Good morning from the Mimosa Beach Hotel in Protaras, Cyprus. The sun is high in the sky at 10am and its 29 degrees.
The hotel entrance is so colourful. The white flowers of the Mimossa trail the side hand rails and the Beugonvillia trails above the entrance porch. It all looks beautiful.
Today we decided to walk to Protaras, on the map it’s 1.5 miles to Lidl which is at the top of the main road known as “the strip” with all the shops and bars.
It was easy walking, but not a day for rushing in the heat.
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We stopped and talked to the owner of Ham-Yam Quad Bike rentals for about 30 minutes. He was a nice man, but disillusioned with how his customers have changed over the years. He explained how some would manage to crash the quad bikes within minutes of leaving. They don’t realise the implications to him, dealing with insurance companies, mending the bikes and days with the bikes off the road. He is now beginning to be picky with who he rents the bikes too. He introduced us to his Cocker Spaniel who looked very much like Murphy. He is 7 years old and they go everywhere together. We got some prices as we have an idea of renting something while we are here.
The ‘Strip’ was every bit as colourful as I expected. The bars were all advertising the Final of the 2024 Euro football between England and Spain, with special drink offers. I’m sure tonight is going to be very busy with football fans.
Time for a break and a sit down. Frappe and Earl Grey Tea and Ice cream. Then some shopping. Cheryl was looking at sun dresses and bikinis. She luckily found some ‘flip flops’ to replace the ones Murphy (our puppy) chewed.
Then it was time to walk down to the Sea.
We walked towards Fig Tree Bay.
This is certainly not our idea of a beach holiday. In some places the gaps between sun beds was very little. There were hundreds of people on the beaches and the sea was so busy with water sports. You could choose a parachute ride behind a speed boat, ride an armchair, a banana and more. Prices all seemed very expensive to us for these activities.
It was then time to look for a bus back to our hotel.
We waited in a Bar at the bottom of the Strip. It was rude not to have a drink whilst waiting and it was very welcoming. We didn’t see the bus coming because of parked cars and a Coach all being in the bus bay, and so missed it! So we decided to walk back. We walked a total of 5 miles.
On our return we headed to the sea for a gentle swim and cool off.
Dinner in the restaurant was another good selection.
After we sat in the bar with a few who wanted to watch the football. We watched the first half an hour and then went back to the room. We heard all the cheering as England scored but then went to bed and had to wait till the following morning to find out the results.