Passion in Paphos

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Here we are in Cyprus! We’re here for a week, where the main event is the marriage of Sean and Kellie this coming Thursday! What follows is a much briefer account than my usual Posts (‘hooray!’ say some!) as I took the decision to travel light and leave the laptop behind and attempted to record the whole experience using my phone!

Saturday

10.40am: We shared a taxi to Luton Airport with Clive and Carole. Russell was our driver and being an experienced ex-HGV driver, we made steady and safe progress towards Luton Airport.

2.00pm: That’s our plane! In less than 5 hours we’ll be in Paphos! 👍

9.15pm: We’re now two hours ahead of home. Our coach awaits!

All aboard!

10.30pm: Scorchio (still) !

10.10pm: Hello Mayfair Hotel. A warm welcome awaited us, together with a bag of sandwiches, cake and fruit!

Nice room! ‘354’ was to be our home for the next week.

Nicer Internet!! 🏁🏁

11.45am: Nighty night! 💤😴💤😴

Sunday

Morning folks! 👍

7.02am: The view from 354 – some towels already on the loungers! No Germans in sight though! 🥴

9.02am: Off to Breakfast

A massive dining area where it could seat most of Cyprus!! 😉. After breakfast, a relaxed day ahead!

First, a wander around the Hotel complex.

Another day in Paradise? You decide! 🤔

Then, off to the Harbour, on foot.

11.30am: A very pleasant wander in the sunshine! 🌞🌞

The walk brought back some lovely memories of the last time we were here. Older memories were quickly replaced by new ones – and the sight of an ice-cream van! But before the obligatory ’99’, a sit down and a drink nearby.

12.45pm: Last time we sat here was back in November, 2022 with Paul & Sue.

1.14pm: Next, a visit to the famous Archaeological Site…

Good to see these amazing mosaics again… Free admission today too! (First Sunday in the month across the EU?)

2.55pm: Well, that was worth a look! Next? The promised ‘Mr Whippy’ ice-cream all around before deciding that we wouldn’t walk back – we’d take the Bus instead. Word to the wise! The Buses only accept cash out here (€2 each!) – no plastic! Twenty minutes later, the ‘610’ dropped us nearby, and we were back in our room, ready for a siesta.

Mrs P, Carole, John and Clive

6.05pm: A few hours of shut-eye and we’re ready to take on the world! (Well, not quite, but almost!). Next stop: The Bar and then the Restaurant. Did I mention it’s all inclusive here?

7.05pm: A quick visit to the Bar before joining the rest of the group for a catch-up. Then it was into the (very busy!) Restaurant for our evening meal. It was impressive! An amazing selection of food and service levels that ‘punched well above their weight’!

After the meal, we headed for a quieter part of the Hotel with Clive and Carole and caught up with our reading.

Trish joined us later for a natter.

10.05pm: Other ‘Party Animals’ were still partying, but for us, that’s it for another night! 💤💤

Monday

Morning!! 👍😁

A super-lazy one today, as our next ‘official’ event isn’t until lunchtime! Time to find the pool!

“Hooray, it’s the Daily Aquarobics Class” shouted absolutely no-one! 😂😁

9.45am: We sat around the pool catching up with our reading and wondering how the three employees felt with absolutely ZERO interest from the inmates!?!? (We learned they do this routine every day at 10!)

12.30pm: Sadly missing the aerobic opportunity, later Geoff & Rhonda picked us up, and it was back to theirs for Lunch!

Nice view from their Apartment!

3.00pm: Northants Nutters – Cypriot Division! 👍

4.15pm: After a gorgeous Lunch outside, We headed off to ‘Sense‘ a well-known Bar/Restaurant in nearby Kissonergas for a quick drink with a sea view! Fantastic!! 👌

We couldn’t have been much closer to the sea!

5.25pm: Wow! That was good! Geoff & Rhonda then dropped us back at our Hotel.

