Weekend visit to Cyprus!

I had a great visit with my sister and her family in Cyprus last weekend! It's funny how when you're used to being 15 hours away a 4.5 hours flight seems like nothing.

Cyprus Air is an interesting experience. There's not a million flights a day going to Cyprus from anywhere so efficiency isn't exactly the name of the game here. I got the feeling that having paper tickets is an exciting and recent upgrade from the previous "two stones and a beetle" transactions a la Flintstones. While you can reserve your ticket online, they don't actually have online ticketing yet. So actually acquiring your ticket at the airport involves a series of complicated and intricate negotiations with a variety of ticket agents - at opposite ends of the airport - whose main goal is to avoid making eye contact with you so they can pretend you're not standing there.

I found it interesting how many people were heading INTO Cyprus on Friday given the recent developments in Beirut, however the flight was packed. Claire picked me up at the airport and I was SO excited to see her again. It had only been 3 months since I was living in Cyprus for 7 weeks so it seemed strange, but familiar to be back. The weather was outstanding - not the oppressive 100 degree heat I was expecting from the reports but at night really gorgeous. Warm, nice breeze, dry. All good.

Saturday I woke up to a chorus of "AUNT KATE!" and finally saw my sweeties - 2.5 year old niece Sophie and 5 month old nephew Max. Unbelievable how they make your heart melt. We all went to Konos beach about an hour away. It's a beautiful beach that is the picture of what you think when you envision Greece. (I will upload pictures as soon as I get a plug converter for my camera!!) Clear blue water, rock cliffs and a silver half mooon strip of sand. Sophie and I had a lot of fun paddling around in the water and throwing rocks into the sea and I took Max into the water for the first time and he looked mildly interested. He's ADORABLE! Such a cute little man.

Saturday night we found a novelty in Cyprus - a GOOD restaurant. It was a place that specialized in Argentinean beef (a bit suspicious given the geographic positioning of the two countries and the frequency of flights...hmmm.) But it was realllly tasty. Not sure if it was my lack of having had beef in the past 6 months or not but it was excellent. We then had drinks in the old city at a gorgeous outdoor cafe - really nice. Sunday we had another gorgeous day and a fun BBQ at Claire and Laurent's place then it was time for me to leave on Monday. WAY too short, but nice to know I can pop down for a visit.

Getting out on Monday was again an interesting experience. Cyprus is what most would categorize as a sleepy little place. Everything moves a bit slower so I was wondering exactly how the Western countries were planning on moving 15,000 evacuees from Beirut through its airports. The Larnaca airport consists of generally one giant room to check in (and get your tickets in order to check in) and another room for passport control.

Passport control in Cyprus on a normal day takes approximately 45 minutes for 3 people to go through the line as the man inside the booth stares endlessly at your papers as though something will jump out at him if he looks long enough. I try this method repeatedly with my fridge staring at great length thinking something good will magically appear from behind the milk. Here's a tip - nothing appears...EVER. Fridge - 4,786, Kate - zero. I digress...

There are two lots of lines in passport control - EU, and All Other Passports - each staffed by one person who are usually on their coffee break. This monday however, I was sure it would be different to handle the flood of people that had arrived at the airport to vacate the middle east. Silly me. Silly silly me. I entered the Passport control room and felt like I'd walked into a bazaar in Marrakesh - chaos ruled with people everywhere waiving papers, children and giant salamis in the air. The men in the booths stared wide-eyed at the growing mob, stamps poised. A saving grace...a paper sign at the end of the row "US Citizens" Yahoo!!! That's Me! I ran over and got through in a relatively timely manner. A minute of reality here - it's a really strange sight to see people trying to get home and having trouble getting out. Fleeing is not something I've ever had to do and hope I never do. There's a desperation level that is heartbreaking.

But I wonder, as ships, helicopters and cruisers empty thousands into Cyprus to head to their home countries how on earth will this airport handle the volume? My advice...bring crackers and make friends with the people holding the salami - you're going to be there a while.