the cyprus life

because we had spent the night out, the next morning we had a bit of a lay-in and enjoyed not waking up early to an alarm.. we woke up late to an alarm instead.  taking it easy, we each showered and got dressed and tried to game plan for the day.  

by the time we were all set and reconvened in the kitchen, it was just shy of noon, so we thought we'd head for a walk around the corner to the best gyro spot ever.  when we get there, though, it's closed!  not really sure of our next move, we walk next door to a little coffee spot that ben & i haven't ever been to, and sit down for a coffee.

this was probably the most organically "greek cypriot" thing we have done since being here... sitting down for coffee in a tiny little local coffee shop where nobody spoke english.  i think, honestly, it was the first time we had run into a language barrier since being here!  with hand motions and words that are the same in pretty much every language ("caffe"), we manage to order our coffees... but wind up with hot drinks when we had actually intended for cold.  oh, well.

after enjoying our drinks and paying, we check back at maria's (the gyro place) and they're open!  perfectly just in time for lunch, as we were starting to really feel hungry.  we introduce charlie to maria, order, enjoy our meal, and then decide to head into nicosia to the coffee beanery for more coffee.

ben & i had been spending quite a bit of time at the beanery because we loved the way it was set up with an outdoor patio down on the grass where you can sit on a couch in the sun and enjoy your drink. i guess we had spoken a lot about it to charlie, because she was excited to head over and see what all the fuss was about.  we spent the next few hours in the sun sipping our coffees and talking about life, and in reality, it couldn't have been any better!

there aren't many things that beat the sun, a nice coffee, and the best of company!

that evening, we lounged around with a bottle of wine while benjamin did his basketball shenanigans, and then we enjoyed a nice homemade meal together.

...just livin the life!

xox k

gray skies in ayia napa

tuesday, we woke up and it was pretty cloudy skies, but we decided to head down to ayia napa regardless, figuring that it would be better for charlie to see it on a nice so great day than to not get a chance to see it at all.

we head down, and our first stop is nissi beach - the one that everyone "raves" about.  we hop out of the car and it's windy as hell... gray skies.. chilly.. but all is good because we're at the beach.  we spend the next half hour messing around at the shore, taking silly pictures, and just enjoying life.

from there, we head over to a gorgeous beachy cove that ben & i found at the end of a random street the last time we were down there.... the spot where i found all the tiny shells!  while we're there, the sun starts trying to come out, and it's not quite as cold, but then all of a sudden, it starts to rain & we're back in the car.

we take a little trip down the main street to show charl the shops and restaurants, thinking that maybe we'll find somewhere to sit for a coffee, but we find that they're all shut down and boarded up for the winter.  we knew ayia napa was a major tourist area, but we had no idea that everything would just stop and close up shop during the off-peak months.  our only option was really to head back up to nicosia and take it from there.

we wind up heading home and opening a bottle of wine to spend our evening with while ben had practice...

... all's well that ends well, eh? ;)

xox k

a day in the life

the next day, we don't have much time between practices, so we figure we'll play it low key & enjoy the local area. 

when ben gets back from his morning practice, we head over to old nicosia to show charlie the adorable old town that used to be all there was to nicosia back in the day!  we walk around for awhile, check out most of what there is to see, show her the ledra street border crossing where you can enter the turkish-occupied side of cyprus (we don't cross because we don't have our passports on us), and then it's pretty much time to head back so ben can eat and get ready for practice.

charlie and i had arranged with stasa to meet at the gym when the boys go for practice so we could head for coffee, which was pretty much the standard procedure for stasa and i most days.  we get to the gym, say goodbye to benjamin and hop in with stasa to head off for coffee.

when we were at the butcher's grill the other day, we noticed a sign on the table that said they do a buffet on monday nights that is all you can eat, and all you can drink wine and beer.  we had gone for their lunch buffet before, and it was really extensive and yummy, so we decided it was pretty much heaven on earth and that we couldn't miss out on it.  we mention it to stasa and cico, and they said they might meet us there, but that they weren't sure.

we head over to the restaurant and get seats.  not sure whether we were expecting company or not, we just figured we'd start to eat.  a bit later, they came!  we spent the night eating and drinking and laughing, and when we couldn't possibly stuff another bite into our tummies, we left for home.

it was a really nice day, as uneventful as it was, because it was pretty typical of what we're up to on any given day, and charlie got a chance to see how we really spend a lot of our time.

