A day out in Kyrenia

One day I decided to take a break from the beach and to go to Kyrenia and explore the harbour and the castle.

The weather was 43C in the shadow, so staying in the castle with its thick walls and hardly any windows was a good choice. I did feel a bit freaked out being in the dungeons by myself, it seems like all of a sudden you are transferred to the medieval times. It was a Peace and Freedom Day in North Cyprus so all the buildings were nicely decorated, there was a parade of the military ships, which I could observe from the top of the castle.

My favourite part of the tour that day was a Shipwreck Museum. It is situated in the castle and you can see a 2300-year-old ship that was found about a mile away from Kyrenia in the 60’s. It is believed that the ship was 80 years old when it sank partially from old age and from a pirate attack. The lead tablet the pirates hammered to the side of the boat was supposed to evoke the black magic and their crime would never be discovered. Little did they know!

The ship carried over 400 wine amphorae and 9000 almonds that were perfectly preserved. Hmm, wine and almonds, those pirates knew what they were doing chasing after such a party boat!

I had lunch in the harbour and was slightly disappointed by the food I got, the mezes were meagre and pricey, I still enjoyed my lunch as you can’t beat the view and having my Kindle and just chilling by the sea side and watching the boats is great fun, but I wouldn’t recommend you to eat there. Later I found out that the harbour is not good for food, which is a shame as it is a fantastic spot, too bad they can’t bring the quality up and make the prices a bit lower.

Dinner was a whole different affair. We went to a restaurant highly recommended by Trip Advisor, called The Kyrenia Tavern. It is run by an older couple, in their 70’s and probably their son, (our guess). There is no menu, you show up, better if you book in advance, the place is highly favoured by the tourists, and then they bring out the mezes, main course and dessert. I had chicken casserole which was good and Yakup had lamb that was cooked for five hours in the oven and was very soft and mouth watering. The whole night was an interesting experience because you are at someone’s garden and it feels cosy and comfortable, and you get a taste of home-made Cypriot cooking. The couple that run the place are incredibly cute and it was a pleasure watching them work together. The host was dressed up in a nice shirt and a tie and he was the waiter. It was almost embarrassing to have an older person serve you food, but I guess this is their income, so we had to get used to it.

It was a delicious ending of the day in the beautiful Kyrenia and I can’t wait to discover more hidden gems of this medieval town.

Greetings from the Island of Love,

your Tanka Lou