Month: February 2023

A cluster of cloisters

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I don’t know what the collective term for cloisters really is, but I saw so many on my trip to the Troodos mountains. The trip specifically exists to visit three of the many monasteries in the Troodos mountains here in Cyprus, and was an excellent day out, combining two of my favourite things, mountains and religious architecture.

As you may know if you are a regular reader, I love going on coach trips. Even though I now have the van, being on a coach trip with a knowledgeable guide, and a driver who can cope with the endless, very twisty mountain roads, is an excellent way to see the area and the trip was brilliant.

I was picked up at one of the local hotels just 10 minutes walk away, and we also got to stop for a delicious buffet lunch, and visit one of the mountain villages as well. A very worthwhile day out that I highly recommend if you come here.

The drive through the mountains was well worth the trip alone, it was brilliant to see such a different side of Cyprus, including quite a lot of snow.

They have actually had less snow here than previous years, however there are four ski resorts in these mountains. We drove all the way around Mount Olympus, the highest mountain in Cyprus.

The first monastery was the very small Chrysorrogiatissa Monastery, in a beautiful location overlooking one of the dams.

This monastery is dedicated to the Virgin Mary and the legend of finding an icon in a golden pomegranate tree.

The monastery was a beautifully kept stone structure, and you can see how life there would have been peaceful and allowed for lots of contemplation.

The second visit was to the Kykos monastery, where the icon in the church is said to have been painted by St Luke.

There are lots of representations of this icon, in mosaic and wall paintings. I bought a small version to bring home with me as well.

This is one of the largest, richest and most famous of the Cypriot monasteries, as it is where the first president of Cyprus, Archbishop Makarios 3rd, was educated and was a monk. Our guide told us a lot about his life and filled in some of the gaps in Cypriot history for me.

The archbishop was heavily involved in the fight for Cypriot independence from the British and in the later invasion by the Turkish army.

It is a stunningly beautiful place, everywhere you look there are courtyards and wall paintings and the most incredible mosaics.

I think these are my two favourite paintings, the Annunciation and the Nativity, both from this painted ceiling.

There is just so much to see and take in.

Cypriot monasteries, and churches, are not without turbulent histories. Many have been damaged by earthquakes, the last large one here was in 1953.

There have also been long periods, such as during the Ottoman Empire, when the dominant religion has changed, so monasteries have been abandoned or heavily taxed. This monastery is the fourth rebuilding on the site and dates from the mid 1700s.

There were no pictures allowed inside the church so I found this one on the internet.

It doesn’t really do justice to the absolutely stunning ceiling, which was painted in the most gorgeous shade of blue. There was also an amazing reliquary display next to the church. Many items have been donated to the monastery by visiting officials, and there are multiple saints’ bones in decorated caskets here.

The final monastery was in the village of Odomos, a wine region village which has been restored.

The village houses around the monastery square now host cafes and shops, as the area is very popular with tourists.

It was lovely to see some of the traditional old buildings, as I have not had the opportunity to do that before now.

This monastery is now closed, though its church still remains open. Here there is a piece of rope which is said to have come from when Jesus was tied to the cross.

This was reportedly given to the village by Queen Helena, mother of Constantine the Great, while she was travelling through Cyprus from Jerusalem. There is also a piece of the cross that she gave them as well, both relics encased in silver crosses within the church.

They also had a great little museum with some 18th century Russian goldwork.

I found a lovely shop selling actual traditional lace so bought a little doily. I plan to frame it for the craft space at home. Truly a wonderful day with lots of my favourite things 😉

I have been to see the Roman sites here over the last few days as well, and visited two very different museums. I’m hoping to squeeze another couple in before my return to the UK the middle of next week.

I have also spent time with my friends from Spain and we are having a Cyprus branch of our Knit and Natter group on Monday afternoon. Lynne has promised to teach me how to finally crochet flowers, so I am very excited about that!