xox k

cyprus in a day

charlie's first day here was absolutely beautiful outside, so we decided to take complete advantage of it by tripping out to aphrodite's rock in paphos, where we had gone before with eboni and kevin.  we set an alarm and woke up early to be on our way so we could make the most of the weather.

to get to aphrodite's rock, you have to drive right past limassol, so we figured we would pop to the limassol shoreline to show charlie and have a coffee, rather than making a separate trip down there on a different day.  we sit with a coffee at the outdoor section of coffee beanery and enjoy the sunshine and the chance to take our sweaters off and just enjoy, and make a game plan for the rest of the day.

we decide to take a walk along the coast, and stop to take some pictures along the way.  the wind picks up a bit and i'm cold (as always), but charlie is loving the sun on her skin... especially considering that it was currently snowing in london, where she had just come from!!

after a good wander around, we decide to hop back in the car and head on to our next destination stop.  aphrodite's rock is one of, if not my definite, favorite place on the island, and i was so excited to show it off to charlie.  we finally get there, and i'm ecstatic because charlie thinks it's just as amazing as ben & i do... although, in reality, i think it would be very difficult to not be obsessed with this place!

we head down to get closer, and charlie and i decided to take our shoes off and play tag with the water. she calls it paddling... i think that's kinda crazy since there are no paddles involved, but it's not the first time those silly british people make zero sense ;)

we wind up sitting for a bit, and when we notice that the sun is pretty low on the horizon, we figure we should be on our way to paphos so we don't miss out on the sunset there!

we hop back in the car and are off to finish the last 20 mins of the trip to paphos, where there is an awesome seafood restaurant right on the water where we plan to eat.  we get there just in the knick of time for the sunset behind the warf.

we enjoy an amazing dinner - one of the things we tend to do best - and then decide to head back home, where we have a great night sleep after an even greater day touring cyprus with charlie!

...and to think, this is just the beginning!

xox k

decorations

sorry i haven't written in awhile but, frankly, i just haven't felt like it.  in any case, carrying on:


the next day, we headed to the store to pick up some christmas tree ornaments.  i wanted our tree to make us feel christmassy and put us in the holiday spirit, but we weren't intending on spending tons of money on something that will just wind up in the dumpster when we leave.. or right after the holidays, for that matter.


we ended up finding some cheap, but cute, ornaments that are basically just glittered styrofoam spheres with  the "ornament" attachment at the top.  after lunch, we decided to go ahead and decorate, and started to put them up.  in years passed, when decorating with my parents, a trend emerged where we would notice that a good lot of the ornaments wound up at the top of tree, where mister benjamin must have found comfort decorating at his own height.


a few ornaments in, i guess benjamin became lazy, because he decided to just have a seat on the couch next to the tree and decorate from there.  i suppose not much has changed since the days of the tree-top-decorating, because by the time he was done, all of his ornaments were on the left side of the tree.  i felt like my mom as i went back through the decorations later, moving them to more acceptable branches in spots where decor was lacking.  


after checking out the tree and deciding we could really use a few more decorations, i turned to the pine cone collection sitting in the closet from our first trip to the park.  by pulling out some ribbon from my craft drawer and tying it to the tops of the pine cones, i created about a dozen more ornaments that we added to the tree.  our final masterpiece was hardly anything to be ashamed of!

i moved a few more ornaments from the left after this photo was taken... funny how you wind up taking after some of the most laughed at traits of your parents, don't you think??


xox k

christmas tree!

growing up, my parents always took my sister & i to a tree farm about an hour's drive from our house, where hundreds of acres of land are covered with thousands of various pine trees... blue spruce, douglas fir, fraser fir, white pine... you name it.  basically, you park at their "home base," collect a tag with your name written on it to mark your tree with once you find it, and then either start off on foot or catch one of their tractor-drawn trailers to the different fields, segmented based on the type of tree you're looking for.


after hours of trying to find the perfect tree and bickering over the angles and bare spots and shape and so forth, we would always manage to find one (or two) that we agreed on, tag it, and cut it down.  the tractor guys come back around and pick it up to bring it back down the hill, where they drill the hole for the stand and put it in the baling machine to wrap it up in twine.  they even put it in the van or on top of the car for you while you're inside drinking hot cocoa and eating cookies.


