Cyprus Villages

Cyprus was a mixture of delightful and not-so-delightful experiences for me. We stepped off the plane onto hot tarmac greeted by a heatwave in October...! It had been cold and wet in Bristol, and I don't think I ever got into the holiday spirit. I was plagued by too-hot weather and a feeling of nauseousness that I didn't shake off until I got home (in fact the home journey was the worst I have experienced because of it).
We went with a holiday package called Cyprus Villages which was a refreshing change from the normal hotels and tourist resorts that aren't really my idea of a good holiday. The photograph above is the view from our apartment. the apartments were basically old buildings renovated into holiday apartments, their only bad point being the lack of air conditioning. The place we stayed was well in-land and well away from the 'bright lights' hence a car was essential.

Apart from the Troodos mountains which were they only respite from the scorching heat, our favourite part of the island was Paphos (beach sunset photo above)which offered a more relaxed, cultured and genteel experience than Larnaca, Limassol or the frankly awful Ayia Napa.
There are plenty of sights to see in Cyprus from the ancient mosaics of Paphos to the Tombs of the Kings and the previously mentioned Troodos Mountains.
The major disappointment for me was the lack of good food, but I am willing to accept that maybe we were just incredibly unlucky. In the islands defence, I will say that food in the Tavernas was generally very good, but we went for an Italian meal which was disappointing, our next experience was an obviously frozen and tasteless lobster in Limassol (I gave most of it to an inquisitive local cat!). In desperation we decided to get a Chinese the next day and discovered that even Chinese food is not the best in Cyprus...
The question remains 'would I go again?', and the answer is probably...No, but if I did I would probably stay in Paphos an find a nice Taverna to eat in...