A Matter of Choice

So 2020 isn't working out quite as I imagined back in January but we are doing fine and muddling through.  On one hand it seems like not much has gone  on this year, certainly it has been quieter than expected, however looking back through my camera roll it is surprisingly full of beach photos.  We have been to the beach more so far this year than we usually manage,  partly because they have been quieter than usual, assuming you pick your beach and the time you visit it well.   Also because I am appreciating the fact the we are able to,  that we are healthy enough to, and that we have opportunity,  and because it is a cheap outing with a bag of snacks and drinks from home.  In almost 11 years I had only been to a handful of beaches round here, something that always bothered me because I'm just so nosy and want to see everything. I love the beach - when I'm there, but only for a short period of time. I couldn't imagine spending a whole day on ...

Cyprus has three main waterparks, Waterworld Themed waterpark, Ayia Napa, Fasouri Watermaina, Limassol and Paphos Aphrodite Waterpark.  We live on the east coast about 15 minutes drive from Ayia Napa so Waterworld has always been our park of choice but I'd fancied visiting one of the others for a while now and we decided last year to try it.  My boys are currently 10 and 7 years old and our annual trip to Waterworld is one of the highlights of the year.  It's not cheap for a family costing easily over €100 for entrance tickets, food and drink throughout the day but it's our special treat and you can often make savings by looking out for discount vouchers towards the end of season.  We were lucky enough to also get discount vouchers for Fasouri last year so visited both.   We had a fantastic day at both waterparks and we spent a lot of time comparing the two. Waterworld Themed Waterpark, Ayia Napa.  By far the boys favourite...

This is Glyki Nero beach in Agia Napa,  taken on Friday at about 8am.   Not bad for a November morning! I had taken the boys to school and I was on my way to my first Zumba class.  As Leo starts school at 7;45am  and zumba starts at 8:30am  it wasn't worth going home so I took the scenic route down to Agia Napa.   I saw the turning for this beach,  and having never been to it before I swung the car down for a quick look. I love this time of year, the beach was almost empty,  just a few people walking, a couple of people doing yoga and a few (possibly crazy) people swimming.   And if you were wondering,  I loved zumba and I'm going back tomorrow!

I'm sure it comes round quicker every year but it seems that summer is now pretty much here in Cyprus, the weather has been improving slowly and steadily over the last few weeks,  getting a little warmer interspersed with a few storms or windy  / cloudy days.  I tried to be organised this year and actually sorted through our summer clothes a bit earlier rather than wondering where my shorts and strappy tops are when it 'suddenly' tops 30 degrees outside! We've been out and about a lot more this winter than in previous years, and recently had several trips to the beach but not armed with swimsuits and towels so far. Leo and I have both been ankle deep in the sea but Louka will not go anywhere near it - far too cold for him yet! I think it's pretty much time now though (watch the temperature plummet now I've said that!)  Last week we went to a new beach for us and met up with several friends, it was a perfect afternoon and the kind I'd dreamed of ...

Last Sunday, as Aaron was busy getting his latest tattoo I decided to take the boys out for a while. It was a lovely day as this time of year usually is, sunny and warm but without the intense heat of the summer so I decided to take us all down to the harbour in Agia Napa. It's been a long time since I took both on my own to the harbour, in fact I only did it once and that day has stayed with me ever since. I had packed up some food and thought it would be nice to take 3 year old Leo and a baby Loukas for a late afternoon walk and a picnic dinner.   In fact it was a complete stressful waste of time with Louka screaming the whole time, Leo moaning and refusing to eat a thing and generally not fun for any of us.    I remember watching the Party Boat sailing out of the harbour packed full with music blaring and I imagined diving into to the water and swimming after it into the sunset! But, we are several years on, without buggy and everyone can walk and while it was n...

In my quest to amuse the kids (and find more content for my Cyprus information website) I'm always on the look out for places to go and things to do.  Last year we visited Dolfins Park in Agia Napa for the first time and it was a big hit with the kids so when we were offered the chance to be a part of a promotional video we jumped at the chance... Aaron was working taking photos alongside James Ground who was filming the video to create one of the videos for the Daxi Holiday Guide to Cyprus. The guide will be published soon in print and online The boys were excited to be part of it, and after a few arguments (as always) beforehand were warned to be on their best behaviour, I explained what we were doing as we always do with anything related to our work.  Louka is a bit young to understand but Leo enjoys hearing all about what we are doing and why we are doing it.  He takes his job as 'Mini Klik' very seriously and I love that we can make him feel part of the family ...

