Girne (Kyrenia) – 17th October
Weather: Sunny. Temperature: High 31 degrees
After a really good night’s sleep, I rose at 8.00 am and joined Nelly for breakfast in the gardens of the hostel, after which we walked into Kyrenia to visit the harbour and castle. It was a warm sunny day as we walked with the temperature approaching 30 degrees. Like yesterday in Bellapais, the harbour area of the town was relatively busy with visitors. Small restaurants lined the old harbour and we found a not too busy one and sat and enjoyed a light lunch. A visit to Kyrenia Castle followed. A castle on this site was first constructed in the 7th century by the Byzantines, it was later captured by Richard the Lionheart on his way to the third Crusade and then held by the Venetians in the 15th century. The Venetians created the castle as we see it today. The castle holds the tomb of the Ottoman Admiral Sadik Pasha who took Kyrenia from the Venetians in 1570. Today the castle is under the control of the Girne Department of Antiquities and Museums.
Ominous dark clouds had been building over the Kyrenia mountains and murmurs of thunder could be heard in the distance and as we made our way back to the hostel there was a wild storm, thunder, lightning, wind and torrential rain. We found shelter beneath the canvas canopy of a nearby restaurant. It was the first rain I had seen for 90 days. The temperatures dropped dramatically and the proprietors brought blankets to the tables to provide comfort to customers.
As the rain eased we made our way back to the hostel for another early night. Nelly was returning to Alanya tomorrow but her ferry was again a night sailing leaving Kyrenia at 10.00 pm. I decided to stay another day and we arranged to travel to Famagusta in the morning to visit the St.Barnabas Monastery and its icon display.
