Larnaca is a different sort of destination for me. I usually avoid beach towns. Larnaca is kinda modern and kinda scrappy and kinda third wordly. But I keep coming back year after year. And enjoying it here.

I am told that the upscale part of Cyprus is at the western end of the island, around Pafos. But the nice little airport here in Larnaca connects to everywhere around the eastern med, and has an airport bus route that delivers you quickly to the city center, making it so simple to arrive and depart.

There are a few historic buildings, but Larnaca peaked in global importance during the times of the Venetian Republic. Today it is attractive as a beach town and for people with vacation homes.

And there are some quite nice parts of town: besides the airport, the strip of restaurants and hotels at the beach is very nice. They have a cute glitzy mall. And maybe a few interesting churches.

But the wonderful thing they have for sure is GREAT WEATHER. For my week here in February, 70 degrees every day with a big beautiful sky.

I like to walk along the sea wall and around the town.

Out to the salt lake and see the pink flamingos. But this visit, so late in the winter, almost all of them have departed for Africa.

After the weather the next best thing in Larnaca ( Cyprus ) is the food.

Wonderful. Simple. Straightforward. Awesomely fresh salads and seafoods.

The town is pretty lively around the beach during the day and around the bars and restaurants in the evenings. And the cast of characters is extremely diverse: beach creatures, loud Russians, families of Indians, pink european tourists, swarthy middle easteners ..

As you know the British held Cyprus for a long time. From the fall of the Ottoman Empire, around the time of our civil war, until the Island achieved independence in 1960. And the people here still have many many british affectations, which resonate with me, having once spent 4 years living and working in England.

They drive on the left.

They tend gardens and trim their hedges with geometric planes.

They drink beer in pints. And eat with their fork in their left hand, upside down.

They use demerara sugar in their coffee and tea.

And, of course, the triumvirate of the british breakfast: mushrooms, baked tomatoes and baked beans ! I love them and eat them every day.

Thanks to the wonderful modern travel offering: the” “Food Tour”, I was able to get up into the hills and visit a few villages.

I tasted some (pretty pedestrian) local wines ..

Visited a family operation producing Honey (fascinating), and had a breakfast at a farm making cheeses using traditional methods.

Tasted dishes prepared with an ancient brazing method of sealing the ingredients into clay pots with a mud cover and then cooking them very slowly in the wood oven. (amazing and delicious).

And visited a family operation producing olive oil. This included visiting the purported oldest olive tree in the world. Not very pretty, but said to be 800 years old.

And I took the opportunity to visit the village of Lefkaritika, famous since ancient times for their hand made lace.

During the period of the occupation of Cyprus by the Venetian Republic, (an important trading center for them), Venetian ladies liked to come up into the cool hills in the summer and stay in this village. And according to records in the Vatican, Leonardo di Vinci took a vacation from his work and visited here, recorded because he bought a tablecloth here and donated it to the Vatican upon his return. Interestingly, in his painting of the last supper the tablecloth has a traditional Cypriot design.

And that’s it. Now that I’ve warmed up from the Bemidji winter I’ll soon be heading north up into Greece. And I will probably miss Larnaca. I am heading to Thessaloniki, and it looks like it will be quite chilly and perhaps rainy. We’ll see. I will check in from there.

Meanwhile, thanks for coming along.