I’ve been back in the States now for a week and the jetlag is finally starting to ease off a bit (OK – fine. Its now September and I went to Cyprus in May. Me sorry everybody). My crazy month of travel concluded with a trip to see my folks in Northern Cyprus. As you know, I had picked Turkish Airlines for my flight over to Poland, primarily for the opportunity to transit via Istanbul and so that I could tack on a short little hop across to Ercan, the little airport that services the northern part of the island. I didn’t want to risk any issues with my transfer this time, so I flew from Krakow to Istanbul late on Sunday night, stayed overnight at the Yotel in Istanbul airport, ready for my 10am flight on Monday morning. I didn’t arrive until almost midnight on the Sunday, so it took very little time for me to get my luggage (no problems this time!) and check in. Clearly the hotel couldn’t be a more convenient location (its actually inside the terminal building), but holy shit, is it expensive!! The rooms are tiny and sparsely decorated in minimalistic white, with a bit of a spaceship vibe to them – I think this was super trendy 25yrs ago when the Yotel brand was getting established, but it does feel a bit silly now. Now I’m aware I’m paying 350 euros to sleep in a room that basically looks like a hospital ward.
In the end, I didn’t sleep all that well – mainly because I was too worried about oversleeping my alarm and missing my flight! But never mind – it was worth it to be able to wheel my case outside the doors of the hotel and immediately be in the departures hall. (I am one of those travelers who has to get to the airport well ahead of time – as my long-suffering (but never late) husband will attest – so this made me very happy indeed). I made my way over to the Turkish Airlines business class check-in desks (housed in a separate location to the economy desks – terribly civilized) and checked my baggage, fingers crossed the whole time! I had a couple of hours before my flight so I ambled over to the TA lounge (luxuriating in not having to run full speed) to check out the breakfast offerings. It was still a bit early for breakfast, so I just found a comfy chair, settled in with some coffee and delicious little biscuit cookies to wait for my flight to Cyprus.
So its been a WHILE since I was last in Northern Cyprus. I was trying to figure out the last time I was there and I think its in the Pre-ManpanionTM era, so its been at least 11 or 12 years. I was curious to see how much had changed and what I would remember – obviously, a lot has changed in our personal lives since then (all for the better, I might add). I was going to be staying at a nice hotel in the center of Girne for the first 4 nights (during the week) and then staying with Loopy for the last couple of nights through the weekend. It was perfect timing as my trip happily coincided with her birthday, so I was going to be able to celebrate with her, on her birthday, for the first time in ages. It was also going to be a special surprise for my nephew, Eren, as he had no idea that I was coming!
The flight over was pretty uneventful (thankfully) and after 90mins or so, we were landing in Ercan airport. The last time I was here, it was still a rinky-dink little airport – small, not terribly high tech, no real shops to speak of (except the ever-present liquor and cigarette shop) and a small cafe that would sell you overpriced lattes and stale sandwiches. For all its crapness, it was really quite charming. It was like it really really wanted to be a grown-up airport like all of its friends on the mainland. The little airport that could, as it were.
Well. Ercan Airport clearly hit puberty since I’ve been away as it is nothing like that anymore! It’s actually a brand new construction at a different location – and it is BIG. And very shiny. And with all the various duty free shops and brands you would normally expect at a modern airport. High ceilings, plenty of light, lots of space – and zero soul. I now probably could not pick Ercan Airport out of a line-up (if airports were criminal suspects, as it were) and that made me a bit sad. All the quirks and oddities that made it a memorable (if not always enjoyable) experience were now gone, in favor of the same bland layout you find everywhere else. I mean, I do appreciate all the improvements that have clearly gone into making the traveler’s passage through the airport as quick and seamless as possible, but its just a shame that to achieve that, it had to utterly divest itself of any character. That’s the price of progress, I guess.
God, I sound old. Anyway, after a quick call to locate my driver, I was on my way, for the 40min drive from Ercan, over the mountains, to Girne. For much of the drive, everything felt pretty much the same – but as we got closer to town, I started to notice a few changes since my last visit. One change was the sheer volume of traffic – it was always a bit bad through town due to the lack of urban planning that the Northern Cypriots specialize in- but this traffic was baaaaad. What probably took about 10mins to get from one end of town to the other before, this time took at least 20 mins. What hadn’t changed was the spectacular crapness of the local drivers – cutting you up, tail-gaiting, not indicating, pulling out right in front of you, giving you the finger – you name it, we enjoyed it. By the time we arrived at the hotel, I had a full bingo card’s worth of Shite Drivers Of Northern Cyprus Greatest Hits.
En route, I also noticed that there was a proliferation of building sites and developments since my last visit – not unexpected, sure, but so so many of these were either empty or unfinished. There had always been a bit of that -but this felt different. Before, the explosion of building felt like an over-exuberance, with too much investment coming in than could be supported. It was messy – but it gave off the feeling of a gold-rush town, with lots of people trying to make a quick buck. Now, there was more trash littering the roads than before and that all contributed to a rather unfortunate feeling of neglect and of having Seen Better Days. It made me feel a bit sad – similar to how I felt when I saw Camelford High Street. Obviously, not quite as on its Last Legs as Camelford, but kinda getting those going downhill, “help me!” vibes.