Will return with some more loveliness for you soon. Have fun, take care, stay safe and thanks for visiting.

Reflections

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Now that I have been retired for 18 months I have had plenty of time to think about my life, where I have been and where I am going, in both a literal and metaphorical sense.

I have spent a large amount of that time outside, because I am now able to do that. This is in stark contrast to the year before I finished work, where like many people, I was at home more than ever, stuck at the kitchen table in front of the laptop. We didn’t go into the university at all for 6 months of that year, a fact that seems unbelievable now.

It is especially strange as my job used to involve so much travelling. To and from work every day, two days a week out doing placement visits, and sometimes even to places like China, which I was lucky enough to visit three times for work.

A large part of my professional life, as a teacher trainer, and working on an early years degree, was encouraging students to reflect on what they were doing. It was an essential part of their assessments, writing reflective journals, summarising what they have learnt. I have spent hours teaching people how to reflect, using theoretical models.

My novel, which I have been spending lots of time working on recently, has as one of its main characters a newly retired teacher who is passionate about embroidery, (not an autobiography I promise!), who spends a lot of time reflecting about her new life and the contrast with her old one.

So what have I learnt? I have always loved being outdoors but have realised that it is absolutely essential to me to be out, seeing hills, clouds, rivers, the sea. I know I am very lucky to have been able to travel extensively, but am just as thrilled by the Peak District that I spent 35 years living next to, as Cyprus or Spain. A beautiful forest or sky can be found anywhere, most of these pictures were taken in accessible parts of the UK.

I have learnt that I love being by myself. As a teacher you are always surrounded by people, you talk to them all the time. There are many days now that I don’t talk to anyone at all. I stay alone in my house in Spain, or my van, or the apartment I am staying in, and I am perfectly happy being by myself. After so many years of talking, talking, talking every day, I was often sick of the sound of my own voice. The silence in my life is wonderful.

I have confirmed that I am a creature of habit, even in a new place I like to quickly create a little routine for myself. That may sound strange given that I am travelling so much, and constantly changing things but essentially each day comes to have a similar structure.

I also know that I am still very goal oriented. However, the life that I used to have was all about completing targets set by others, and how I could make that work. Mark eight assignments today, prepare two powerpoints by Wednesday, write 4,000 words of your doctorate at the weekend.

My goals are now directed towards my crafting, my novel and general self improvement. That last one makes it sound as if I think there is a lot wrong with me 😉 but by that I mean studying, such all the courses I have been doing, and improving my fitness by walking, cycling and swimming.

I have learnt that other people consider me very brave, to learn to drive at such a late age and go off in a camper van, to travel alone so much. That has surprised me, as I consider what I am doing as very normal. Millions of people travel all the time, and the fact that I am technically on my own doesn’t really concern me as I am always surrounded by people on the planes, trains, buses, roads and campsites. I always work on the basis that people are generally kind and someone would help me if I needed it.

I have learnt that I need to work on being more flexible in my approach to the future. I used to be a big fan of the 5 year plan, but a bit like when governments try it for the economy, life often gets in the way. The situation with Brexit, visas, political events, and post Covid situations, have meant that I am not really sure where I am going to be next year, or the year after. And that is ok, if a little mind blowing to someone who always knew what she would be doing at every point in a year!

I am not sure where I will be in the future, but do know that it has to involve lots of opportunity to be by the sea, or moorland, or in the woods, or just anywhere that is not a building. My life has become focused around the line from one of my favourite poems, ‘Leisure’, by William Henry Davies. He had a very unconventional life, so if you are interested in finding out more, follow the link.

The poem starts , ‘What is this life if, full of care, We have no time to stand and stare?’

This post has been illustrated by some of my favourite stand and stare moments over the last 18 months. All those moments where the place that I am in so beautiful in some way I could just stay there forever, standing and staring, watching the clouds or the sea.

