Limassol

I had chosen to stay in Limassol because of its location - everywhere I wanted to go to was easily reachable.  Our hotel was on the very outskirts but there is a fantastic bus service which covers a loop from St Raphael all the way to the New Port and just goes round in circles at fifteen minute intervals.  A day pass to hop on and off the bus cost only two euros so it was very cheap - much cheaper than paying for parking in Limassol.  A real bonus was that the bus stops at Lidl near the new port so on our way home after a day in town we would just jump on the bus to Lidl, procure consumables and then go straight back for the bus to the hotel.  We had a little fridge in our room which was really good for fresh milk for tea and an ice machine on the corridor to fill the ice bucket and put a bottle of  something white in to chill.

The old town is delightful.  There is a bit of a building site in that a new marina is being built in the Old Port area so that area was very dusty and dirty but there were quiet spots everywhere.  The pavements and streets in the old town were being relaid and repaved which caused a bit of a problem at times but the area is fairly compact so it was simply a case of turning back and finding another way to where I wanted to go.

There is a central market which was a bit too clean and tidy for my liking - no chaos anywhere.  The area around the market is really interesting too, I found a lovely hardware shop and browsed for ages and there is a square with a dozen cafes opening on to it so plenty of choice for a snack or a meal.  There are caged canaries hung up all around the market square and serenading musicians with a begging tambourine in hand.  The atmosphere is very Mediterranean - which is a bit obvious to state but it simply was.

Some of the architecture is really interesting, a lovely Art Deco town hall and a Colonial style building with much wrought iron work houses part of the University.   The Cathedral is lovely and for the first time ever I went in a mosque.  I had to remove my shoes and wear an all covering robe over my clothes to go into the mosque but am really glad I did.  Limassol Castle contains an amazing collection of artefacts, including some carvings of what I think of as the Maltese Cross which were 5th century so predate the Crusaders by a good few centuries.  There are wonderful views from the top of the castle so it is well worth climbing all the stairs.

I really liked Limassol.  It is a genuine living and working town and does not close down in the off season, unlike a lot of the more popular holiday areas.