Cyprus

June 22nd 2014 our 40th Wedding Anniversary and off we went to sunny Cyprus from Robin Hood Airport. It took about 5 minutes to get from our house to the check in, thats one advantage to living at the end of the runway :-)

We arrived at our hotel at about 10.30pm and after checking in we were ushered into the dining area for a glass of Champagne or local beer.  We both chose the Champagne and just casually mentioned that we were celebrating a special day.

Next thing we knew there was a knock on our room door and this was delivered from the management :-) The staff are amazing at this hotel, nothing is too much trouble, they make you feel so special, its lovely and thats why this was our 4th visit! 

The food is amazing too and we ate like kings for the whole ten days,  from greek to chinese to roast beef, we had the lot!......greedy pigs!!  Oh and it was washed down with lots of lovely drinks from water to wine, beer, lemonade and fancy cocktails, not to mention several glasses of Champagne :-)

The following morning after a delicious breakfast we headed for the pool, we spent most of the 10 days relaxing here, it was so hot! most days it was 38* with some being 40* far too hot to be tramping round sightseeing.

It was spotlessly clean, everything was pressure washed each morning and there were plenty sunbeds for everyone with loads of parasols and little tables.  We must have spent more than half our day in the pool, it was lovely to cool off and listen to the music,  floating away on a dream...... wonderful!

This is the main reception area inside the hotel, lovely and cool with the air conditioning and nice to relax and read a book or just have a cup of tea....every cuppa is served with a biscuit! Not that you needed any snacks, food was available all day long and being all inclusive it was free.

The pool restaurant was open from 10 am to 6pm , they served the usual burgers, nuggets, fish chips pizza and had a fab salad bar with lots of fresh fruits for desserts, Ice cream was freely available and you helped yourself to drinks from the machines, various soft drinks, water, beer and a hot drinks, if you wanted alcoholic drinks you had to go to the pool bar round the side.  The Chinese food bar was to the right of the photo, this was delicious and we had that for lunch on quite a few days. Some days we fancied a change and went inside for lunch, this was more formal and lots more variety.  No one ever needed to go hungry there was so much choice at all the meal times.

On the following Monday we braved the heat and headed off into Paphos on the bus, we usually walk but the heat was far too much for that.

Down by the harbour and the castle it was fairly quiet, we didn't go in this time, we have done it before and there is nothing to see, the view from the top is nice though.

Lots of boats in the harbour including fishing boats, these supply the harbour restaurants with fresh fish daily.

Next stop was our favourite Ice Cream shop, its fantastic! made from greek yogurt and frozen fruits, mine is Mango and Philips is Blackcurrent....yummy... we had to sit under the canopy as the sun was melting it too quick!

Since we were here 18months ago they have built this new shopping mall in Paphos town, its lovely but totally out of character with the rest of the place.  I have to say it was really cooling walking round as its fully air conditioned.  We didn't buy anything but it was nice to see.

                                                                   Not many shoppers!

This is the costal path that leads from all the hotels into the harbour area, its a lovely walk on a cool day and takes about 45 minutes, the only stretch we walked was the bit at the back of our hotel and that was enough!

This is the childrens side of the hotel, we only went round there to take these photos.  Its fabulous for young families.

My hubby was a bit tempted to go on these slides but for me it was a no go!  I think if Willow had been with us they would have been on these every day!

Walking a bit further, past the slides and over some waste ground you get to this pretty little church, typically Greek with its white washed walls and blue dome.  The sun was just setting and it had a lovely calm feeling about it.

Turning round into the sun and you get the silhouette of the seats looking out over the sea.

The entertainment was virtually non stop and it was up to you if you wanted to join in with the fun and games, apart from one session at aqua gym we just sat and watched.  I dont know how these girls managed to dance the can can in 38* heat!

They certainly put some effort into it all.  These particular outside concerts were twice a week just before lunch.

The entertainment in the evening was from about 8pm, it started with the childrens disco then Bingo (ugh) and then the show started about 10pm, it was quite noisy and hot down in the night club so we didnt bother much, we prefered to sit in the quiet of the bar or outside on the patio with a couple of drinks.

Lovely hubby one lunchtime.

It was nice to sit outside for our evening meal at first.....then.... hubby had his ankles bitten by the mozzies!!! time to retreat to the inside...

 We both enjoyed our Anniversary treat and it was lovely to be back at our favourite hotel.  I wouldnt want to go in the school holidays...far too many kids!! and really too busy for our liking  so we picked just the right time to go. We normally go in November/December when its all oldies.....mind you, they can boogie and drink when they've a mind to.....us included..lol

Back home now and into the full swing of being frugal again!! 

Thank you to everyone who left lovely comments on my last couple of posts, your comments mean a lot to me xx and a big welcome to my new followers....if you reached the bottom of this post I hope you haven't lost the will to live :-)

Normal blogging is about to resume :-)

Take Care

Karen xxx