Thank you to all of you for reading my blog posts, and for all the lovely comments and likes that I have got from you. It means so much to me to have this blog, and to know that other people enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing it. I hope that you also get time in your lives to appreciate what is around you and just enjoy being where you are.

I have been exploring ancient Paphos today, and have an exciting coach trip planned for tomorrow, so will be back soon to share all of that with you.

Meanwhile have a good rest of the week, have fun, take care, stay safe and thanks for visiting.

A walk around Paphos, and surprise, I found crafting!

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I have now been in Paphos for a few days and am loving the small town vibe here after being in such big cities for the past two weeks. I am back in an apartment which has a lovely balcony where I sit every morning in the sun and write.

Much as I loved Larnaca, and at the risk of sounding spoilt, hotel life is fine for a little time, but it’s lovely to have somewhere you can just chill and not go out if you don’t want to. That is part of what this trip is all about, I will be spending winter somewhere new each year, so I want to work out what suits me best.

I have met up with friends, from Spain and Cyprus, and am looking forward to seeing them again before I leave next week. The rest of the time has just been beach walks, trips up to the old town and practical things like doing my washing and shopping.

The coast here is beautiful, very much like Aiya Napa, as it is mostly rocky coves with the most gorgeous hotels and houses along the beachfront. The sea is wonderfully blue again, I have been so lucky with the weather, it was even a bit too warm at points yesterday!

More million euro plus houses to admire!

The old town has been extensively restored, unlike Larnaca and Nicosia there are few derelict buildings, and one of the things that I really love is that all of the buildings have been painted different colours. Around the old market hall there are lots of cute little shops and cafes in pastel colours.

As with all of Cyprus there is a great focus on the arts and one of the places that I came across was the old caravansary or han. This is a resting place for long distance travellers who were travelling in caravans with their animals.

There were several in Paphos and this one was operational until the 1950s, having accommodation upstairs and stabling below. The building then fell into ruin until it was restored in 2017, and now is full of craft shops and cafes, as well as hosting events on a stage built within the complex.

It was brilliant to see photos of the restoration outside the building and great that it has been preserved for other uses.

I was busy taking pictures and initially didn’t notice that one of the external walls was covered in crochet mandalas.

They covered the whole wall, and they have all been made by a group called Peace2Peace who work to promote crafts amongst women of different cultures. That is such a brilliant idea, a friend in Marsden runs a similar group through her refugee support project and a lot of my old craft room stash went to them.

The display looked fantastic, and reminded of the gorgeous mandalas I bought from my friend Gale in Spain for mine and Ellen’s bedrooms. They were all beautiful designs and it is hard to pick a favourite but I think these two are gorgeous.

I love mandala designs and have just bought some new seat covers for Katy with a mandala print on that I can’t wait to fit next week.

One of my targets for when I get back to Spain must be to get someone to teach me how to crochet flowers. We have some excellent crocheters in the group, and I have had this book for about 10 years now. Just think of all the places I could put crochet flowers in Katy!

Because there has been so much restoration there were not too many old doors and balconies but I did spot a few, along with many lovely shops selling arts and crafts.

This was the entrance to a gorgeous little taverna, with a courtyard garden. It reminded me of the one described in the novel I recently read about Cyprus, ‘The Island of Missing Trees’.

I loved these hand painted shoe makers lasts.

I will be spending the rest of my time in Paphos visiting the archaeological sites and museums so will be posting about those before I leave. I also intend to wander along many more beautiful bits of coastline before I leave to go back to dear old England next week, just so I can remember what sun looks like after I have been there a while 😉

I hope that you are all having a good week and have nice things planned for the week ahead. Have fun, take care, stay safe and thanks for visiting.

Ancient history, with a very comfortable bed!

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I am now in Paphos, and treated myself to a night in a very special hotel before going to the apartment where I will spend the last 11 days of my trip to Cyprus. Paphos is famous for its earlier period history, so I am looking forward to seeing more of that while I am here.