fast forward back to the present... and on friday, i saw an advertisement for a sale on artificial christmas trees at the super home store (it's really not that super... just saying).  on saturday, i mentioned to ben that i thought it'd be a really nice thing for us to get so we can still feel a part of the holiday season while we're both away from our families.  don't get me wrong, benjamin is my family too, but i've never been away from home for the season before.


we make the trip down to the store and check out these "trees" (i've never had a fake tree before).  the ones that i deemed acceptable were about 130-200 euros... so $180-300 basically.  not gona happen.  the cheapest one was 20 and not so cute, and thaaaat's the one we bought.  i'm not cheap, but can't really justify spending tons of money on something we're going to throw away in a month.  we proceeded to find lights, and then were out the door.


we get home, and i set up the tree... paying much more attention to it, i'm sure, than the guys who put up the ones in the shop.

by the time i was done, it actually looked like a christmas tree!


....almost.


xox k

old nicosia

wednesday was sue's final day in cyprus, and the plan was for her to bus it up to us and spend the day wandering through old nicosia.  she kind of ventured through a couple days earlier and was eager to show us all she'd learned.


ben went to lift in the morning, and i somehow turned the alarm off and fell back asleep when it went off for me to shower.  i was only just making breakfast when sue rang in from downstairs to be let in.. woops! we sat out on the balcony & enjoyed a nice cup of hot coffee made from the amazing kettle that she'd just bought for us while we waited for ben to get back from lifting.


once we're all set & ready to go, we hop in the car & are off to explore the old part of the city.  we park across the street from where we're headed in a decent size lot that costs 3 euros for the entire day... could do worse! we park and head across the street to have a look around & wind up in debenhams, a popular store, that happens to have 7 stories.  at the top is a viewing floor where you can see all of nicosia, including across the border to the turkish side.  we obviously check that out, and can see where the crossing point is between the two countries' occupied areas (where the flags are).

old nicosia itself is adorable... very quaint, with cobblestone streets and small shops and restaurants lining the way.  above eye level are absolutely gorgeous balconies and dormer windows that show the true character of the time period when this was the main downtown area.

we stop for lunch & an accordion player walks by serenading couples in the street and sitting enjoying their meal, and i feel for a minute like i'm in disney's the lady & the tramp.

we finish up with lunch and are back to walking around, as sue is just determined to find an even more quaint little area that she came across the other day.  our failed attempts thus far have made her "quite cross" with the fact that she hasn't been able to stumble back upon it.  ben & i remind her that today is not the end-all opportunity for us to find this spot - we are going to be here for approximately 5 more months and will have plenty of chances to make the 10-minute trip back into the area to have a look around.  


we finally surrender and are headed back out of town because ben has practice coming up and sue needs to catch a bus back to larnaca in order to make it to the airport in time.  as we're walking back to the car park, she recognizes a bit of the street and realizes it's the way to the area she wants to show us, asks if we have 5 minutes to flatter her and pop in for a look.  


we head over, and in her defense, i can understand why she so badly wanted to go back to this spot.. it's amazing!  we walk through an alleyway small enough that ben could probably touch both sides at the same time, standing in the middle, and it opens up into a secret little area.  there are vendors beckoning you to have a look at their displays, and restaurants and shops even tinier than the ones where we just came from.  it would have made for a wonderful painting.

we head back out of the old town, and begin our long goodbyes by the car as we prepare to leave her at the bus station and head back to the apartment.  we've had a coffee too many, i think, because i am dying for a restroom.... i finally announce that i will most likely pee my pants if we don't leave, and we do.


headed back to the apartment, ben & i reflect on what has been an exhausting, but just amazing, week with his mum.


i'm asleep, i think, before he's even left for practice that night.


xox k

opening game, the making of friends, & clubhouse dinner

monday, sue was planning on getting to us somewhere around noon, but with the way the buses were going, that turned into 12:30, turned into 1, etc.  eventually ben & i decided to lay down for a nap while we waited so he could get some rest for the game, and we could just kind of relax for a bit.


we get a text from her when she's down the street, get up, and head that way.  just as we catch up to her, she shows us a shopping bag with a KETTLE!!!!!! ben & i are by no means cheap, but we couldn't find a kettle that didn't mean paying a million dollars, and since we're not making lifelong investments while we're here, we couldn't really justify paying 50-60 euros for something that may or may not come with us when we leave.  somewhere in passing, we had mentioned it to suz, because she found a deal on one & bought it for us! such an amazing house-warming gift... we're so used to downing tea & coffee by the gallon, so it was seriously such a practical, amazing thing for her to bring us... i'm thankful for it about 6 times a day while i'm enjoying my teas & coffees!


