Three Years!

 

How?  How has it been three years since I started this journey?

I’ve always said that the perception of time distorts the older you get.  When you’re told at 10 years old that you’ll do fun stuff on Saturday and it’s only Tuesday?  That was a torturous eternity.  Now (if you’re lucky) you get to be my ripe old age of 54 and you blink and three years pass.  Three whole years!

On March 2, I landed in Lisbon, now one of my favorite cities.  But just before March 2 of this year, I landed again in Tirana, another favorite of mine.  Three years in, I crave familiarity which made me happy to book the same place I stayed when I first visited the city last summer.

My host did warn me that there would be some protests in the area but that they might not impact my trip in.  I did hear some ruckus as the taxi pulled in front of the building, but I didn’t see anything that night.  More on that later.

It’s cooler in Albania than in Cyprus.  I expected that but I also wanted to get a sense of what the city is like in the winter.  Not too bad, a little nippy as I set out on my first morning to get breakfast and supplies.  It was decent enough for me to visit the Millenium Café again and sit outside, just as I had on my first morning in the city last year.  The treehouse-like atmosphere wasn’t as lush as it was in the summer but at least there were no bees this time.  Believe me, I was looking out for them.  I haven’t forgotten about you, crazed Albanian bees -- it took weeks for my swollen bee foot to heal!

A few days after my arrival in the city I got a sense that the protests were still going on. I would see a group of people sitting outside a government building for days around a small display of signs.  Then one day I went out to get some groceries on a rainy, yucky afternoon and saw this on my way into the store.

 

I’m not sure what the protests and I only heard later that there was some rowdiness. I didn't see any of that, though, so I wasn’t worried about it.  Still beats being in the U.S.  And here, unlike in Cyprus, I can have hot water any time I want!  Love that!

I’d been in the city for a couple of weeks when I stumbled into a street festival.  Also not sure what this was about but it was nice to see everyone out enjoying the early spring weather.  There were a number of stalls selling crafts and snacks along with a lot of big cookies.  So in my mind, it was just the Big Cookie festival.

This video came out a few days after getting to the city.  It was cool to see one my favorite travel vloggers walking the same streets that I’m on now.

The Don'ts of Visiting Albania

Leaving Cyprus

Another winter has passed in Cyprus.   But even at the beginning of February, it was already getting warmer.   The Sunday before I left was absolutely glorious.  The weather was perfect with a slight breeze and plenty of sun for most of the day.  Everybody was out walking and enjoying the Mediterranean.  It reminded me just how much I love the island.  That’s why I keep coming back.

But I have to leave in order to come back.  And that time had come again.

I needed to lighten the load in my bags.  I decided to ship some souvenirs and stuff back to the States because I couldn’t fathom the idea of going back myself.  It’s been almost a year since I’ve been across the pond. 

What?  I can’t believe it’s been that long – and yet I know exactly why it’s been so long.  I continue to be stunned by how bad things have gotten in the U.S. in just the last year.  It’s not only the news coming out of there that’s affected me, but I’ve also watched the value of the dollar take a nose-dive compared to the euro.  When I first started this journey, the dollar was only slightly less valuable than the euro.  But now?  Ten euros spent in Europe is now more like S11.15 USD.  Multiple that amount for groceries and transport?  Yeah.  Things are bad. 

In spite of everything, I know that I will have to go back this year to handle some business.  I can’t even imagine how overstuffed my mailbox is.  So, yeah, I’ll have to make at least one trip this year. 

Just not now.

Instead, I decided to ship some extra stuff back to Georgia.  Better for my stuff to go there than me.  I made several trips to get this done: a trip to the local grocery store for a spare box, a trip to a stationary store for a roll of tape, and finally a trip to the post office. 

That last trip, which was supposed to be the easiest, didn’t go as well as I'd planned.  The lady behind the counter got weird when I told her I wanted to send the package to the States.  She explained that it was complicated now.  If I wanted to ship the package, I’d have to go online first to fill out a form, take pictures of everything in the package and upload everything to the website, print out a shipping label, and then return to the office to ship the package. 

With my mouth hanging open I tried to take the flyer with all the info, but she wouldn’t give it to me.  I got the feeling that she just didn’t want to be bothered.  I didn’t even get an estimate of how much it would cost as I grabbed the box and headed for the door.  She suggested that some of the other mail carriers might not have as many restrictions on them.

Yeah.  About that.

There is a DHL office right across the street from the post office (I do love a good walkable city!), but the office hadn’t opened yet.  I went back to the apartment to wait then lugged the box back to the office …

And then lugged it back to the apartment after the DHL lady told me it would cost $250 to ship it to the U.S.

Are you SH!TTING me!!!