But, enough of that doom and gloom. The main reason I was in Cyprus was to celebrate my sister and to finally get to meet all her friends, that amazing tribe who provide unending love, laughs and support. I was going to be staying at one of the nicer hotels in town called The Colony (which I’d never been to before, so my curiosity was finally about to be satisfied). Loopy and Eren were also then going to be joining me at the hotel for a couple of nights, before we would all head back to Loopy’s house on the Friday night to spend the weekend, before I finally headed home on Sunday. The Colony was a convenient choice as its pretty central to town, so would be easy to walk down to the harbor or to the shops. It also had a nice restaurant called The House which was VERY handily located just across the road which was to be the site of Loopy’s birthday extravaganza dinner! Its almost as if it were planned that way….
As well as being in Cyprus to celebrate Loopy and meet all her fab friends, I also got to spring a huge surprise on Eren who had NO IDEA I was coming over. I LOVE it when that happens. Loopy had framed the couple night stay at the Colony as a birthday treat (not untrue, tbh) so Eren knew they were going to be staying at the hotel, but not that I would suddenly magically appear at the door to their hotel room, pretending to be room service. And it worked a treat! There was one false alarm immediately before I appeared when the Actual Room Service people stopped by to drop off a complimentary fruit platter – and were a little startled to be met by my sister, standing behind Eren filming the whole shebang! And then when I did turn up, Eren was in the loo, so I had to wait a minute before knocking again – but eventually, he opened up the door and couldn’t believe his eyes! I had his Kindle (that he’d forgotten from his stay in the US last summer), so I nonchalantly said “You forgot your iPad” and handed it to him – before he broke out into a huge grin and threw his arms around me for a massive hug. GOTCHA!
The rest of the day was spent catching up, resting from the journey and exploring the hotel which had a lovely rooftop pool. Dinner was spent that night at the hotel (Loopy and Eren had a half-board package) – it was a buffet which was OK – but not a patch compared to another hotel Loopy had stayed at previously, so she was a little underwhelmed by the selection on offer. I appreciated the large porcelain sculpture of a large bunny perched on the backs of 3 deer (or goats?) that for some unknown reason graced the dessert buffet table. The deer also looked like they were balancing egg cups on their heads – but on closer inspection, its probably to stuff a big candle in (though it was tempting to throw an egg or two in there for good measure).
First night was restful, my hotel room is pretty large with a nice balcony out the back (overlooking the dining hall, so I guess I can’t wander around naked) for chilling and reading. It also had a mini-bar and fridge which very thoughtfully came pre-stocked with some Cadbury’s Dairy Milk and Gin&T and white wine. We had a quick run down to the grocery/chocolate/booze store yesterday afternoon, so I was already nicely stocked in all those departments – but its always good to have a plan B, right? As I’ll be here for about 5 days in total, we were planning to hit a few sights that I hadn’t been to before. Eren had to go to school for some of the time I was here, but Loopy had secured the days off work so we would get to enjoy some time just to hang out together.
On deck for our first full day was a day trip to a place on the coast called Maras (Varosha in Greek), an abandoned district of Famagusta, left to crumble into ruins for the last 50 years. I found Maras to be a very somber and sad place – to me it felt full of ghosts and broken dreams. There’s tons that has been written about the history both of Maras and of the troubles in Cyprus in general, but for a short overview, here’s what Wikipedia has to say:
Anyway….. I’m glad we went – but I’m also glad the rest of our trip was much lighter and more fun! The best evening was the big birthday dinner celebration for Louise where I FINALLY got to meet the friends that keep her sane and well supported. Everyone gathered at The House to enjoy great food, great company and a whole load of laughs! I had heard so many stories over the last few years that I felt I already knew everyone – but I’d never actually met anyone before in person. And they didn’t disappoint. We had So Much Fun. It was so heartwarming to see so much love and laughter around the table – and to know my sis and nephew are well taken care of. I particularly appreciated seeing Sina (Ella’s youngest daughter) basically chow down on anything and everything that came within striking distance. She may only be a tiny human but, boy, can she eat!! A girl after my own heart! Ella was pretty much exactly as I’d imagined her – gorgeous, feisty, a bit sweary and fiercely loyal. Ella is Not To Be Fucked Around With – or you WILL find out. Both her and Emre have been such amazing friends to Loopy – it was a real honor to be able to meet both of them and thank them in person for helping her get through some very tough times. Dinner was fabulous (love and friendship being the best condiment there is) and the general hilarity culminated in a very special “gift” for my sister.
And just like that, it was the final day of my visit. We took a short drive down to a lovely garden right on the coastline, where we sat and had some coffee and enjoyed the sea views. Its one of Dad’s favorite places to visit when he’s in the TRNC, so it was nice to be able to relax and enjoy it for an hour. We met with Ella for a late lunch and then the rest of the day was spent trying to ignore the fact it was my last day. You know how it is. But the sting of leaving was mollified, at least a bit, by knowing that it would be just over 5 weeks before Loopy and Eren would be coming over for their annual US visit. We’d decided to make it easier on ourselves and for me to take a cab to the airport, instead of doing the emotional drop-off/wave routine at Ercan departures! It had been a fantastic week – I’d checked some places off the Cyprus Tourist Bucket List, I’d eaten some tasty steak, worked on my tan at the Colony’s rooftop pool, visited a very smoky casino for the first (and last) time in years and – most importantly – spent time celebrating my sister. I’d made both new memories and new friends – and that’s the definition of a wonderful vacation to me. Thank you, Loopy – I’m so proud you are my sister and I hope you’ve enjoyed this stupidly delayed blog post as a belated birthday present – better late than never, right??
