Plops Wine Tasting Tour

Posted on October 1, 2026 by Clunegapyears

29-30 September 2026

The wine tour was conceived at a Chania wine tasting in January. Just as had our previous wine tasting to Heraklion with Nikki & Rob. Where there is good wine … Frances and Edward were up for it during their Crete trip, as were Jennifer and Chris from Crete.

This is my first trip since loosing James 2 months ago.

We were due to cross Kissamos to Gythio at 0815 on Wednesday 30th. Bad weather forecast. So SeaJets messaged, emailed and telephoned to advise the crossing was brought forward to Tuesday at 1930. Maria cancelled for a games night. Corrie’s drop off brought forward. And we were off.

*Nervous drivers reversing on at Kythera … they should try that in a motorhome!*

The ferry left on time. It was rough. Frances poorly 🤢. I felt 😫. Neither of us ate. But did managed a glass of the Sekt Jennifer had brought. Docking at 0230, the crew kindly let us continue sleeping stretched out on the seats until 0530. From there we decamped to just S of Gythio to an island where Helen of Troy and Paris spent their first night. Wonder if they had more sleep than us!

Eventually coffeed and pastried up we looked at the wreck of the Dimitri. Port authorities evicted it in 1981, but as it was in such a state, it didn’t make it far.

*James and I and motorhoming friends have overnighted here*

Having arrived a day early, we had a day in hand. We drove west along the stunning west coast of the Mani middle finger. Spotting the towers of the feuding families. And the Villa construction explosion since James and I were here.

*Coffee in pretty A*g *Nicholas and then light lunch in Stoupa. Mostly overcast but plenty of folk on sunloungers until the rain and we watched them scuttle for shelter. All felt v touristy*

A 2.30 hr drive up to Kalamata and then a bendy road to Mystras. Z bends. Views. Overhangs. Stunning … we had driven it before with the Aged Ps, thankfully in a hire car, not the motorhome. No pix as I was driving.

Hotel ok. A bath possible with my flannel and heal wedged in the plug hole. Room basic and clean other than morning ants. Nice meal locally. Fab roasted pork with crackling. Slept well!

Limassol & Home

Posted on March 3, 2026 by Clunegapyears

02.03.26

James finally got his hands on the blog ….

Last night after a pleasant drive from Famagusta, we arranged the very modern Aliana hotel in old town Limassol. Another large and comfortable bed – not too firm for Katherine. We decided to treat ourselves to a nice meal on our last night in Cyprus – Places to eat – the first taverna was fully booked – peak time for Cypriots on a Sunday evening – we had a drink at two tavernas – K on mojitos and me on vino rosso! The second inn was very noisy – pop music blaring from speakers and resident DJ. So no conversation. We then repaired to the “Steak House” for some more vino and Negroni for K… I had a good chicken dish – K had steak.

*Our hotel central so K and J able to have a drink out at the same time … oh joy, mojito*

We started Monday doing our own guided tour of part of Limassol – K had a self guided walking downloaded. The usual mix of churches, museums and other attractions. Finishing our walk with brunch.

*Th small square apparently is a nightlife hub*

*New Greek Orthodox cathedral … nice light through the windows*

*The promonade had better sculptures than the Agia Napa Sculpture Park*

Driving towards Paphos, we stopped at Kolossi crusades castle – 14th century. We were only a short time in the castle when the ticket lady said they were closing! There was an alert that a drone attack was a possibility on the RAF base in Akrotiri close by – part of the Iran problems…

We piloted our rented Baby Blue Nissan March car – freshly valeted – to a petrol station en route to the airport – next stop the rental company – the nice young man dropped us at the terminal building. We got through security and passport control fairly quickly – new style passport control – scan, photo and the machine issued a ticket to hand to the staff member – saving time. We saw immediately that our flight was delayed by one hour – concerned as quite a few flights were cancelled or delayed due again to the Iran problems… no sign of any departures or arrivals outside. Gladly we took off only two hours late…

Ghost Towns

Posted on March 2, 2026 by Clunegapyears

01.03.26

Famagusta ghost town is called Varosha. During 1970-74, nearly 50% of Cypriot tourism was at this top class resort. A resident population of c.40,000. The 3rd largest Cypriot city. It attracted the likes of Bardot, Raquel and Burton/Taylor.

Different web sources give varying accounts Here’s my interpretation / summation …
From 1963 and the collapse of the power sharing government, many Turkish (18% of the population) were subjected to ethnic cleansing. Having to relocate to ghettos etc and economic hardship.

July 1974 saw a coup backed by the Greek junta (Generals time). 5 days later Turkey invaded. Reports of massacres of Greeks, including around Salantis, where we were 2 days ago.
The Turkish army planned to reach as far as Famagusta walled city, as many Turkish Cypriots lived there. When they arrived, Varosha just next door, had been abandoned. The Greek Cypriots had fled within a few hours. The residents had expected to be back within days so left virtually everything.

Despite the Turks erecting a fence around it and a NATO presence, who decreed that it can only be repopulated by the original property owners, it was ransacked and then everything removed. To be honest, I said to J, it has been sanitised. We have visited ghost towns before but there is usually evidence of people living there. Varousha doesn’t even have light bulb fittings.