It seems that for the longest time someone in our family has been ill lately, my plans for the Easter holidays pretty much went out the window when I was ill for a couple of days at the beginning which was immediately followed by almost everybody else coming down with a nasty stomach bug. We had a couple of days in the middle of different people suffering where we got out, once just for a couple of hours leaving a poorly Louka with my Mum, and then last weekend we all got out together before the bug got Aaron and laid him up for days and Leo developed an ear infection. Since moving to Cyprus, and especially since starting the Famagusta Parents Network website I've been itching to get out and explore new places, we're a bit rubbish at getting out and about with a list of varying reasons as long as your arm but am I'm loving the fact I 'have' to now its my new 'job'! One of these places was the Agia Napa aqueduct, something that I thought would be inte...

As much as I love the beach and pool you can have too much of a good thing, especially in the height of summer when the temperatures reach 40 plus degrees every day so I am always on the look out for alternative ways to occupy ourselves. There are not a whole lot of options really but one I'd had in mind for a long time is the Thalassa Museum in Agia Napa.  Last year was the first year I thought Leo might appreciate it so back in July my Dad and I took the boys for a look round.Worst way round I thought we'd all appreciate the air conditioning! Leo was really impressed by the model sharks and other sea creatures and enjoyed looking at the main display - a replica of the 'Kyrenia II' a life size exact replica of the ancient vessel of the classical period (400 B.C) There are many glass panels in the floor which he found really interesting and a huge section where a reconstruction of the old shipwreck is displayed underneath.  There is also a documentary shown wh...

Earlier this year Leo noticed Parko Palitso,  the Luna Park / Fun Fair in Agia Napa for the first time, and had been asking to go every time we drove by it for weeks now. It's taken him a while to ask, considering we've been there to the indoor soft play area several times, and he never seemed to notice all the rides we walked past to get there! Having never taken him to a fun fair before I think I may have been almost as excited about it as he was!  The park doesn't open until 6pm, including the soft play area - a fact which annoys me (especially the soft play bit!) but I guess holiday makers prefer to spend their days at the beach. Entry to the park is free and you buy tokens or a wristband for the rides, which is handy if you have people in the group who don't intend to go on anything.   The amount of tokens varies between the different rides from 1 token (for the small kiddy rides) to 4 tokens so the price can quickly mount up although the wristb...

Everyone always says when you have kids its good to get out for a while everyday, today was one of those days! Despite going downstairs to our shared pool at 1pm for an hour I think the boys and I were suffering today. I spent most of the afternoon racking my brains for somewhere to go - it was 38 degrees which ruled out parks, walking and pretty much everything I could come up with. Eventually at 5pm everybody lost the plot - Leo was building tracks, Louka was demolishing them, I couldn't keep picking him up with my bad back which was playing up and everyone was generally hot and grumpy. As I had already made dinner (a pasta salad to eat cold) I packed it into a plastic box and announced we were going out! Thinking it would be a bit cooler than earlier in the day I put the kids in the car and headed down to Agia Napa for a stroll round the harbour and a picnic dinner by the sea. Looks idyllic doesn't it? They might say that the camera never lies, but it does...

There's a large misconception that Agia Napa is just for party people and only comes alive at night.  It is true that it is a fab party place during the day it's a totally different place. Last Sunday a friend and I went for the afternoon and had a lovely time. While I often pop down there to see Aaron at work it's been a long time since I did anything else so it was great to and do something different. First of all we explored the small church at the harbour, Agios Georgios. Leo was surprisingly interested in it and was comparing it to the big church he has been to with the school.  I pointed out the beautiful decoration and it was all going well until he started asking who all the pictures were and lots of other questions, I came a bit unstuck trying to answer all his questions! Next to the church is a restaurant with a small playground so we popped in there for a sneaky play before walking around the harbour itself to look at the boats.  Leo was interested in ...

I love the beaches here in Cyprus out of season, they are just perfect for small people to have fun on... I can never quite decide on what the weather is like as it's usually so cold indoors compared to outside in the sun so we were dressed in jumpers (I was wearing two!)  Leo quickly stripped off though and at one point I was even wishing I'd worn a bikini top underneath as it was so warm on the beach and my big polo neck jumper was sweltering! Leo had a great time, running around like a loony, making patterns and writing in the sand and together we even created a 'sand man', complete with seaweed hair!