It costs less to ship ME, along with all my crap, from Cyprus to Tirana than to ship a 10-pound package from Cyprus to the U.S.

And since my plane was leaving later that day, I decided I didn’t need to keep most of the stuff in that box.  I took out a few choice items and the rest got chucked in the trash.

I hated to do that.  But nothing in that box was worth $250.  There is no way.

And the upset didn’t stop for the day.  I gathered all my stuff and headed to the bus stop to get to the airport.  Already tired, upset and sweaty, the wait added ‘impatient’ to that list of issues.  I also wasn’t even sure if the bus I needed would stop at that stop as I watched it stop across the street from me. 

I hauled my stuff across the street, missing that bus as it drove away, then decided to head to Finikoudes bus stop.  I’d caught the airport shuttle from there the last time so I knew I could again.

Until I couldn’t.

Minutes after I took a seat, a man walked by and told me that the airport shuttle no longer picks up at the beach.  I just looked at him, immediately thinking he was a cab driver just looking for fares.  But no.  He took a seat while I got up to look at the posted bus schedules.  Then a British woman came over and told me the same thing and that I’d have to walk to the official bus station (only about 500 meters away) to catch the bus.

Sigh.

Screw this.  I decided I was done waiting and figured I’d get a cab.  I still recommend avoiding cabs in Cyprus because they are overpriced.  But I was tired, okay?  I just wanted to get to the airport without any more waiting.  But, since I’d only planned on paying 2.40 euros for a bus and I was heading to Albania which has its own currency, I realized I didn’t have enough money for a cab.  Time to hit an ATM.

Why is it when I don’t need one I can find an ATM everywhere?  But when I’m tired and lugging my bags on a sunny Cypriot day and really need a break, the cash machines just disappear?   Why is that?  There are plenty of machines along the beach and among the restaurants, but I swear they were hiding from me that day.

Once I finally found one and headed to the taxi stand, I spotted another ATM.  Directly across the street from the taxi stand.  Of course.  

So, to sum up, my last day in Cyprus was a flat-out mess.  It was too much noise, waiting, sweating while hauling all my crap, a couple of broken nails, and being on the verge of tears more than once.  In other words, it was a travel day.  And a pretty bad one.  Not Jamaica bad or getting stopped by Turkish customs bad, but not the most pleasant of my recent experiences.

Finding the Familiar

There’s a really cool bookshop here in Larnaca. It is filled from floor to ceiling with all kinds of genres, even in English. There’s so much in there I couldn’t stay long the first time I visited because my brain was overloading. I promised to return. 

When I did, I took a more leisurely look around. I was stunned to find this just lying out.

 I read this book back in the 80’s as a teenager and have never forgotten it. It is, to date, the most messed up book I have ever read in my life. To sum up, it’s about a couple of circus performers who decide to create their own freak show. The woman takes a bunch of psychedelics and gives birth to conjoined twins, a little person, an aquatic bird boy, and a kid with telekinesis. 

Then it gets weird. 

Almost as weird as finding this book, in English, while in Cyprus. When I saw it, I just pointed at it and said “YOU!” like the book personally owed me money. It’s only lived rent-free in my head for 40 years – no amount of money is getting it out of there at this point. I just marveled at the fact that something someone wrote decades ago may have never been a bestseller (to my knowledge) yet it is still in print after all this time and available to traumatize new people on the other side of the planet. 

Personal writing goals (not the traumatizing part). 

Anywho, my week in frozen central was up and, since the place was booked, it was time to move on. No host to take me to the next joint (I was starting to get spoiled) so that left me to lug all my crap to the nearest bus station … 

And then go looking for a cab because the bus was taking too long. I wasn’t thrilled at the thought of hiring one, but I was hungry and getting impatient. As with every encounter I’ve had with a Cypriot cabbie, we spent several minutes just trying to figure out where the new place was. Seriously, dude, all I have is the address. You should know this area better than I do. 

By syncing up our GPSs, we finally got to the new place. I already liked the location a lot more compared to the last place as it was closer to the beach and the supermarkets. It took me a while, though, to figure out how to enter the building. The host’s directions had me going through the carwash alley of the local bike rental place, getting wet while approaching the back of the building. Luckily for me the rest of the directions were easy to follow and I had no problem getting to the apartment despite being a bit early for check-in. 

It’s a decent place. A corner shower, huge bedroom, and an oven. I’m not a fan of the road noise at night as the bedroom faces a busy street. Then there are the pigeons. Those flying rats are everywhere; they perch in every crevice of the building as evidenced by the piles of crap all around it. They make me nervous every time I approach the building in case they want to let the crap fly.  They forced me to dry my laundry indoors and not on the shared balcony because they would startle me every time I went out there.  Their loud cooing has woken me up on more than one morning along with the noise of the buses racing by. 

