Now as most of you know, I being Glen, write these posts. But this, this one will be told from another’s perspective. One little girl’s dream, finally, come true. And it all starts here, right after we touched down. We were outside of the airport in the evening, the sun had just set. Darkness began to creep in over Cyprus. Again we’re in a foreign place, waiting for the local bus to take us to our temporary home. Out of the encroaching darkness, Aga spotted a small animal moving through the bush. It was ginger with bright eyes, reflecting the light from the street lamp back at us. Instinctively Aga knew what it was, and called it over. He’s an incredibly friendly stray cat who started communicating with Aga. She began to pet him, picked him up and held him in her arms. I’ve owned dogs my whole life, I know nothing of the temperment of cats, or how to read them. Aga on the other hand, is fluent in their tongue, she understands them, and they, her.

Deep Cuts Tip Uno: Bring your sinus allergy pills if you’re allergic to cats ;P

Aga also knew something else about this island that I did not. It was absolutely covered in stray cats, well at least Larnaca. Aga’s good friend had visited a month or so earlier and informed this casual cat enthusiast of what was to come.

Aga didn’t want to put him down when the bus finally came, I think he had actually fallen asleep in her arms he was so comfortable. But she agreed and we boarded.

We were staying relatively close to the airport, the ride only took about 15 minutes or so, and cost us 2.50 Euro each. All of the other buses we road in the city only cost 1.50, I’m assuming it was more because the ticket was good for however far you needed to go into the city, but I’m not 100% sure on this. We got dropped off and wandered around in a circle for 20 minutes maybe, looking for our Bnb. Just a heads up, there’s not a lot of street signs in Larnaca so definitely keep your eyes peeled for them. We asked the locals for the street we were looking for. No one knew where it was, turns out we were on it. So we found our spot, dropped of our bags and headed to the main street/beach.

We stopped at a spot that was really busy, hoping to possibly get some food and a drink. It had the vibe of a pub with an outdoor area, but we quickly realized no one actually had alcohol but was drinking coffee. Apparently Larnaca, or maybe Cyprus in general, has a bustling late night coffee scene. So we grabbed a sandwich, a cheese pastry, and some frappés. We chowed down, and then decided to walk the main strip.

Deep Cuts Tip 2: Careful of instant coffee on the island, they drink it everywhere.

But here’s what we really need to talk about, the rest is really just fluff. As we were walking home, Aga found 5, maybe 6 cats on the corner by our apartment. One of them was pregnant and was super sweet. She was so cute, I’m still not sure if all pregnant cats are so sweet and loving, but every one we encountered on the island was so friendly and just needed some love. By this time I knew we were in for it, we were done. Our trip had been decided for us by the stray cat gods. We went home, went to sleep, and Aga dreamed about the next 10 days being filled with cats and kittens. She’d never slept so sound.

I’d love to say this post was about how interesting and beautiful Larnaca was, and it was. But in reality it’s about a little cat named Susie. We were walking back from Kastela Beach, and this time it was me who spotted something out of the corner of my eye. I saw 2 kittens, maybe 3 weeks old, with their mom hanging out by an old train car that had been converted into an industrial fridge. Which underneath was their home. For being strays they were all incredibly clean. At first Susie was cautious of our presence, but she soon warmed up to us after we fed her. She let us pet her, and eventually her kittens too. And we found out she actually had 4 total, 2 black ones with barely visible stripes, and striped grey one, and a black and white one.

Her little home was right by the harbor and marina. She was friendly with the local fishermen, they were the ones who had named her Susie. She listened to them whenever they called her, probably because little mamas need a little love too, oh and they fed her fresh caught fish every morning. We couldn’t blame them, she was incredibly loving, and even let us hold her kittens. We went to see them at least twice everyday, and fed her just as often.

