Short trip to Cyprus

After a stop-over in Moscow that lasted 24 hours longer than planned I am now on the island of Cyprus. I had planned to be here a day longer, but luckily I could rearrange my meetings here after yesterday’s adventure. The Aeroflot flight from Moscow to Cyprus went smoothly and I was very happy that I even got my suitcase back!

Cyprus reminds me a bit of Turkey, but that’s not something you should tell the people here (Cyprus was partly occupied by Turkey in 1974 and that was never resolved, so the island is now split into two parts). It’s a very dry island, and when you land here the first thing you see is a brown landscape.

The island is located in the Eastern Mediterranean and therefore very warm with not too much rain. But today that’s different, it’s been raining off and on since I arrived.

Next to my meetings I don’t have a lot of time (just enough to check my email and quickly write this post actually), but it’s nice to be here for a few hours. Next time I will try to stay a few days longer (e.g. adding a weekend) to explore the countryside and the culture of the island.

The hotel that I chose is one of the better ones that I have stayed in in Europe, it’s the Londa in Limsassol. It’s a luxurious design boutique hotel directly on the Mediterranean, with its own small beach and a nice swimming pool. No time to try them out this time, but this is a certainly good place to stay for a holiday as well.

The only problem is that they charge for wifi, something that I hate. I thought I had seen on their website that they had free wifi and that’s why I chose this hotel over the Meridien, but I likely made a mistake. I mentioned at the front desk upon check in that I normally don’t stay in hotels with paid wifi (explaining that wifi to me is something like electricity and water, you also don’t pay separately for those things) and they generously gave me free wifi for my stay here. A very nice gesture!

The rooms are very nicely designed, with a great bed and a small balcony. There is also a beach bar and a covered terrace bar, plus a nice restaurant (where I will have a business dinner later). If only they would have free wifi I would certainly come back, now I might try another hotel next time. Or maybe I will just try to make a deal with them to include free wifi in the rate for my next stay.