Despite the issues, it’s cozy enough. I booked it for the remainder of my stay in Cyprus. I’m very grateful not to have to find another place in a week. Since my first three weeks in Demetris’ place, I’ve had week-long stays in 4 different places and I am wiped out. 

I’ll end this entry with another book I found in the store by one of the best-selling authors in the world. I know this because I’ve seen her books in every country I’ve visited. I’ll let you figure out which one it is.

New Digs in Larnaca

 

I was not upset about leaving that place.

View of the ocean aside, there was no way I was extending my stay with that tiny bathroom.  I didn’t bother to tell the host this when he found out I was staying on the island.  He contacted me before my last day to ask if he could arrange transport to the airport.  When I told him that I was going to another apartment, that’s when he asked about extending.  Dude, if you don’t know why, there’s nothing I can tell you.

He was gracious enough to offer to take me to my next place (gotta love Cypriot hosts!). After figuring out that the directions his wife had given him would have taken us to the other side of the city from the directions I had, we managed to get to the new place with no trouble.

Then the real fun started.  It took me a minute to find the new place based on the directions.  I’d been dropped off just a few feet away, but there were enough buildings there to completely confuse me.  Finally got to the place and followed the host’s instructions to get the key out of the unlocked mailbox.  Except there was no key, only a lockbox of which I didn’t have the combination.  I contacted the host by WhatsApp as she requested.

And waited.  And waited.  And waited.

After walking around aimlessly when I got tired of standing with my stuff, I contacted the host again through Airbnb.  Finally, I got a response (why did you give me the other number if you weren’t going to respond?).  The host was already inside, so she came out and helped me upstairs.

The place is decent.  A real kitchen as opposed to a shelf in the living room (with a gaping hole where the oven should have been), A nice bedroom, a view of the salt lake, and the real reason I booked the place – an actual bathroom!  With a tub and everything!  I was so thrilled, I did a little dance.  So much room!

It was a comfortable stay except for a few issues.  The apartment is in one of those buildings that just retains the cold.  There were two heating units in the apartment (unlike the last place) but it just didn’t matter in the living room.  Even with the thing on a pretty warm setting, the place was always freezing.  When I wasn’t typing, I had to keep my gloves on along with both hoodies.  It was nuts.

There used to be a view of the ocean out of that kitchen window but now there's only a view of construction.  The new building meant constant noise and the workers gathered around the front of the building.  The host told me that they're building thousands of new units all over the city.  I can believe that based on what I've seen.  I still find it a bit odd though since the city is also covered with abandoned buildings and empty store fronts.  Why not just raze those buildings or at least try to renovate them? 

There was one other issue with the building's location.  While yes, the proximity to the salt lake made for a pretty from the living room, the apartment was way too far from the grocery store.  I don’t know if I’ve mentioned it before, but there are only three major grocery stores in the city.  Lidl is the furthest from Finikoudes Beach, so I don’t hit that one too often.  The one I usually visit is called Metro, a good-sized store with a great selection.  The third store is the closest to the beach, but not my favorite as it is way too cramped and hard to maneuver.

The rest of the city is just a series of convenience stores with limited options.  Getting to Metro from this apartment took 45 minutes of walking through windy unfamiliar streets.  The first time I ventured out there was on a Thursday.  Which just happened to be Jan 1, 2026 and – you guessed it – the store was closed.  Sigh.

I wasn’t even thinking about the holiday.  Hell, most of the time I forget what day it is.  Almost three years of travel and having no set schedule will do that to a person. 

I was able to get a few items from the one convenience store that was open.  I have a favorite one near Finikoudes that I’ve frequented enough that the ladies behind the counter have started to recognize me.  One of them is even named Daphne.  Fancy that.

I also met Thanos on a later trip out for breakfast.  That was unexpected.  When I saw the waiter’s nametag, I had to ask him about it.  He told me that he had the name before Marvel came out, that it common in Cyprus.  I did not know that and was baffled at the thought of someone looking at their newborn son and naming him after the personification of death.  Turns out though that the name also means immortality.  So ... there’s that. 

Yes, I am the goober who will always take pictures of rainbows.  And a double rainbow?  Fuggitaboutit!

Year End in Cyprus

 

I was neutral about leaving the last apartment.  Other than being a bit noisy and having no hot water in the kitchen, it was a decent place.  So decent that I couldn’t extend my stay even if I wanted to because it was booked.

The new place was a bit of a walk so I figured I’d find a cab at some point. Fortunately, the host, Chris, said he would pick me up.  Seriously?  Cool.

I got out front right as he was pulling up.  I knew from the brief call we'd had the night before that he had a strange accent that I couldn’t place.  It wasn’t Greek, British or German but had elements of all of those.  As we were navigating through the numerous streets that were closed due to construction, I asked him where he was from.  He said he was Cypriot but that he’d hung around a lot of South Africans.  Oh.  That explains it. 

