Friday, November 18, 2011

4D's Birthday Trip up North ( Part 1)

To Celebrate 4D's birthday we drove up to the North of Cyprus, our base for our visit was The Ship Inn. We arrived in Girne (Kyrenia) in the middle of a huge electrical storm. The deafening claps of thunder reverberated around the Pentadactylos (Besparmak) mountians and the lights from St Hilarion castle looked like lava tumbling down the mountain cliffs.


The next morning the storm passed over and we made our way West to the town of Guzelyurt (Morfou), the town had a colourful Saturday open air market where locals turn out to buy their fresh fruit and veg.

We then walked over to St. Mama's monastery named after the Patron saint of Tax evaders. Mamus died about 275 AD and legend said his sarcophagus was washed ashore where a peasent found the remains and was told in a vision to the spot where the monastery now stands.


Leaving Guzelyurt when drove East to Morfou bay, a totally unspoilt area of natural beauty with its long sandy beaches and home to nestling turtles.

Next stop was the small village of Korucam which is home to the only Maronite village in Northen Cyprus, the village is dominated by the large Roman Catholic church. Directly opposite the church is The Yorgo restaurant which is run by Maria Skoullou, the Keleftiko and salad meze is to be recommended and Maria is a wonderful host and likes to tell her guests about the history of the village and the Maronite people.


The final leg of the day's trip was to Cape Kormakitis which lies at the Northern tip of Morfou Bay, we had to hike several Kilometres to reach the headland and on our arrival we toasted the end of our journey with a nip of so zivania.

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