9.45pm: Knackered!! 💤💤

Tuesday

6.05am: Welcome to Tuesday! I call this one ‘Moon over Beach Towels’… 😊

9.05am: The day would turn out to be a surprising and unplanned one. No details here, but it reshaped the rest of our week (again, not documented here) 🙁

12.35pm: We grabbed a quick bite to eat back at the Hotel, and then it was time for a quick walk.

1.25pm: A short wander around the local area to make the best of the weather (rain is coming!).

2.20pm: 💤💤💤💤💤💤💤💤

4.35pm: Ahh, we both needed that – time to get ready for tonight. Another themed night awaits! 👍

8.01pm: Our evening meal in the Hotel – strangely quiet tonight, even though it was Cypriot Night and the food selection was fantastic!!

9.05pm: A chill-out with Ann and Carole, just off Reception, whilst the ‘youngsters’ went out on the town for an extra ‘Hen Night’! I had a feeling it’ll be the boys’ turn tomorrow night! 🤔.

We steered clear of the main Bar area simply because (warning: old bloke alert) of the volume of the performers/music. Ever since we got here, the evening performances have always been on the super-loud side – and too much for these vintage ears. Last night’s ‘Freddie Mercury Tribute Act’ was SO loud, we could pick out the tunes – and we were three floors away, tucked up in bed! 🥴🥴🥴

9.35pm: 💤💤💤💤💤💤💤 again – it’s my age! 😁😉

Wednesday

Happy Wednesday, everyone!

11.05am: Today, we met up with Geoff & Rhonda again, although the weather looked like it might limit our outdoor activities! 🙄

11.23am: First stop was Coral Bay and a lovely Bar/Eatery close to the water, helpfully called ‘Corralia Beach Restaurant’.

Nice bollards, nice flower-pot and nice wheelie-bin, but best of all – a great beach!

12.25pm: Fab! We then headed for Latchi.

1.25pm: We parked up and wandered around the Harbour area. Today, it was almost deserted (we think mainly down to the damp weather!).

1.45pm: ‘Faros‘ for Lunch! 👌

I chose ‘traditional’ and picked ‘Stefado’ – one of the beefiest beef dishes I’d eaten in a long while! 👍

3.15pm: As we headed back to the car, we all agreed that it had been a great lunch.

4.32pm: Back at the Hotel, we said our goodbyes to G & R. It had been a great day where we’d also managed to dodge the occasional shower too! 👍

Just time for a short ‘feet up’ before heading downstairs and the Asian themed night in the Restaurant.

8.15pm: Yummy food again tonight!

9.45pm: A big day tomorrow! Beauty sleep needed! 💤😴💤😴

Thursday

Morning all! No pre-placed beach towels! What’s going on! 🤔

Here we go..! 👍 😘 😘. Today’s THE day! 👰💒🤵Sean & Kellie’s Wedding at 3.30pm.

Thankfully, the weather held!

Nicely ‘scrubbed up!’ 😁

3.35pm: After a slightly scary open-top bus journey through the town to the venue, we arrived at L’Chateau (not a typo!)

It was a beautiful location, a lovely event, and although the photography was challenging, everyone had a great time and lifelong memories were made!

The Service was pretty standard except, perhaps, for the distribution of bottled beer by semi-dancing Groomsmen to the congregation before the Bride’s arrival. An unusual riff on the ‘usual’ practice! Still, it saved queueing at the Bar and we were missing ‘Strictly’! 😁

A unique Service followed, with very strict controls by the (equally strict) Wedding Planner. She continued her unique management style throughout the unfolding event with bags of enthusiasm and determination! Ad-hoc photographs were discouraged, and even when we ‘snuck one in’ the lighting (too bright, with the Sun in the ‘wrong place’ plus a lot of artificial bulb lighting in the darker areas) made it almost too challenging for a mere camera phone!

