Friday 23 September 2016

Day 5: An epic journey

Argh, I'm so far behind I've almost been lapped!!

Anyway, keep on blogging...
Up early this morning and said our goodbyes to Joan and Malcolm who are heading up to the Troodos Mountains for a few days.  We are going "up east" to see friends, it's a long journey to do in a day but more than worth it and I'm also curious to see how things have changed / developed since I was last there around 9 years ago.

We are literally travelling the length of the coast from left to right (I don't think google maps keeps to the speed limits) so will see a lot of new things along the way.


I worked in Pernera/Protaras/Ayia Napa area back in 1999 and 2000 and had a whale of a time, my first friend on the island was George who was doing karaoke at the place where I lived and we hit it off.  I always joke he's my big little brother as he's older but shorter than me but I'll never forget his friendship and how he looked out for me and we've kept in touch all this time.

What we decided to do was meet our friends Jill and Simon for lunch and then head into Pernera and surprise George.  Jill and I used to be neighbours waaaaay back when we were at primary school and our parents were/are still friends (my dad is Jill's sister Laura's godfather - hope you're keeping up!) and she moved out to Cyprus a couple of years after I left.  Facebook is a wonderful gift and has reunited and been a way of keeping in touch with so many people from long ago and as soon as I knew I was coming over I said to my parents that we must go and see Jill and meet her husband Simon and their fab dog Mogpog.  

They have their own photography business and I love seeing their images on Facebook.  They helped me buy my "proper"camera a few years ago and are always very complimentary about my pictures.  If you get a few minutes have a look at their awesome work...


Jill suggested meeting at Ayia Thekla, which used to be just a tiny church and a smattering of houses back in the day.  A lot more houses and a beach development have appeared but the little church is still there and just as beautiful as I remember it.  We enjoyed a delicious lunch and chatted like there was no tomorrow.  And of course we all fell in love with Mogpog!


After lunch, we had a little wander up to the church and I found the perfect spot for one of my "looking forward" pictures.  A thank you to my mum for paying attention to how I wanted the picture taken :)      I could have sat there for ages looking out to sea it was so beautiful ...


After saying our goodbyes we headed further along the coast through Ayia Napa and Protaras into Pernera and oh my goodness the changes are unbelievable!  Houses, hotels, bars, shops you name it there have been so many built there's hardly any spare land.  And what happened when we went to surprise George? Oh yes, it was his day off!!  A quick phonecall and we arranged to meet on our way back.  It was so good to see him after such a long time...


Peter Pan and Tinkerbell reunited - briefly!!

Our drive home went quickly and we chased the sunset all the way.
A long day but more than worth it.  And can you believe we met 2 photographers for lunch, I had my camera and my phone and we never got any pictures of us!!!

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