I came across this hotel on my booking site and couldn’t resist it as it is so wonderfully themed. It is called the Roman Boutique Hotel and is located just near the archaeological sites.

It is very beautiful and the attention to detail is amazing. This is the main entrance.

The lobby has so much bronze, with amazing chairs and light fittings.

All of the walls are painted , with images from Roman and Greek mythology and everyday life.

I came across these beautiful paintings of women embroidering and spinning. In terms of these crafts little has changed for many years, spinning wheels were only commonly used from around the 1600s, before that the drop spindle was always used.

For embroidery, the only real difference between me and the Roman women is that I have access to a wide range of very sharp needles, courtesy of the development of the needle making industry. Everything else is the same, which is quite amazing.

The exterior has been given the same attention to detail with paintings.

There are also lots of wonderful mosaics. I will be going to see some of the original ones later on.

The room boasts one of the largest beds I have seen, outside of China where the beds could also have slept four people, and was lovely and comfortable.

Sadly there was no step in bath like all the ones in the movies, with hand maidens and scented oils 😉 but they do have a spa on site, and the most beautiful pool area.

There was also, as seems to be standard in Cyprus, a very friendly cat!

It was a lovely experience, although I’m looking forward to being in an apartment again and doing some cooking. I will be spending the next few days looking around the archaeological sites and the museum here.

I am also going on a coach trip into the mountains to see some monasteries, which will be very exciting! By coincidence, one of my friends from Spain is staying just up the road, so we are meeting up later today as well.

Although not periods I am familiar with I enjoyed my visits to the Cyprus Museum and the Larnaca Museum of Archaeology last week. It is just fascinating to see things from thousands of years ago and realise that the fundamentals of life have really not changed at all.

I don’t know how much wifi I will have in the apartment but will post about the rest of Cyprus when I get back to the UK, if not before. Until then have a good week, have fun, take care, stay safe and thanks for visiting.

Nicosia part 2 – more doors, and more textiles!

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I am definitely loving the Cypriot doors, and balconies. Again most in Nicosia had the dates on, and all seemed to be from around the same era as in Larnaca, which I found very interesting.

I did find one dated to 1718, and part of the city walls with a gate, but all the others are a very similar style and from the early 1900s.

Being an amateur building historian I can only assume that they was a lot of building in all of Cyprus at this time, and that possibly a lot of older buildings were destroyed to make way for these ones.

Unlike other cities that I have visited there seems to be no specific medieval area, though the Venetian walls do date from the 1570s which is the later medieval period. I did see a medieval hall near the walls as well.

I can only assume that when the British occupied Cyprus from the 1870s there was a lot of building from that point, which may explain the lack of older buildings apart from things such as the forts and castles.

I visited three museums on my second trip. The first was the main Museum of Cyprus ,which had lots of pottery and statues. I am not normally that interested in the different types of ceramics, they just don’t get me as excited as textiles do. However, there was an amazing display that was all found together.

These 2000 figurines were found displayed like this in the sanctuary of Aiya Irini, and date from the 7th and 6th centuries BC. There are mainly soldiers, waggons and horses, and there are only two female figurines.

I love the face on the bigger bull at the front of this picture above, he looks as if he is smiling!

The other really interesting thing was this jewellery display, dating from the Byzantine period of the 6th century. As well as being beautifully detailed it was interesting to see how the designs have not really changed at all, even down to the way we fasten earrings all these centuries later.

My favourites were the winged creatures in the top left picture, they were so detailed at only about one inch tall.

The second place was, The Shacolas Tower , which has a panoramic view over the city and a small exhibition and video about the history of the city. It is well worth a visit as it so interesting to see some of the landmarks from above.

I spotted the church and archbishop’s palace that I had visited in this first photo.

The one below looks towards the occupied part of the city where you can see the towers of the Selimiye Camii mosque that was once a cathedral, at the back right of the photo in front of the mountains. It has been a mosque since the Ottomans came to the city in the late 1500s so is very much part of the very diverse history of this city.

