Lazy bones.

 I can't remember a trip away in the last 20 years that has been as sedate as this. But to be honest it is just what we needed and I am unashamed in saying we are loving it. Normally it's 2 days maximum in any one place before waltzing to matildas to pastures new.  Here we are settled into a fantastic, quiet, remote villa with everything we need. It's like being at home with all the comforts but in the sunshine.  

The past couple of days have been mostly quiet. We did take a drive to Limassol to have a look around. To be honest there is not a lot there to interest us. A large, modern city and port surrounding a quaint " older town centre. Nothing older than circa 1500 and then only a tiny fort built on the site of a 12th century castle.  Interestingly Richard the Lionheart married Berengaria of Navarre here in 1191 after his invasion and conquest of Cyprus in the same year. Richard is an interesting chap. Portrayed as a big toughy warrior type of guy. History records him as being a good military leader and a fearless warrior. A lesser know fact is that Richard was very fond of ladies clothes. He would regularly slip into "something a little more comfortable" whilst on campaign. There was even talk that he had a "special" friendship with his German male Cousin. Which is fine. Whatever flicks your switch is fine by me. Not so sure Berengaria would have been so pleased with this arrangement though.

Richards liking for a nice dress was ultimately the cause of his demise.  On his way home to England through Austria he laid beige to a small castle. To free some friends who had been taken prisoner there. After a long day's work laying siege he popped on a little lacy number and had a stroll around the camp. A young guy with a frying pan was on the top of the castle casually knocking the English arrows fired up at him by the archers away with his cooking utensil. The arrows had lost their force by the time they reached him. 

He spotted a big burly bearded guy in a frock and knew it to be King Richard. He must have stood out from the crowd for some reason. With a single shot from his crossbow he hit Richard in the shoulder. The wound wasn't life threatening but the subsequent infection was. He Died a few days later. I'm not sure if he was still in his frock.

That's my version of the story anyway and if it didn't happen exactly like that then it should have.

Yesterday was a pool day. Very lazy. After lunch we did a 6km walk in the pafos forest to the Argaka Dam. I say forest as it was until 2016 when forest fires destroyed mass tracts of it. It was interesting, a nice walk and got Crispys old bones moving.  I thought it would be hard to pry her from the sunbed but the promise of a bottle of pop and packet of crisps persuaded her. It never fails.

Dinner and few pints in the pub saw us back in the villa. 

Bare and Crispy signing off, a little tipsy, Argaka, Cyprus.

BTW. I beat her at seven card brag. It nearly caused an incident and she's not a happy puppy.

Aphrodites bath

 Yesterday was relaxed as I had hoped. Crispy did well and it was 2 hours and 15 minutes before she got bored at the villa. Longer than I had expected if I'm being honest. After a morning by our pool she started getting fractious and we decided to have  a ride up the coast to see the local area.

Its really quiet here, which suits us, as our tolerance for people gets less with each passing year. It's not that we are antisocial but experience has taught us that we don't have to suffer the company of people that are not within our circle. Life's far to short for pleasantries. 

That sounds harsh but it is what it is.

We had a short drive up to the Turkish border. It's only 20 minutes away and at some point we will go into the Turkish part of Cyprus to have a look around. We will need our passports and will have to buy extra car insurance but we are sure it will be interesting. 

We stopped at a couple of sightseeing spots on the way.

Dragons Cave

Inside the Dragons lair

Paradise beach

It's still early in the season so the sea is too cold for swimming yet. Neither of us are fans of cold water swimming and that will have to wait till July. We called at the supermarket for some supplies and after a stroll to the one and only pub here cooked tea on the BBQ back at the vila.

Today was the first of our planned treks. Aphrodites Trail. A 7.5km trail over the Akamas peninsula. It was fantastic and we both really enjoyed it. The climb over the mountain  was steep and rocky but the views from the top were amazing and well worth the effort. The view is featured in most holiday advertisements for Cyprus. 

It's been around 25 degrees today with broken cloud so perfect walking weather

It's called Aphrodites trail as it starts at the baths of Aphrodite near the port of Latsi. Only a 25 minute drive from the villa. Local legend states that the Goddess of love used to take her ablutions here before climbing the mountain back to her "tower".  If she was anything like us then she would need another shower as soon as she got home as we were both sweating by the time we got to where it was supposed to be. 

Maybe Goddesses don't sweat as much as Crispy and me. Next time I meet one Ill ask her.  It was a great day and we are now back at our little home by.the sea playing a few hands of "shithead" (the card game Sanul taught us in Sri Lanka) before bed. I won which was very much to Crispys annoyance. She is a very bad loser but I've never beat her yet at seven card brag. The day I do will probrably be the end of a beautiful relationship.

Not really an en_suit as it's 3km and a 1500 foot climb to the bedroom.

The path up

View from the top

The path down

Tomorrow we are going to drive to Limassol for a mooch to try and find Crispy some tat shops. The day after she's going back up the mountains but doesn't know it yet.

Bare and Crispy signing off, Argaka, Cyprus.

Cyprus

 This little jaunt is not really an adventure but a small chunk of R&R. The weather has been really good back at Crispy Central but it wasn't guaranteed so after the Sri Lankan trip I decided on a late Easter get away just in case it was grey and rainy. I booked this break just after we got back from our Tuk Tuk adventure.

 Things have been a little busy and pretty stressful of late and Crispy deserved a bit of spoiling. It's definitely not our regular kind of trip. In a few weeks time, after returning home, we are all set to go island hopping around a few of the less visited Greek Islands. We are starting in Turkey ( as that was the cheapest option) and that will be more of a regular "moving on" kind of thing. I don't want her getting used to this kind of lazing about in holiday mode. 

That said this is definitely going to be more sedate than we are used to.  We have never visited Cyprus before but like most places it has been on our radar. It's big, as islands go, and will give us a lot of opportunity for walking and outdoor pursuits as well as some sightseeing.  

As a treat I have arranged a  private villa in a small quiet town called Argaka which although only an hours drive from the busy town of Paphos  is relatively  remote.  I have rented a car to enable us to get out and about. ( Don't be impressed as the entire trip has cost very little. In fact Cyprus was chosen because it had the cheapest flights (Ryan Air) and we really did let lucky on finding this amazing air B&B.)

Early morning pics as Crispy is still in bed bless her. There are several bedrooms so it might take a while to remember where she is.

Today is planned for a  chill and relax or until Crispy gets bored.  I'll give it two hours before shes itching to mooch.  

This is only going to be  a short blob as a personal aide memoir and I'll only add to it if something exciting happens. I've already warned her that there will be significant "rubble" involved at some point and a lot of walking in the Troodos mountain and the coastal paths.  Shes really looking forward to the "rubble" but not so much the mountains.

Bare and Crispy signing off, Argaka, Cyprus