Wednesday the 24th of August.
It was a relaxing day today. Following breakfast, we travelled from Nicosia to Protaras. This tourist resort is one of the most popular in Cyprus. It is world renowned for its lovely beaches and clear azure seas. The town is situated on the narrow coastal plain that stretches from Cape Greko up to the east of the regional town of Paralimni.
Upon arrival and check in at our hotel - the Vrissiana Beach Hotel - it was time for a quick bite to eat and a few cleansing pints....following lunch, a quick walk around the town and then for a swim. The temperature today was 38 degrees and the water temperature 24!!!
Protaras is a relatively cheap tourist town - pints of beer around 2 euro, so good value for me!!!!
It was nice to relax and unwind and enjoy what Protaras has to offer.
We took Mary and Chris out to dinner tonight for another traditional greek meal.....we are loving the food and hospitality. We went to a place called Romeo's and on a Wednesday night, they have Greek night - which encompasses a 16 course greek meal, with traditional greek dancing and music - including the zorba.....the night was a great night and Mary and Chris enjoyed the traditions of their home country and Nadeen and I shared it with them.
At the end of the night, the owner of the place was keen for a bit of business, so he decided to have a two for the price of one offer on all drinks - which we took advantage of.....if this wasn't enough, at the end of the night, they brought around a complimentary drink for all people left in the restaurant - I was handed a shot of Zivania - a local drop. Unfortunately for me, I didn't know it was over 60% proof and proceeded to scull the contents of the shot glass. Wow!!! What a mistake that was - it literally nearly killed me....I have never ever had anything as potent as that in my life - nor shall I add, likely to have again...... it literally stopped me in my tracks. I was short of breath and fortunately, Nadeen was close by with a glass of water, which I proceeded to drink. The water didn't do it for me - my throat was burning and I needed to get out of there - no amount of water was going to fix me.
I subsequently found out, you are not supposed to scull this stuff....rather drink it slowly - due to its potency....but the Golden Greek forgot to tell me that!!!!
We left the restaurant, and Nadeen bought me an ice cream to try and relieve my throat - I could hardly talk at this stage. Luckily, the ice cream did the job, and after about 15 minutes I was back to normal - but it was a scary 15 minutes and Mary even wanted to take me to the local hospital.
We then walked down the main street of Protaras, which is lined with bars and restaurants. Every bar has entertainment and the night we were there we could have seen impersonators doing Elvis, Madonna, Lady Gaga, Michael Jackson etc - other nights they have Meatloaf, Kylie , Dean Martin etc - it is a funny place - they even have drag shows!
We retired to our hotel to the sounds of the nightclubs ringing in our ears......