The final museum was the Leventis Museum, which is housed in three restored buildings within the city centre. This was a great museum for giving you a timeline of all of the different cultures that have lived in Cyprus, showcasing Venetian glass, Ottoman jewellery, and having some excellent examples of textiles.

There was a whole display devoted to maps and books written by the many people that had travelled to Cyprus, often on their way to the Middle East. I love old maps and the history that they represent so colourfully.

There was a costume display, and also some excellent examples of Cypriot embroidery and lace.

I think the motifs on this beautiful piece below are pomegranates, which reminds me that I really must get started on my pomegranate goldwork that I have been promising to make for about 20 years!

The lace is described as crochet lace on the label, so I am not sure how some of it was made, although they do show bobbins as well. I think there may be a mix of techniques used.

The embroidery examples were very interesting as well, Cypriot embroidery takes many forms, there is heavy influence from the geometry of cross stitch, but also flower motifs.

This top piece seems to use gold thread as well, as far as I could see through the case.

The final section of the museum looked at the influence of the British occupation from the late 1870s. There were some of the magazines published at the time, and this very interesting book. I would love to have read this to see what the impression was of Cyprus at this time by the British public.

The cross over of fashions was also mentioned, contrasting the traditional dress of the Nicosian people, with that of the Victorians who came to live there.

As with the kimono exhibition we saw recently in New York, it was interesting to see pictures of how the dress became adopted by the Cypriot people. There are few differences between the garments really, in terms of style, but dress was very much linked to social status and religion, so at first there was little mixing of fashions.

I just had time for a short wander before getting the bus back, and found another church, not hard when Nicosia is full of them!

This one was particular interesting for a mosaic of Mary, (I assume), with a distaff spindle in her hand.

Images of Mary spinning are knitting are quite common and I found this interesting blog post with more information and additional pictures.

I will be travelling over the next few days and settling into my next accommodation, so I will return soon with more adventures. I am loving this nomadic lifestyle and really looking forward to the last couple of weeks in Cyprus. I will then be reunited with my beloved Katy Kangoo for further adventures in the UK.

Until I see you next have fun, take care, stay safe and thanks for visiting.

Nicosia, and textiles!

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I decided to make two trips to Nicosia as there were four museums I wished to visit, as well as have a wander round, and thought it would be too much to do in a day.

The public transport here in Cyprus is excellent, with very regular inter-city buses that are comfortable, clean and very cheap, and it is a great way to see the country. The bus to Nicosia takes about 75 minutes each way and only costs 7 euros for a return.

The first two museums were the ones that I was most excited about so I went to see those on the first visit. I use Google maps, both for planning and navigating when I am there and they were very easy to find. I had a good wander around the area as well exploring and it was interesting to see the extent to which restoration is taking place.

As I mentioned in my last post Nicosia is a divided capital, the border only having re-opened in 2008. For a really good overview of the history of this lovely island, as well as more information about visiting Nicosia, please see this very useful post by Helen on her Holidays, which I used to help plan my trip.

As the city was involved in so much conflict, and is still a military zone, I was expecting to see a lot of damage, and there was evidence of that. During the 1974 conflict 200,000 people were displaced from all over Cyprus. That is a lot of empty houses, and like Larnaca and Famagusta, many have been left empty since then. It was heartening to see that although there are lots of bits that still look like the picture below, there are many that are being restored.

I came across this very interesting street, near the first museum. One end of it was beautifully restored and the other, although the doors were still there and lights strung up, the buildings were just shells with no second floor apart from the external wall. I do hope that they will be able to complete this one day as they are such beautiful buildings.

The first museum was the Folk Art one. This is housed in the old Archbishop’s Palace, right next to the new palace.

The collection is not large but was beautifully displayed in all of the small rooms of the palace, and concentrated on the traditional crafts of woodwork, weaving, lace making, furniture making and embroidery. Although there were no pictures allowed I have found a very good explanation of Cypriot textile crafts on this site here.