we head up to the apartment, put the kettle on and chat for awhile.  after a bit, i make dinner (nothing fancy by any means, as we have to go grocery shopping) and we eat before heading out to the game.


until now, the only other girlfriend/wife i've met was the one of a serbian player, who barely speaks english.  their daughter, nina, is somewhere around 9 months i think and is the happiest baby i think i've ever seen.  as lovely as she is, it's very difficult to build a relationship with her because of the language barrier.  before tonight's game starts, though, we meet one of ben's teammate's wife & daughter.  eboni, kevin's wife, is somewhere around my age and from california, where i lived for a year and a half.  perfect!  finally someone i have something in common with.  irie, their daughter, is going on 2 soon, and is absolutely adorable.  she's got just enough of an attitude to keep her interesting, but warms up to you & is such a little love bug.  i'm thrilled at the thought that we might finally have people to hang out with!


the game has its ups & downs.  ben starts, but doesn't see much playing time... we chalk it up to it being his first game as a rookie, but are all somewhat nervous/upset about what the implications could be for the season.  at halftime, irie met nina, and gave her a kiss on her hand.. as well as sharing her half-eaten cookie..... so freaking cute.

they won, so we are all invited to go with the team & the committee to a dinner at the clubhouse, and do a pretty good job of keeping our heads up.  one of the guys on the committee finds out that i'm vegan and orders up a frenzy of greek vegetarian foods for me to try: baked mushrooms, peppers, salad, the works. petrou, the guy who takes care of the team equipment and stuff, teaches me how to eat it like a greek: drown it in oil and squeeze a lemon on top.  absolutely amazing. somewhere in the middle of dinner, sue got a terrible headache and had to leave the table to go get some fresh air, so ben & i kind of rush to eat and dismiss ourselves to take her back to larnaca.  truth be told, i was starting to get a headache myself, so it was good timing.


we get in the car and head back to the apartment to pick up her stuff before we head back down to the hotel, and my headache is getting MUCH worse as hers gets better.  i almost stay at the apartment and let them go on their own, but don't want ben making the return trip alone, so i stay.  as we make the trip down, i have my head in my hands covering my eyes from any bit of light, and occasionally a hand over an ear to make an attempt at blocking out any noise from their conversations. absolute agony of a migraine in the making.  by the time we get to the hotel, i'm visibly sick, and need a pit-stop in the restroom before attempting the return trip, which is absolutely no better.


we get back home, i crawl into bed, and don't get out for approximately 24 hours.  


tuesday is a day off from meeting up with sue, so i literally stay in bed for the majority of the day.  the one good thing about the day, though, was the sunset!!

xox k

my weekend with suzie q & more bus shenanigans

saturday & sunday was girls' weekend.  ben and i drove down saturday after lifting and spent a few hours as the three of us, and then he headed back to nicosia for practice, and i stayed with sue for some quality bonding time relaxing in the sun.

we spent the day by the pool, swimming in the mediterranean, relaxing, and chatting.  it was an amazing day, i think, for both of us.  mumma eaves is under a lot of stress at home with work and typical life challenges. meanwhile, i'm under a lot of stress here with what to wear, what to eat, where to go.... you see why we needed the mental health day... ;)

after the good sun starts to dwindle, we decide to head back up to the room and get ready to head out for dinner.  the plan is to catch a bus into downtown larnaca, (her hotel was about 20 minutes further east), and have a look around the town and find somewhere to eat.


we shower, dress, and are ready to go with plenty of time to get down to the bus stop for an 8 o'clock bus.  we're there with about ten minutes to spare, wait for a bit, and see a bus pass by without even pulling into the bus stop.  OUR bus.  pass.  without stopping.  you can understand why things get a little frustrating around here from time to time!  we wait for the 8:30, and that one doesn't come.  finally, we decide to scrap the original plan and head across the street to check out the local restaurants.


