You know us, not likely to stay in one place for too long! We’re in Cyprus for only five weeks, which doesn’t give us a lot of time to explore. (Especially given our demanding beach schedule…) So we took a quick trip to Larnaka to see what all the fuss was about. And friends, we liked it very much indeed. Larnaka is a short bus ride from Lemesos, and buses are frequent and easy. Incidentally, we were surprised that everyone wears masks on intercity buses but not, so far as we can tell, on buses within the city.
Once we arrived, we made our way straight to the Church of St. Lazarus, a ninth century Byzantine church. As is typical for Byzantine churches, there was a lot going on. And this one boasts the coffin of Lazarus himself, who – after rising from the dead – meandered (minimally, for all we know) to Cyprus and also to Marseille. In both of which places he was the first bishop. After seeing the church, we poked around the medieval castle for a bit, and were also keen to see the Pierides Museum (which has archaeological finds spanning the whole inhabited history of Cyprus). Alas for us, it was closed.
So we had to comfort ourselves with an enormous seaside lunch at Zephyros. Can we assure you this is the best fish taverna in Larnaka? We cannot. But it’s on the water, it’s big and usually crowded, and it’s been around for fifty years. Our sources suggest it is up there in the top two or three. We ate the fish meze (stay tuned for more on this), with retsina; all excellent, with emphasis on squids (two kinds of fried calamari and a broiled one with butter). The taramasalata was worth writing home about – though we don’t have a home, so we’re telling you. Another highlight was those candied fruits we liked so much in Istanbul. We could not place them exactly, but we have a Reliable Cypriot Source who says they were bitter orange and watermelon (we’d guessed pomelo for the second).
And then, after a walk on the Finikoudes promenade, right along the beach, we made our way to the Larnaka Salt Lake. It was a good long hike, allowing our snake-like bellies to reduce slightly, and the views were gorgeous. You can’t tell very well, but those are were flamingoes on the lake (which dries up in summer and is a different kind of cool thing to see).
So: food, beach, historical stuff, and nature. What else could we want in a day-trip? You got it in one, maybe: a bookstore! Academic and General, usually considered the best bookstore in Cyprus. We spend a lot of time outdoors these days, and reading on our tablets is sub-optimal. So we stopped by and got a handful of used paperbacks, including some mysteries and a few books on the history of South America (where we’ll be in just about a year, if all goes according to plan). All in all, it was a grand day out!