I also found some shops selling work in the city, although a lot of what was for sale was mass produced machine embroidery, rather than the traditional Lefkara work from that village.

The new Archbishop’s Palace was very beautiful, and had some fabulous doors. I also saw the official cars, proudly parked in a glass walled garage outside, one of which may be a Rolls Royce?

Next to the palace was another one of the stunning churches, this time with an amazing gold painted ceiling, and the most ornate chairs for the priest to sit on.

The chairs for the congregation are equally lovely, look at those beautiful carved eagles, they were on every single chair.

Although there is not much goldwork in some of the churches, unlike in Spain, there is always beautiful crochet on the tables used for icons or during the services.

The second museum was just behind the church, this is the House of Hatzigeorgakis Kornesios Ethnographic Museum. This is a house, built around a courtyard, which was the home of one of the city officials during the Ottoman Empire. It was built in 1793 and has been beautifully restored.

The first floor is furnished with a stunning painted reception room, amongst other treasures.

I loved the painted chest, clock, and the carved wood that was once throughout the house.

There was also a small costume and textile collection, so I got chance to photograph one of the costumes similar to those that had been in the folk art museum.

This really shows off all of the exceptional Cypriot needlework skills, from the metal embroidery on the velvet jacket, to the lace cuffs and embroidered skirt.

I then had a wander back to the city centre and a quick walk up the famous Ledra Street. As well as some more beautiful old buildings, this is where one of the border crossings are, and it is both interesting and quite bizarre.

I knew the crossing was there, but one minute you are walking past McDonalds and Starbucks and the next there is a little building with blue striped awnings that is a police checkpoint.

Just to the left is a bench with a mosaic Peace sign, which lots of people come to have their photo taken with.

It was a very sombre experience to see the checkpoint, after all that I have read about Cyprus and Nicosia, and is one part of the city I hope will not be around forever.

The city is also famous for still having its Venetian walls, they surround the city centre, and you can see the star points clearly on the map. Many of the spaces below the walls have been turned into parks as the walls themselves are enormous. I found this painting from Wikipedia of what they looked like originally. I love visiting the star forts that are found all over Europe so this was fascinating.

Of course there were also lots and lots of lovely doors, but since I am visiting the city again this week I shall save those treats until next time, as I may being adding to my collection! This is my last week in Larnaca, I am off to Paphos next for the final 10 days of my trip, where there will be even older things to marvel at.

Hope that you are all having a good week, whatever you are doing. Have fun, take care, stay safe and thanks for visiting.

Larnaca, many more doors for my book

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I have on many occasions contemplated trying to publish a book containing pictures of all the lovely doors that I have seen on my travels, and Larnaca has certainly added many beautiful ones to my collection.

This is a very different place to Aiya Napa, which was lovely but full of modern apartment blocks and hotels. This is the wonderful old Cyprus that I have been really looking forward to seeing. I have spent many a happy hour wandering up and down the streets exploring. I love all the little bars and workshops in the old buildings, like this copper workshop below.

It is a city of contrasts. The area that I am staying in is just outside the city, next to one of the main beach areas, in between that and the salt lakes. There are many hotels and very swish apartment blocks here, and lots more under construction with hoardings showing beautiful designer apartments, all with balconies with their own jacuzzies, and wonderful sea views.

Between this and the city is an older area, full of small houses, possibly those of the fisherman who worked out of the harbour. Some of the houses are in the process of being restored, many sadly are empty. It is very interesting to see the contrasts between the two areas so close to each other, and I wonder what will become of some of these empty houses.

The city itself has its seafront, with a lovely promenade full of palm trees and lots of restaurants, including all the usual big chains, but lots of independent ones as well.