Deep Cuts Tip 3: Gain some positive karma and feed some of the strays 😀

Ok, but back to some more of what we actually saw. So if you’re thinking about checking out Larnaca “Castle”, more of a fort, definitely do it. There’s a 2.50 Euro entrance fee, but it’s worth it, it’s got some cool history and the the top of it has some great views of the seafront and the main strip of Larnaca. And if you’re into taking pictures it’s a good spot for it. Before we got to Larnaca neither one of us knew this was the supposedly resting place of St. Lazarus(the guy Jesus resurrected) either. So there’s a church in the main square of town that was built in 900 AD. It was built overtop of a previously existing church that he was the Bishop of, and his tomb is underneath. They also have his arm bones on display, as the rest of his body was taken to Constantinople, and then to France if I’m remembering correctly. The square the church is situated in is really pretty and has a great vibe, and there’s also a good barbecue/pita wrap place just down the street towards the beach, you won’t miss it.

We checked out some of the nightlife as well. There was a cool cocktail bar about 2 blocks from the church, it was a little pricey but they definitely treated like an art, a good place to get a drink or 2. Also down on Mackenzie Beach there is an entire slew of bars that have really nice outdoor lounge/bar areas right on the waterfront. A lot of them were renovating, obviously in competition with who can create the coolest outdoor space during the high season.

We also went and checked out the Ancient Kition site where some of the first Greeks on the island settled. There wasn’t a whole lot going on at the site but it’s always fun to check out ruins and try to get a grasp of the history of a place. Not sure how much entry is because the day we visited it was free luckily. Also the main street of Larnaca, called Finikoudes, and is also lined with restaurants, a lot of them being chains though, specifically American ones. But it also has a beach and is fun to stroll down, and at the end of it is a statue of Zeno, who was born in Kition and the founder of the Stoic branch of philosophy.

Deep Cuts Tip 4: If you want to see the flamingos on the salt lake they’re only there from November until March 😉

Ok so back to feeding cats…Pretty much every night we would stop by our local grocery store and buy some cat food. One night we bought a 2 kilo bag and I decided to count how many we fed. It ended up being like 72 or so in a matter of about 2 hours. I’m being serious, we fed hundreds while we were there haha. My girlfriend is insane. We also noticed some of the kitties had some eye problems so we bought some natural tear drops, captured them, and wiped them clean so they could finally see. One of them actually had it so bad his eyes were shut completely. Needless to say he was pretty happy once he had his vision back. Aga’s turning me into a stupid cat person. Jesus.

Deep Cuts Tip 5: Defintiely try to make some Greek food while on the island, like Dolmades.

All and all we kept it pretty low key on Cyprus and just hung out at the beach. The temperature was beautiful the whole time we were there, everyday was like 24 degrees C or higher and sunny. Also the water was already warm enough to swim in, so that became our main plans. But just another few things worth checking out! Definitely try Cyprus Coffee (the same thing as Turkish Coffee but they don’t necessarily have the best relationship with Turkey, just google the history of the island if you need to). Also go check out the salt lake in Larnaca, especially if you’re there from November to March because that’s where the flamingos will be! Thousands migrate to the island every season. If you want to go check out other cities in Cyprus you could rent a car which is expensive there. Or there buses that run from city to city for 5 Euro for a one way ticket. We wish we would’ve done this but, it was nearing the end of our 6 months of traveling and we were getting poor haha. Also, there’s no google info on city buses running or intercity buses so just ask either the hotel or your AirBnb host for some info. Another site worth checking out might be the Hala Sultan Tekke, it’s a mosque that sits on the salt lake. Apparently it’s overun with stray cats, and is a cool spot to visit and take some pictures, but we didn’t feel like walking over a hour to get there.

There’s also an old Byzantine aquaduct you can visit called Kamares Aquaduct. And if you’re into diving and have a little cash to spend the MS Zenobia is supposed to be one of the best ship wreck dives in the world. When I go back to Cyprus, I will do this dive! Also if you have a car definitely go see the Stavrovouni Monastery  just outside of Pyrga, and also the anicient Neolithic site of Choirokoitia that dates back to the 7th millennium BC! That’s right, this site dates back 9,000 years! So cool.

So, needless to say, Aga had a good time in Larnaca. She roamed the streets, feeding and healing cats like a modern day Saint. And I didn’t have such a bad time either. Next time we go hopefully we’ll have a little more money in hand and get to explore a bit more!