I was doubly glad that he picked me up when we reached the new place.  It was way too far to walk to even get to Finikoudes with all my junk.  While he was busy explaining everything about the apartment, I didn’t get any photos of the place.  I was a little too busy missing the last place.

The flooring was a bit worn and I didn’t like it.  The washing machine in the bathroom was not connected to anything.  By that I mean that I had to plug the machine in (remembering to turn on the power to that plug) while putting the outtake hose in the toilet.

Are you kidding me?  I'm really not used to my apartments being this DIY.

The host also stressed turning off the power to an outlet that wasn’t being used.  He then went on this whole diatribe of how expensive the electricity was on the island and he would have to charge me separately if I used over a certain amount.

I’ve encountered this a few times and it always strikes me as stingy.  Babe, you could always just pad the price a little if you’re so concerned about your guests making use of the amenities in your apartment.

I started unpacking my food as he continued to talk.  He would send me a list of restaurants, he pointed out where to throw out the trash, he reminded me of the backroads route to get to Finikoudes, and again he talked about the electricity.  I got it, dude, could you just leave?  He was very nice, don’t get me wrong.  It was just a bit much.

It was only after he left that I realized that I couldn’t connect to the Wi-Fi.  I already knew that my eSim was not working for some reason, but I fully expected to be able to get the login from the label on the Wi-Fi box.  Nope.  It was the rare box that didn’t have it on there.  Great.

I ended up (and I know this sounds stupid) walking back to Demetris’ place to hook up to his Wi-Fi. I do love it that my computer and phone automatically reconnect to a system I’ve used before even if I’ve been away from the place for months.  Very handy.   I took a screenshot of the info Chris sent me and headed back to the apartment.

I eventually got a physical sim, but it too decided not to work.  Sigh.  I spent more money to get a new eSim installed and could finally get my phone connected again.

That was the most drama I had in that place.  I washed my clothes a couple of times, after hooking everything up, and had no problems despite the hassle.  Still made me miss Demetris’ place though.

I did get a job during that week.  It’s a part-time proofreading gig that doesn’t pay much but I will be glad to have some money coming in. 

After a week, it was time to move again, as this place was also booked up.  Seriously, what’s up with that?  I don’t recall this place being so busy last summer when I first visited.  Why are so many people visiting the island during the off season?

I ran into the host as I was taking out the trash as he arrived to collect the key.  When I brought my stuff downstairs and went to give him the key, he asked where I was headed next.  I told him that my new apartment was about a 40-minute walk away.  I again planned to catch a taxi after a 15-minute walk to Finikoudes Beach so I could ride from there.  He waved me off and told me he’d take me.

Dude.  That is above and beyond and something I have NEVER encountered.  A host willing to take me to and from their place?  What?

The apartment may have only been okay, but the host?  Top tier.

While I guided us with my phone, we headed towards Mackenzie Beach and the new place.  Just as we were pulling up, a cleaning lady was coming out.  I thanked Chris again and he handed me over.

Yeah.  Once AGAIN the new place just made me miss the old place.

The flooring is nicer than the last place and I knew that there would be twin beds instead of a single queen.  It’s way too far from the three major grocery stores, but I could deal with that.  The big issue is the bathroom.

The walk-in closet in my former house is bigger than this bathroom.  This place was designed for a Sim!  I am not a Sim.  I am a plus-size woman with long legs who goes to the bathroom.  A lot.  And every time I have to shimmy my way to the toilet, I cuss up a blue streak.

The door barely clears the sink!  How in good conscientious does a builder see this and think “yeah, that’s enough space.  It’s not like people spend much time in this room.”?

Congratulations, random apartment in Cyprus.  You win the award for the WORST BATHROOM I HAVE EVER ENCOUNTERED!  Even the one in Demetris’ place was better and that bathroom was the worst part of that apartment.

To give it some credit, the one benefit the apartment has over any other place I’ve stayed in Cyprus (including Demetris’ place) is this.

Does the view make up for that bathroom?  Hell no.

It doesn’t make up for the tiny stove that I not only have to light, but I have to go onto the balcony to activate the jug of compressed gas before I do. That stove also has numbers instead of degree markings so I had to worry about burning anything I put in it.

It doesn’t make up for the fact that the only heating unit is in the bedroom.  The apartment is one of those places that retains the cold because of course it is (that includes the freezing cold toilet seat).

The view also doesn’t make up for the single bed that is barely comfortable.  I got some sleep but felt far too many springs in the mattress.

It is a decent view, though.  The sun rises in the window in the morning and I can’t stress how much seeing the sun and the water lifts my spirits.