lifestyle THURSDAY, MAY 26, 2016

Travel

On the island of : Aphrodite’s Bath, historical sites and beautiful nature

Photo shows Gulf Air’s Airbus A320 aircraft. By Nawara Fattahova

unny pleasant weather, clean waters, tasty food, rich historical sites, beautiful nature and friendly, welcom- Sing and lovely people all characterize the gorgeous island of Cyprus. Its strategic geographical location has attracted conquerors over the ages, and today Cyprus is divided into Greek and Turkish parts. The southern part of this Mediterranean island is the Greek part, which has many popular touristic sites. Arriving in , the third largest city in Cyprus, our group was warmly welcomed by the staff of the Cyprus Tourist Organization. The trip was organized by Gulf Air, the national carrier of Bahrain, on the occasion of celebrat- ing the 40th anniversary of launching direct operations between Larnaca and Manama. The flight was comfortable, A view of the seaside in Laranaca. ed the Hala Tekke, the of , who One of the sand was Prophet ’s (PBUH) wet nurse and the wife beaches in Larnaca. of Ubada bin Al-Samit. The Hala Sultan Tekke complex is composed of a mosque, , and living quarters for men and women. Arriving at the Coral Beach Hotel in Paphos, I instantly fell in love with it. My room in this traditional-style cozy hotel had an unbelievably romantic view of the sea, and at night I enjoyed falling asleep while listening to the sym- phony of the waves. The beach was beautiful and not crowded, and during the two nights that I spent in this hotel, I had the chance to witness two weddings taking place on the pier. History, traditions and Latin and Roman stories are doc- umented on the mosaics of this town. Our team had the opportunity to enjoy listening about ancient stories drawn on the mosaics preserved at various locations. We also strolled around other historical monuments including the Limanaki Castle in Paphos. May is not the season for turtles to lay eggs on the beach, but we were able to listen to an explanation of this process by Andreas, who drove us on an excursion to the Lara turtle beach and the Akamas peninsula sea caves. We also visited Aphrodite’s Bath (Fontana Amorosa). According to legend, Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love, beauty, pleasure and procreation, took her lovers to this place to View shows the sea at the Coral Beach Hotel in Paphos. take a bath. onboard Gulf Air’s state-of-the-art Airbus A320 aircraft, and As I mentioned above, halloumi is a symbol of Cypriot we enjoyed the flatbed seats in the Falcon Gold (premium) cuisine, and we were given a chance to taste homemade class cabins and Gulf Air’s Gold Lounge services. halloumi cheese. We visited Letymbou village, were we Accompanied by Talal Al-Mahmood, Gulf Air’s Manager experienced real Cyprian hospitality and were served tradi- of Communications and Sponsorships, we landed in tional lunch in a home atmosphere after enjoying a bread- Larnaca at noon, and were taken from the airport by making workshop, which I was not so good at, while my minibus by our friendly driver Agapios and sweet tourist colleague Talal appeared as an expert. guide Effie straight for lunch at Charmers Restaurant, On our second day, our other lovely tourist guide Dena where we were served delicious fish mezze, and of course joined us. We left our nice hotel, heading to the coastal city halloumi cheese. Mezze is the traditional way of dining in of Limassol, the second largest urban area in Cyprus, also Cyprus, and halloumi is the popular traditional cheese of called Lemesos in the local language. It has the biggest Cyprus. Halloumi is a must with each meal - breakfast, port in Cyprus and a wide range of activities, and a number lunch and dinner. As on any island, fish and seafood are the of museums and archaeological sites as well. most popular meats on the restaurant’s menu. Before arriving to Limassol, we visited the Elea Estate On our way to the quiet, coastal city of Paphos, we visit- Golf Club in Yeroskipou. This clubhouse is in a breathtaking A traditional fish meze restaurant in Larnaca.

A sign that shows the way to the Aphrodite’s Bath Our Kuwait Times reporter at the Aphrodite’s Bath (Fontana Amorosa). Talal Al-Mahmood cutting bread during the bread-making workshop. (Fontana Amorosa).