There were boards outside some buildings and a display … the Turkish argument is that most of the land was part of a foundation going back hundreds of years. The land registry shows the land was sold? to Greek Cypriots during the British occupation. But foundation / charity land can not be sold. Turkish PM Erdogan and the TRNC want to reopen Varosha. They will run out of Coastal construction space soon! Visitors were first allowed into a very small area in 2000. Part of their development plan?

We had thought we would hire bikes, but it was precipitous so we pulled up our hoods and walked. Walked the relatively small area permitted. Enyry into buildings in a state of 50 year decay are verbotten. Guards very present to check we comply. A sad place, but strange with no evidence of human life.

*Boards declaring this site was illegally sold by the British, ergo still Turkish*

*The main attraction for the 1970s tourists. Varosha stretches as far as the eye can see*

*They were still building when is was evacuated*

*Businesses, homes and hotels all crumbling*

The top cluster of my pins is the walled city. The 3 orange pins are pretty much the limit of what is now open to visitors. The blue blob is the border control … the Nato Green Line is right at the edge of Varosha. All a bit surreal.

We drove parallel to the coast, along the fenced off city to the border and back into the Republic of Cyprus. Suddenly everything felt different. Better roads. Shops smarter.

The next Ghost Town was Agia Napa. We could not be so close and not have a look.
The Sculpture Park was not our cup of tea.

*Agia Napa Sculpture Park: maybe we lack artistic appreciation but we didn’t think these very fine*

But we stopped for coffee and a toasty with the scant other mostly retired tourists.

Salamis and Famagusta

Posted on March 1, 2026 by Clunegapyears

28.02.26

We left our Kyrenia apartment of four nights and drove to a mountain village, which was described as pretty. Pretty dead! A closed church. No open cafe, but a supermarket. Didn’t buy 70cl of Gordons as have sufficient, but tempting at €11.

*Spotted these, I would have liked to add to my bone collection*

The whole of the north and east coasts are being ruined. Mass tasteless construction. Huge hotel / spa / casino /golf courses. High rises and ‘community lifestyle’ holiday villages. Apparently, the Russians and folk from the Middle East are invading / investing. Could hardly spot the rugged coastline. Once the flat land is full, they will start on the foothills.

The economy is closely linked to Turkey and bouyed up by Ankara. When we in Turkey last summer / Autumn, we knew the economy had got significantly weaker. Inflation ’25 was 30% in Turkey. In TRNC (Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus), inflation was 40%. To put that into perspective, the next closest high inflation was Romania at 8%. By absolute contrast, the Republic of Cyprus was the lowest of the Europe tables at 0.1%. I wonder how the construction companies are budgeting! Let alone families.

We enjoyed Salamis … dates back well before the Romans -C11 BC. But most of what you can see is Roman. It was shifting sands and in 1878 the British decided to forest the area … but the huge site was discovered. Several major excavations since, but we felt there is a lot more to reveal.

*Huge site, so it became a 4.7km walk with interesting way points*

*Amphitheatre: J refused to test the acoustics …*

*Basilica of Campanopetra C5 and a major pilgrimage site. At 152m, it is the longest religious complex in Cyprus*

We checked into our modern hotel in Famagusta … 9th floor . After J’s nanny nap we drove the 3.5km to Famagusta Walled City. The main road was all newish bars, cafes and tech shops.

The C15-16 Venetian walls (built over C13 ones) enclose Gothic, Venetian and Ottoman buildings. Sadly, all but the Lala Mustapha Pasha mosque, formerly the gothic St Nicholas Cathedral, is the only one with a roof. In fact, it is the only one that isn’t a complete ruin. You can see how splendid the structures must have been. But it is sad so little of them is still standing. Little information on the boards either. And the lanes housed tat shops, eateries and some houses… all concrete construction and somewhat shabby. Perhaps had the sun been shining, it would have looked better.

*The Venetian Palac*e: *little remains of the walls behind and it now houses a carpark*

*The Lala Mustapha Pasha mosque. Really is Christian gothic architecture with a minaret stuck on*

*Othello Tower, so named as Shakespeare based his play here. Spotted a Desdemona restaurant.*

*Not a huge choice of non fast food eateries open, so we ate Turkish. Nice to finally have sumac on onions, as didn’t get it once on our 3 month ’25 trip*

Kyrenia

Posted on February 28, 2026 by Clunegapyears

27.02.26

The Turkish name is Girne. Planned to be a slow day with lunch. A bit slower than expected. Kyrenia is pretty with some narrow streets and the harbour. A great castle with museums. But nowt else there.
It was blowing a hooley too.

*The chapel was accessed through a long tunnel*

*Thought J, who weighs the same as a leaf, was going to be blown off the rampar*ts

The castle museums were dusty and very old fashioned … a few Crusader costumes and finds from a Bronze age village. But a 2300 year old shipwreck was truly fascinating. Only discovered and raised in mid 1960’s. It had sailed from Kos and Rhodes, before sinking near Kyrenia with its cargo of amphora, almonds, fishing weights etc

*Unusual construction: the outside was then internally braced*

*A late Bronze age anchor that had been repurposed from a Syrian stone with hierglyph*s *of a hymn*

Lunch at Nima was very good other than a trout pout lady who talked loudly on her phone … constantly. Good value at £102 with the tip, but only 1 glass of wine for J.

Little evidence of many Northern Cypriots observing Ramadam.

Clune Gap Years

A journal and reflections of our motorhome travels