Cyprus - arriving

We arrived in Larnaca, Cyprus at 5am and picked up a little Kia Picanto - definitely not a pocket rocket - just a pocket really! Snug inside we took off to have a look at Larnaca as the sun rose, thinking we might find somewhere to have a coffee and watch it all happen. Unfortunately we were the only people awake in Larnaca - couldn't even get a coffee at Maccas - they were asleep too. Anyway we found a nice spot to sit and watch the sun come up and a table to pour over the map of Cyprus and find where our hotel was located.
Larnaca is a nice seaside town of fairly sizeable proportions and we found our way around quite easily. We had to head off in an easterly direction along the southern coast of Cyprus to find the Grecian Park Hotel in Protaras which was about 50 klms away. After deciding that not one cafe was open (we searched hard) we cranked up the Picanto and hit the road.
Cyprus is a rocky and barren island along the route we took - lots of limestone and pumicy looking rocks and what vegetation there is dry and brittle. However the Mediterranean is magnificent - as clear as sapphire and just a bright and glistening.
We eventually found our hotel only to be told our room would not be ready until at least 2pm and that we would need to wait as the hotel had been full the previous night and people (of course) were still eating breakfast and grabbing their last swim. We decided to use the time to explore the surroundings a bit and so we went off to Potaras and Paralimni to see what was happening locally. Both are very picturesque villages with miles of holiday accommodation. It seemed like half of Britain was here on holiday as everywhere we went there were British accents obvious. So we had oriented ourselves to our part of the island and decided to go back to the hotel and pass the time till we could check in.
They gave us a couple of towels and we changed and spent a few hours by the pool. As you can see in the photos it was no trouble at all to fill in time around the hotel! The Grecian Park is acknowledged as one of the "great hotels of the world" by a plaque in the foyer and we could see why that might be the case - it is LUSH! (As our Welsh friends Ange and Liz would say!)

So we swam for a while and sunbaked and waited..... and waited..... and waited until eventually we got our room. The room has a seaview and is just really lovely.

Here are some pics!