Cyprus

The Cypriot Port of Limassol

 

I had always thought of Cyprus as very exotic.  It seemed so as we sailed past the southern coast of this farthest east Mediterranean island viewing the rugged cliffs as they met the sea.  The port city of Limassol looked attractive in the noontime sun as we docked for our half-day visit.

 

Michael and I had chosen not to sign up for any tours on Cyprus.  Pieces of several tours looked interesting but most appeared to feature tours of numerous Byzantine churches.  One can visit just so many churches in a day.  The Greek and Roman ruins seemed far apart from each other. We guessed that we could do the walking tour of Limassol on our own.  It was with that thought that Michael and I caught the first shuttle bus to the center of downtown Limassol.

 

The ride into town lasted about twenty minutes.  We saw dusty streets, lots of broken down cars and not much indication of general prosperity.  The bus let us and three or four other couples off at "the sponge factory," a sad looking gift shop that was the point from which the bus would return to the ship every forty minutes. 

 

We started walking.  The signs were all in Greek.  Michael and I can slowly sound out the Greek letters but the resulting words are still Greek.  Mainly, I could figure out the streets on the map from the sound of the Greek letters on the street signs.  An immediate problem was that most of the streets were torn up.  They were mostly unpaved pathways with trenches down the center. Old buildings were in various stages of restoration.  Lots of little restaurants and gift shops were trying to survive amidst the dust and noise.  We did find a church and, after following the map, came to a fort we had unknowingly passed earlier as it had been draped in canvas and was "under reconstruction." The historical society or tourism board was reconstructing an ancient olive oil press on the grounds of the fort. The remains of the olive oil press came from another town on the island.  Other signs with some English indicated that the "Old Town" was being rebuilt.  Economic stimulus?  Someday Limassol will have a brand new set of "ancient" attractions for the cruise ship passengers to spend money on.

 

We were ready to head back to the Silver Wind even before the forty minutes between shuttles passed. There were a few locals in the bars and cafés but hardly anyone was about.   The town lacked charm, was torn up and dusty and presented nothing worthwhile to do.  The highlight of the afternoon was watching a harbor tug tow the Rio, another small cruise ship, from the cargo pier to the middle of the harbor.  There was not room enough for the ship to maneuver on its own.  Limassol is a small container ship port with delusions of becoming a cruise ship destination.

 

The Silver Wind sailed at seven p.m.  Michael and I had dinner reservations for "dinner under the stars" on the pool deck at 8:00 p.m.  I spent between 7 and 7:30 looking for Michael.  We had agreed to meet either on the top deck at the front or on the deck behind the Panorama Lounge.  He was nowhere to be found.    Private parties were going on in both the Observation Lounge on the top deck and the Panorama on the pool deck below.  There were not many places to hide.

 

I finally found Michael by the pool.  He was just coming back from the bridge.  It would never have occurred to me to look for him there!  Visiting the bridge is by invitation only and usually involves an escort by security staff.  Michael had been on the top deck watching the bridge crew a level below as the ship prepared to sail.  The captain invited him to the bridge to watch the departure.  As Michael told me, it would not do to refuse the Captain even though it left me wondering for a while.  I could not be angry; we have both been invited to watch the sail into Venice on June 27^th.  Michael had been invited to the bridge, not just to watch the sail out, but to explain to the captain, first officer and navigator how he knew exactly where the Silver Wind had been (longitude and latitude) on the charter cruise a week before this trip.  The answer involves a web site where anyone can find any ship in real time. (www.marinetraffic.com/ais/ ).

 

In the end, we had dinner with the Cruise Director and the Cruise Consultant under the stars by the pool.  We had rib eye steaks grilled on "hot rocks." These were terrific.  The meat is presented on a 400 degree F. stone.  Each individual diner can remove his steak at the absolute amount of doneness desired.  Not a bad end to an unpromising start.