splash of color but don’t take up the landscape, mixed with colors of red and pink blooms. Then you turn the corner in the switchback, and there’s the coast with it’s gleaming, light blue water shimmering in the sun. You really need two weeks for this island. It has hidden treasures, myths and wine!
Of course, with everything so spread out, this is an island where you should rent a car. Surprisingly, I’d actually never rented a car before on my international travels for a few reasons. First, most places I’d gone have public transportation that got me where I wanted to go or I signed up for small group day tours. Second, as the only one in the car, it's less convenient to be both driver and navigator in places where signs are not in English. Third, and most importantly, I tend to fall asleep behind the wheel. In the last 10 years or so, I’ve found I really struggle to keep my eyes open on drives over an hour and a half when by myself. When I drive from Michigan back to Chicago, I always have to stop once or twice to take a nap in the backseat of my car - bad, I know.
So yes, I don’t rent cars alone on holiday … unless I'm in Cyprus. I was dreading this as Cypriots drive like the Brits with the driver's seat on the wrong side of the car and cars on the wrong side of the road. Points for getting into the correct side of the car! Of course as soon as I went to buckle up, I reached up and to the left only to find air. Damn it, other side - up and to the right. But I got the hang of it quickly, and with the alertness that came with driving differently and the number of switchbacks, I did not have a sleepy issue. The only mistake I continued to make throughout the week was turning on the wipers every time I wanted the blinkers - those are reversed as well! Gah! It’s like bizarro world.
On one of my drives down to the south coast, I stopped at Aphrodite's Rock at the end of the day. When I reached the beach, most groups were leaving, so I walked to the other side of the rock and laid out my blanket to enjoy. It’s not a sandy beach - only rocks, but I found an area where most of the rocks were rounded and smooth, small enough to be flexible and contour around me as I lay down. While basking in the sun, I watched one woman stand in the water, leaning against this massive rock, staring out into the ocean. She stood there for at least 30 minutes, seemingly lost in thought. I wondered what she was thinking about. Was she like me, trying to figure out what her next step in life should be? Or was she thinking about a lover? Or playing chess in her head? This is what I love about people watching: the options are endless. When a giant family came bounding down to our side with kids running amok, I picked up my blanket and headed the opposite direction. Looking out at Aphrodite's Rock, where Aphrodite was supposedly born, I perched myself on top of a rock jutting out from the sea, and it was so quiet that every time the water crashed up and then receded, it had a Rice Krispie effect - a soothing crackle sound from the slight motion of all the rocks settling back into place as the water headed back to sea.
After each full day I would head back into the mountains to where I was staying, the Paradisos Hills Hotel in the sleepy village of Lysos, about an hour away from Paphos. Up in the mountains, this property provided killer sunsets overlooking the coastline and mountains. Spending most of the days away exploring the country, it was nice to come back to some wine and dinner each evening at the hotel. It’s the type of family-run hotel where guests return year after year. While I was there, I met a few pairs that were regulars coming back at least yearly, and a couple of those wonderful pairs from the UK even let me crash their dinners each night or join them for a drink.
Cyprus is also a place where you can rent/drive a boat with only a driver's license. Since I was mastering my bizarro world driving, I figured yes, I also want to drive a boat! I had never driven a boat before, so I went down to the docks to rent one. The available boats had a variety of horsepower options. The smallest was 50 horsepower, but I opted for 70 horsepower, because the water was a little choppy. During the review of where to go/not go around the coast, the boat instructor stated his concerns about my going out alone, never having driven a boat before, in the getting more choppy water. He said he wouldn’t recommend my doing it. Well, that had me rattled so the company decided to have someone take me out for a spin, see if I was comfortable and if not, I could return to try another time or hire somebody to go with me. I thought that was fair, and as we got out of the bay, I could not believe how rough the water was. All we needed was one surprise jerk for me to bounce overboard. Since I wasn’t going to have another chance to rent a boat, I decided to put in the extra money to have someone go out with me, and it was an excellent decision. Going up the coast, the boat wasn’t maintaining speed because the propellers were coming out of the water due to the waves. We kept throttling the engine up. Finally, we arrived to the last part of the coast you can go (Fontana Amoroza Bay) and anchored. It was so calm, and our boat was the only only one there. I sunbathed while having some good conversation with my new boat mate pal and then jumped in the water a few times to cool off. After an hour, it was time to head back, and the sea had completely changed! The waters were calm, and I was able to drive back at a nice clip. Boat mate, boat and me all back in one piece - success!
