Still in Larnaca

 

I really do love Demetris’ place.  It is one of the few apartments on my entire journey that feels like home.

I was lying on the couch one night during my nearly 3-week stay, watching Barbie for the umpteenth time, and I just looked around at the place.  Is it the large, worn rug on the floor?  The lighting?  The comfy gray couch?  The nice bed?  Something about the combination of it all just makes me feel less like a wandering vagrant.  It makes me feel like I belong here.

The circumstances of this stay weren’t exactly ideal.  I’ve mentioned the construction going on just outside of the building.  Not only did it mean that every time I left the apartment became a new challenge, but the noise was near constant from sunup to sundown.  Still didn’t dim the apartment’s shine.

There is a baby in the apartment next to mine who is constantly screaming.  Not crying – screaming.  High pitched and incredibly annoying.  No dim (not exactly adding to the experience, though).

The hot water started acting funky during the last few days in the place.  I had to put off showering and boil water to sanitize the plates after washing.  Still no dim.

The apartment is not the cheapest place in the area – it’s actually one of the more expensive ones.  I haven’t checked, but I think the price went up since my last visit.  Even though it’s the off season, the place still has great ratings on Airbnb.  With good reason as it is a great place.

Just a note:  I had been dealing with inflammation the entire three months I was in Portugal.  It started with the bee sting on my right foot.  Then my left foot started to swell.  Then I was having problems getting my pants on despite not making any major changes to my diet.  I couldn’t figure it out.

After a week back in Cyprus, most of the swelling was gone.  I have no idea if it’s the climate, or the fact that I’m no longer in those uncomfortable chairs in my place in Portimão, or if it was just the natural time for the swelling to go away.  Whatever the cause, I’m just glad that my shoes and pants fit again.

The power of a great apartment?  Who’s to say?

But, in seemingly record time, my departure day arrived again.  I overlapped the stay with the new place by a day to try to get around the construction.  I figured it would be easier to get all my crap around in two trips without having to wait around between the 11 am checkout and the 4 pm check-in for the new place.

Ha!  The construction workers had a better idea.  Just when I had packed, cleaned the place, and was ready to dump my trash, I went downstairs to find that the street had been cordoned off.  The workers had just laid down concrete.  I was going nowhere that day.

Great.  And I’d already eaten most of my food in preparation for the move.  I ended up with a dinner of salmon, pita, and a pack of noodles that was already in the apartment.  Thanks, Demetris.

The next morning had me antsy.  I didn’t have an option this time – I had to leave the place that day as it was booked for the next week.  Though that wouldn’t matter so much.  If I couldn’t get out, the new people couldn’t get in.

Fortunately, the concrete was set by the time I got downstairs.  Unfortunately, it had been raining on and off all morning.  

Oh, yeah.  This will be fun.

While the area directly in front of the building was now nice and smooth, just a few feet away was still covered in dirt, rocks, and construction equipment.  And puddles.  Lots of puddles.

I waited the rain out as long as I could then reluctantly said goodbye to the apartment and got my stuff downstairs.  Past the newly laid concrete, there were metal struts providing a walkway over a puddle and onto the dirt.  As I stood there trying to figure out a way forward, a nearby construction worker saw me struggling with my bags and stepped in to help.  He got me to the road (thanks, dude!) but it was still up to me navigate the puddles and head in the right direction.

And yes, it had started to rain again.

I managed to cross the street, repeatedly whipping my phone out for directions.  I wandered for a good ten minutes and still couldn’t find the place that was only supposed to be 5-minute walk away. Then my Wi-Fi went out.  Then a wheel broke on my small suitcase.

I don’t want to do this anymore.

Wet, tired, and dragging my lame suitcase, I started walking in a random direction and passed by a café.  The woman who worked there set my phone up with the café’s Wi-Fi (thanks, babe!) and I set off again.  Back in the same direction I’d just walked.

This sucks.

As I rested beside a traffic-heavy street, my third angel of the day appeared.  She had noticed me earlier and asked where I was going.  With my phone in hand and speaking Greek to a nearby shop owner, she determined that the bar I was looking for was just across the street.

My host had told me to meet a guy at the Alchemies Café and he would get me to the apartment.  The problems was that this was the second time I was approaching the place from behind where there’s no signage.

I had literally passed right by the place and didn’t even know it.  In the rain.  While tired and wet.  And hungry as I hadn’t eaten breakfast yet.

Sigh.

The angel passed me off to the bartender who got me to the new place located over the restaurant.  But first we had to detour to the 4^th floor.  Apparently, the elevator refuses to go to the third floor, so we had to exit on the 4^th and go downstairs.

Seriously, just kill me.

Finally, I made it to the place.  A spacious apartment with a huge balcony.

A bathroom with a tub and hot water (even if there was no hot water in the bathroom or kitchen sink). And another issue with noise as the restaurant is a rowdy one that is right next to another restaurant and a kid’s play area.

Well.  At least this area is construction free.  And the Alchemies serves a decent burger.