honestly, i'm glad we did.  the place we ate at was absolutely phenominal.  our meal was fantastic.. both of our dishes were about the size of double portions, which we finished off with no problems whatsoever, despite having said there was no way we'd be able to eat it all.  in retrospect, i'm not sure why i said that in the first place, considering the fact that i'm pretty much famous for my ability to eat my body weight in good food.  with dinner, we enjoyed an amazing bottle of local red wine (the wineries on the island, i'm finding, are outstanding), and finished up with coffee brandys.  it was an incredible night, really.  we sat down to eat around 9, checked a clock somewhere around 10:15, and the next thing we knew, it was going on midnight!  talk about a lot of chatting!


we head back to the hotel, change, and are asleep probably in under fifteen minutes.  guess that's what happens when you have a hard-working day!  try not to hate me too much ;)


sunday, ben comes back down pretty early since they don't have lifting in the morning.  we enjoy a bit of chatting, but mostly just the sun, have lunch, and before you know it it's time to head back to nicosia.  mister benjamin's first game is the next day, so sue will catch a bus up (hopefully) like she did last time, and we will all head over to see it pan out!


xox k

the first encounter with cyprus buses..

we decided that sue would come up to us the next day on the bus, and we'll meet around midday on our end.  she had a look at the bus schedules and where the different lines run, and it seemed like it should be a pretty easy journey.  we had given her my cell phone and kept ben's so that we'd be able to keep in pretty good contact about her whereabouts and stuff, and pretty much just had our fingers crossed that it would work out.


friday morning, ben gets back from practice, we have some lunch, and decide to take a walk to one of the few bus stops that are around the apartment just to get a head start (if that even happened to be the one she got off at).  we walk down towards "our" park, turn around, and there she is!  apparently, the only reason she knew where to get off the bus (short of guessing) was because we had told her the other day that we found a park to walk around in... but seriously, what a coincidence that as soon as we get down there, she's just turned the corner, right?


anyway, we decide to pop into a little gyro spot in the neighborhood for lunch, and i get my first gyro since i've been here. can i just say, ooooh my goooodddddddd.  it was honestly heaven.  i seriously can't wait to go back again, and i'm honestly not sure why we haven't, considering the place is literally across the street from our apartment!


after lunch, we take her back to the apartment, show her around a bit, and decide to wander into nicosia for a coffee.  we wind up sitting outside of starbucks for a couple hours chatting about randomness and hearing the story of her adventure into nicosia from larnaca.  it had taken her 4 hours to make a journey that should have been 2.5 because of the way the busses run around here (or don't run, for that matter).  apparently bus drivers have the same attitude as many of the people here regarding doing things they don't want to, and if it doesn't suit them to stop where/when they're supposed to, they just don't.  long story short, two of the three buses she needed to get in order to make it from the hotel to us were very late.


ben has an early practice, so it's a pretty short day.  we leave her in the city to catch a bus (hopefully) back to larnaca with plans to meet up again saturday poolside!  unfortunately, she misses out on a spectacular sunset....


amazing how having family around makes you feel at home in a foreign place, isn't it?


xox k

mother goose in town

late wednesday night (the 19th), ben's mom flew into cyprus to stay in larnaca for the week.  we planned to go down to see her the following day because it was really too late to do a round-trip journey at the time she got in.


thursday, ben had shooting in the morning and a practice at night, but the idea was to go in between, have some lunch, sit by the pool, and catch up.  mister benjamin gets home from shooting & the sole of his shoe looks like it's talking.  it is literally dangling off from the bottom of the shoe.  the first game of the season is in a couple of days, so we decide it's necessary to make a pit-stop in nicosia at the shoe place his team gets a discount at before heading down (in the opposite direction) to larnaca.


we stop, ben finds shoes that he's obsessed with, used to play in back in the day, change colors, sing, and dance, so we're good to go.


at about 2, we're in larnaca... only an hour or so after we had told sue we'd be there.  i take all of three seconds to take my clothes off and find myself a nice spot in the sun to enjoy the beautiful day. 

meanwhile, much to sue's dismay, ben didn't bring his shorts.  "i just can't belieeeeevee you're not going to take advantage of the facilities!"  she was right, though, ben pretty much looks like an idiot sitting in khaki shorts, a black polo, and a fitted hat, while sue & i are lounging in our bathing suits.

we chill for a couple hours, catching up, grab some food, and then have to make our way back home to get the big boy ready for practice.  the day flew by and was over way too quickly, but we made plans for her to bus it up to us the next day, and the whole week was in front of us, so it wasn't too bad.


pretty uneventful day, but sometimes those are the best, right? beautiful sunset to end a beautiful day :)

xox k