trip Archives

Armou Village, the place where you can enjoy spectacular views of Paphos Town
Gallery
Armou Village, the place where you can enjoy spectacular views of Paphos Town

Armou Village, the place where you can enjoy spectacular views of Paphos Town

It would be unfair not to write something about Armou Village, the village I grew up and lived there for many years. Armou is a village in Paphos located a few minutes away from Paphos City Centre. You can enjoy the spectacular Paphos town view and horizon sea views from almost every point in the village both day and night. When googling Armou you cannot find enough information apart from properties that are advertised to be sold or to be rented. Apparently is a village which has been modernized over the past few years and a lot of new properties have been built almost everywhere. I was told by my grandparents that the name of the village came from the fact that Aphrordite’s chariot passed from the village (chariot in greek is Αrma – Άρμα). The village is accessible from the Paphos-Limassol highway either by taking the Geroskipou-Konia exit or by reaching the Paphos roundabout and taking the exit to Konia. It’s about 5km away and you can reach the village in 10 minutes. There’s also a bus you can take from Paphos Town. Armou used to have around 460 residents back in 1946 however today there are around 670. Most of the people have left the village and moved to a different town. A large number of the current residents are English people staying there permanently. There’s a primary school that used to work years ago but since there are not enough children it’s not operating for teaching, instead, the children go to Konia primary school or primary schools located in the City Centre. However, the school is used for Theater lessons and also for selling used books now and then. Agia Varvara church is the only church in the Village. The Church gets quite busy during Christmas and Easter when all village emigrants come back for a short break. I would say that the busiest period of the year is Easter. During the Easter period, an air of festivity envelops the village. On Easter Monday, after lunchtime, the village square hosts an Easter celebration by organizing traditional Easter games, theatre, [...]

Dora Christofi2023-03-02T16:54:57+03:00November 19th, 2022|

Hydra the relaxing island with no cars
Gallery
Hydra the relaxing island with no cars

Hydra the relaxing island with no cars

After spending 2 days in Poros the next island to continue our holidays was Hydra. From Poros we got the flying dolphin and Hydra was about an hour away. The first thing you’ll see when you get off the ferry is the harbor which is centered and all around there are restaurants, shops and markets. The small streets are made of steep stones. In Hydra you won’t see any cars, buses, or motorbikes – instead, you’ll see a lot of donkeys. The only vehicle we've seen on the island was a rubbish truck. Donkeys and water taxis are the only public transportation in Hydra for tourists and locals. We booked our stay at Pension Erofili which is located 2 minutes from the port and stayed in the studio which had a kitchen and an independent veranda. Although we didn't pay extra to have breakfast there, it looked nice and on the last day the owners offered us coffee and breakfast. Spilia Beach Bar is located under the cannon on the west side of the port and it’s the only swimming spot you can access by foot near the harbour. It serves food and drinks all day and during the night there’s music. We went there before sunset and had a few beers until dawn. There’s an excellent view of the harbour and you’ll see the ferries, cruise ships, water taxis, and boats coming to the island. Although the drinks were a bit expensive it’s worth going there just for the relaxing view. During daylight people enjoy the rocky beach beneath (Hydronetta) where most people jump from the rocks in the clear crystal waters. Mandraki Bay – Miramare is a beach that you can easily reach by water taxi or by boat. At the Mandraki Bay, there’s a hotel known as Miramare that you could see as you approach with the boat. We got our sunbeds (which were free) and we looked to see if there was a bar nearby or something but the place looked ‘dead’. There was a kid there cleaning the tables and bringing some refreshments and [...]

Dora Christofi2023-07-13T12:15:15+03:00August 22nd, 2014|

An evening in Porto spent at the Ribeira
An evening in Porto spent at the Ribeira

An evening in Porto spent at the Ribeira

Porto is a coastal city in northwest Portugal known for its stately bridges and port wine production. In the medieval Ribeira (riverside) district, you will be amazed by the narrow cobbled streets, the merchants’ houses and cafes. This was one of my shortest stays in a city. Since I was in Aveiro I had to stay the night before my flight back to Cyprus in Porto in order to catch the plane the day after. We got the train from Aveiro to Porto and got off at Porto Campanha metro station. I have to mention that during the trip from Aveiro to Porto you can enjoy amazing views, especially when you are approaching Porto. From the Campanha station we got the metro to Casa da Musica to go to the hotel and drop our suitcases. We stayed in Avenue da Boavista, at the Quality Inn Portus Cale hotel which was nice and clean. We only had a few hours in the evening to have dinner and just walk around the main area in Porto. I pretty much had a look on the map where it’s worth going and also had a rough idea about where to have dinner. We got the metro and got off at Jardim do Morro which is on the other side of the Ponte Luis I bridge in order to enjoy the spectacular view of the Ribeira, a district made up of medieval streets and seedy alleyways. We walked to the other side of the bridge and down to Ribeira were we wondered around the area and then found a nice place to have dinner. We enjoyed a nice dinner at Adega São Nicolau. If you have a chance to go there, try to get a table outside so you can enjoy a nice view of the river and you certainly won’t be disappointed by the food. Don’t forget to try the famous Porto Wine. After dinner we went back to the hotel in order to rest and travel back to Cyprus the next day. I’ll be certainly going back to Porto for holidays and stay [...]

Dora Christofi2018-02-23T09:14:27+03:00June 12th, 2014|

Norway in a Nutshell Tour
Gallery
Norway in a Nutshell Tour

Norway in a Nutshell Tour

One of the most amazing experiences I had in my life. Norway in a nutshell. After visiting Oslo, the next stop while in Scandinavia was Bergen. On our way from Oslo to Bergen we purchased the Norway in a nutshell tour however we were unable to do this on the day we were travelling to Bergen since it was very windy and it was snowing therefore the train could not approach the Myrdal station. So we did the tour on our way back to Oslo. We booked our tickets via the official website a month before in order to enjoy Norway's magical fjords. So our trip begins from Bergen with a train to Voss. The scenery was magnificent since we were going through the fjords and it was snowy everywhere. We then reached Voss from where we got the bus to Gudvangen. Gudvangen and the Nærøyfjord fjord At Gudvangen village we got the ship for a cruise through the Nærøyfjord fjord which ended in Flam. During the cruise we enjoyed amazing scenery of the fjords. The Nærøyfjord fjord is a UNESCO World Heritage site and its Norway’s longest and deepest fjords surrounded by towering mountains. During the cruise we enjoyed waterfalls which cascade from the mountain tops and some amazing landscapes. Flam In Flam we had to wait for about 2 hours to get the train to Myrdal station. We couldn’t do much in Flam though, since it was freezing and raining so we had lunch in a café near the station. Flam Railway - Flamsbana After waiting we got the Flam Railway. The Flam Railway is called Flamsbana and it’s considered one of the most beautiful train journeys in the world. In winter the view is totally different from what you see in spring or summer. This is one of the steepest train lines in the world since most of the journey duration has a gradient (hill) of 5.5%. During the journey we could see steep mountains, waterfalls which were frozen, we passed through tunnel and through fjords. It took us about an hour to travel from the ocean [...]

Dora Christofi2018-02-23T09:14:27+03:00February 22nd, 2014|