A rare shot! But wait! Is that the Photo Police at the door!?!? 😉

Best of all, as the Cypriot Sun set, during the excellent sit-down meal that followed all the subsequent speeches were very heartfelt. As the evening wore on, even more memories were forged – especially on the dance floor. A few were almost traumatic! 😂🤣😂🤣

Fashions varied: from the more traditional to the more practical (given the heat). Above, one of us is clearly illustrating taking full advantage of the Hotel’s ‘all inclusive’ meal deals (clue: it’s NOT Mrs P!) 😮

Most memorable event? In the closing hour of the celebration, we were all ‘treated’ to a short and impromptu re-enactment from the final scenes of the film: The Full Monty – a pseudo strip by a few of the wedding guests (that also just fell short of an excellent charade of the film ‘Free Willy’! 😬).

The karaoke hour also made stars of a few who we didn’t expect to go anywhere near the microphone! Thankfully, the Cyprus nation was spared from The Palmer’s legendary ‘prog rock/disco/heavy metal’ interpretation of ‘Climb every Mountain’! due simply to lack of time and a queue for the mike (yeah right!). The impromptu ‘singing’ of those that did, was all part of the fun as other family and friends jostled for the best camera angle to capture this one-off event! 👍

00.05am: And in a flash (see what I did there!), we were soon boarding the coach for another truly terrifying trip along the roads of Paphos. A combination of the driver being a reincarnation of Stirling Moss and the mostly deserted Cypriot roads ensured that our next conversation was either going to be to God (for forgiveness) or the Guinness Book of Records (for a land-speed attempt). Yikes! I can honestly say, it was one of those rare occasions where it was probably better to be drunk! 😮. Some were better prepared than others!

00.35am: Wow! What a night! Congrats you two! Whilst a few hardy souls headed for the Hotel Bar for a top up, we opted for bed! Nighty-night! 💤💤💤💤

Friday

6.45am: Morning all! 👍 Our last full day here! 😯. Neither of us suffered any after-effects from last night’s ‘super late’ one (well, it was late for US!) 😉

They’re on the Loungers early this morning!

Weather-wise? More of the same! 👍 But once outside, it felt hotter, much hotter!

After breakfast, we headed for the Tombs of the Kings partly by Bus (No. 603), but we walked the last mile, it was now much more humid than any other day since we arrived.

11.15am: A very misleading sign!

Well, that was all a bit underwhelming! Tombs of the Kings? Actually, by their own admission on the first information board, there’s no evidence that any Kings are buried here! 🥴. In short, a bunch of caves, mostly resembling a mausoleum. On a positive front, it was just €2.50 each to get in, and the views out to sea were impressive! Still VERY hot though!! 🥵🥵

11.55am: We headed back to Paphos Harbour by way of the 615 to the Bus Station and then the 611.

12.25pm: On arrival, the obligatory stop for some ice-cream beckoned. We complied! 😊

Now suitably cooler, we headed for the Harbour and took the short walk in the direction of the Castle.

Successfully dodging the numerous restaurateurs eager to temp us in, we got to ‘the end’ to find they’ve ‘added a bit’ to the Harbour since were last here, stretching further around the coast – all courtesy of an EU Grant!

12.55pm: Well, that ‘extra piece’ was a pleasant surprise, as we picked a seat and soaked up the Sun… and the view! 👍

Heading back, we took the 610 that stopped close to the Hotel.

1.15pm: Just time for a quick one

1.45pm: A short siesta! 💤💤

6.30pm: We met up with Tom & Julie in the Bar.

8.02pm: An evening meal with Carole. Oo-la-la, it was French Night!!!

9.45pm: Shattered!! 💤💤😯

Saturday – Heading home!

Bye-bye Paphos and the Mayfair Hotel! It’s been fun! Paphos Airport? Not so much! Totally rammed from the moment we arrived until the moment we (eventually) boarded.

2.53am: Sunday – Back to reality! We’re home to a cold and foggy UK! 😳💤