I have been spending lots of time in the older streets behind there, around the old mosque next to the fort, and the church of St Lazurus with its beautiful colonnades and a stunning bell tower

The interior of the church was very different to the others I posted about last week as it had a lot of very rustic stonework inside rather than paintings. There was still a stunning altarpiece.

I was very good and only had a little look around the icon shop, I didn’t buy anything though I could have spent a fortune in there.

I visited the fort on Thursday, situated looking over the bay, next to the mosque, and almost on the beach.

It was fascinating to see the Turkish tombstones that they have on display.

This is an island of so many cultures, the fort was built by the Franks, restored by the Turks during the Ottaman Empire and then later used as a jail and police station by the British. The mosque next to the fort was joined to the the neighbouring buildings of a later date by these buttresses.

The more I read about Cypriot history the more I find out about how many different people have come here over the years to settle, to conquer, to trade. It really is an amazingly diverse history, and obviously not without an impact on those who have lived here.

Then there are the many, many beautiful doors. Some are shiny and pristine, from the beautifully restored houses. Others are sad and chipped, sometimes you can glimpse the empty abandoned rooms behind them, some only front an empty shell of a building with no roof. However each must have its own story to tell, a part to play in the very complex story of all the people that have been here.

Most have, very helpfully, the date of construction on them, and many seem to be from the 1910s to 1920s. It makes me wonder what this place was like then, before the fight for independence from the British, before the division of the island into two parts.

I have visited Nicosia this week as well, the world’s only divided capital city, and am planning to go back again next week. In the next post I will show you some of the beautiful things there. There may well be doors involved, but also I visited some brilliant museums and finally got to see some Cypriot textiles!

Until next time, have fun, take care, stay safe and thanks for visiting.

Travel inspiration

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I mentioned in a previous post that there were many reasons why I wanted to visit Cyprus. One of these was came from a book I read some years ago, by Victoria Hislop, called, ‘The Sunrise’. I am putting links in for all of the books I write about here but I am not sponsored, it is just in case you wish to follow up any for yourselves.

The book is about Famagusta, in Cyprus, not far from where I was staying in Aiya Napa, and starts when the city is a popular tourist destination in the early 1970s. This was before the conflicts between the Greek and Turkish people led to the splitting of the country into two areas, divided by a buffer zone. Parts of Famagusta are now a ghost town that the inhabitants have not been able to return to since they left.

I found the book absolutely fascinating. I had been aware of the fact that the country was divided, but had no idea of what had happened, even though it all took place when I was a teenager. It was an immensely compelling, and tragic story and made me want to visit the country, even though I am not actually going to Famagusta on this trip.

Victoria Hislop is a wonderful writer and I love the research that she does for her novels. As an aspiring writer, and one who is very much enjoying the research for my first book, I love to read books that have been so well researched and where that research is so carefully woven into the story.

I can also recommend another of her books, ‘The Return’, which is set in Granada. I visited that city in Spring last year for the second time.

I have just finished another book set here during the same time frame, it is one that I came across while doing one of my previous creative writing courses with the Workers’ Educational Association WEA as we read an extract from the book. Again this is one of my favourite authors, a previous read of hers, ‘The Forty Rules of Love’, being one of the best books I have ever read.

This one is called, ‘The Island of Missing Trees’. Elif Shafak, is a Turkish author who writes on a wide variety of topics linked to her culture and experiences, and this one is set in the capital city of Cyprus, Nicosia.

This is again a very powerful book and one that has a very compelling and unusual structure to it. I won’t say too much in case you want to read it, but it gives a very unique perspective into not only the social history of the island, but also its natural history.

I love to read books that tell the stories of the country while I am travelling there. Many years ago I read a book called, ‘A Tree grows in Brooklyn’, by Betty Smith.

The author was the daughter of German immigrants to America, born in the late 1890s, and writes about a young girl growing up amongst the poverty of Brooklyn.

