Kyrenia -The Crescent of Cyprus

In Google maps, Kyrenia looks like part of the crescent of the Cyprus island, that forms its northern part. See the satellite view below. Kyrenia is marked A.

Kyrenia is a picturesque beach city bordered by imposing hill ranges. The taxi that you board from the Turkish side of Nicosia races up through the mountain roads, and then hurtles down into the tiny sea side town. All taxis here seem to be Mercedes Benz! Some of them were pretty new.

After alighting in the town square known as Nicosia square, and which also doubles as the taxi stand to Nicosia, you walk down an asphalt road to the beach. You can see the sea and the beach in the distance, so there is no chance of losing your way.

Nicosia square, Kyrenia

People speak Turkish here, but most of them respond to basic English queries. Kyrenia is a part of northern Cyprus which is under Turkish occupation.

If you happen to visit during Summer that is in the months of  July-August, it can be quite hot, reaching up to 40 °C. In winter, the temperature dips down to a minimum of 9 °C during the coldest months of January and February. As is typical of the whole of Cyprus, even in the month of January, you can have nearly six hours of Sunshine. This makes Kyrenia and the rest of Cyprus year-round tourism spots.

Turkish tea at a Kyrenia  tea shop

When you are in Kyrenia, do not forget to taste the Turkish tea (see picture above). It is essentially black tea, but the style of service makes it very appealing. There is a shop serving Turkish tea right in the middle of Nicosia square.

Leaving for Cyprus

One of the beautiful moments of my stint at TSYS was the visit to Cyprus, which is a treat for the senses, any day. The leisurely tourists and sunbathers that thronged the beaches of Larnaca, the mountain ranges housing numerous monasteries, the country side strewn with rolled up wheat haystacks-άχυρα (ahira) as they are called in Greek. I couldn't visit the popular beaches of Ayianapa and Paphos.

A senior team member took us on a one day tour on his Toyota over the island nation. We visited the Stavravouni monastery, Aphrodite's birthplace (Petra tou Romiou) near Paphos, Governor's beach, the archaelogical site of Cheirokatia, and a few other places.

At Petra tou Romiou, I was surprised by a saleswoman who greeted me with a 'Namaste' in chaste Hindi. Our cultures have become truly global. I hope to surprise Greek and Cypriot friends with my newly acquired  knowledge of Greek: Ne, Yasou, Entaksi, Signomi, ...