This book, along with others such as, ‘Ellis Island’, by Kate Kerrigan, and a recent read on my trip to New York, The Weaver’ Legacy, by Olive Collins, all add to my enjoyment of visits such as the recent trip to the Ellis Island Immigration Museum.

I am currently reading some more books based on my USA trip. These have been on my Kindle list for a long time and combine stories of immigration with stories of the fashion industry in America at the start of the 20th century. The first one is called, The Pattern Artist, and they are all by Nancy Moser.

I do so love reading, and my Kindle Unlimited is one of my best things ever, along with my little library corner in the camper full of my charity shop purchases.

One of my greatest joys of retirement is the chance to read every day. Often I can read five books a week. At home in Spain I spend the warm evenings sitting on my terrace reading, and drinking wine 😉 It is such a wonderful pleasure and I hope that you enjoy any of my recommendations here for you. Whether you travel or not, reading is a fantastic way to experience other cultures and histories.

I will be back soon with more of lovely Larnaca, the weather is being quite kind to me, a few showers now but since I am mainly here to visit museums and churches it has not been a problem. Hope you are all having a nice week and as always, have fun, take care, stay safe and thanks for visiting.

The beauty of Byzantine art

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I suspect I may be posting more pictures like this later on, if the churches in Aiya Napa are anything to go by, but have been truly overwhelmed by the beauty of the decoration of the places here.

I have not seen much art like this outside of museums and art galleries, where the icons and paintings have always been beautiful but to see them in real life is just brilliant. What is particularly amazing is that the exterior of the buildings have been very plain. Unlike the ones in Peiya that I posted about previously, these were simple white painted structures.

The first was down by the harbour, a tiny little church which many people were visiting, and kissing the painting of St George and the Dragon that you can see bottom left. We British may claim him as our patron saint but he is actually Greek and his picture is in many places here, and lots of places are named after him.

There is not much left of the old part of Aiya Napa, and the monastery is sadly closed at the moment. There was a lovely bell tower however, next to the knight sculpture that I posted about previously.

I was a little disappointed that the main church near the monastery didn’t look very impressive. After seeing the beautiful stone ones previously I was expecting something similar. However, the outside did not do justice to what was within.

This is what Catholic churches must have looked like before Henry 8th and his break from Rome, so many incredible wall paintings.

This church was built in 1990 so is only 33 years old. Sadly some of the paintings, like these wonderful images of soldiers, are showing water damage.

There was some lovely gold work as well around the icons, one of which was very old.

There was a reference to an icon being found and placed in the monastery, so I am not sure if this is the same one, but she is beautiful, even being worn away now. I bought a small version of her to take home with me.

There were other icons and pieces of goldwork as well.

I think most of the goldwork is on the first two pieces is machine embroidered, rather than by hand, but still wonderful.

Outside the church were some mosaics in a large walled area which led to a little park above the church.

These are something that I haven’t seen before, and they are even more stunning than the paintings in lots of ways, as it so much more difficult to represent people in mosaic. Just look at the detail of the folds on the angel’s robe below.

I love the clothes they are wearing. At one of the earlier period re-enactment events we go to, the Battle of Evesham which is set in 1265, a lot of the re-enactors wear the most wonderful Byzantine costumes like the ones seen here and they are so beautiful.

I have now moved on from Aiya Napa, and am in Larnaca for a couple of weeks, which was another great bus trip. Rather than the inter-city buses, I caught the local one which went through a couple of little towns on the way, which was lovely as I got to see more of inland Cyprus.

As well as more churches, lots more museums and walks by the sea, I am hoping to do some trips to other cities, such as Limassol and Nicosia.

The little museum in Aiya Napa had some fascinating information about the history of Cyprus, as well as some interesting experimental archaeology reproductions of ancient ships.

I have now got some more books on Cyprus, so I am going to be doing more reading during my trip. This little island really does have a fascinating, and complex history, and I am really enjoying finding out more about it.

I hope you are all having a good week whatever you are doing. Have fun, take care, stay safe and thanks for visiting.