Qgardens a garden heaven on Cyprus

Hello everybody,

I discovered this garden just accidental and I enjoy it with all my soul. I love gardens and having a walk trough the plants. I like to see art made by man’s hand where you would believe that nature just finished its master piece. Qgardens are first about art of gardening and for us is the pleasure to go and first of all feel it with all our hearts.


As soon as you see the entrance you will be pleasantly surprised by the gorgeous trees welcome each one on the side of the gates. The paved path way trough the gardens do not let you wait to long. You just need to rush to be inside and see everything.





I can say is that is a very organized garden with lots of plants, trees, nice paths for you to enjoy a charming walk. It’s more like a botanic garden. I would expect that somebody to rush and ask some money for the entrance but the entrance is free.



It is truly an experience, a beauty for your eyes to admire the plants and the gardener work with them, a mixture of colors and finally what could man do together with nature.


It is surprising that after seeing the entire park the owners thought to have there a mini zoo with fishes, rosters and chickens, poney and goats, a playground and mini coffee shop. All of them very well maintained offering you a real pleasure to go, to stay to make thoughts disappear.









Like ships that have gone down at sea, when heaven was all tranquility. Like boats resting in the sunset light when sky was all stillness. Breathe…



“I sit high in this tree
In complete tranquility

This bed of ropes
I tied with hopes
That I could find
A state of mind
In this tree
Of tranquility



My frustrated soul
Searching for its goal
Climbing the ropes oh life
Past the knots of strife
In this tree
Of tranquility



I sit here now
Sweat on my brow
Looking into the sky
This is how I fly
In this tree
Of tranquility”
Jake Gassiot




Lots of sunny days for Izzy the Cypriot Lizard!

Entrance fee: Free
Opening hours:
Monday – Sunday: 09:00 – 20:00
Phone no: +357 24 333 600
Address: Zygi Village, Larnaca
Take Zygi exit from highway towards Limassol; go straight from roundabout for 50 m and on your right side.

Kalavasos the only train, one experience, one escape

Hello everybody,

Kalavasos is a small village that can be found almost in the middle of Limassol - Nicosia/Larnaca highway (32km from Limassol) where you can see on your left side the Kalavasos tenta. The exit towards Kalavasos village will bring you to the village, tenta and the very nice dam and shaded playground.



As you enter in the village there is a parking and next to it is the playground surrounded by high trees. Our kids were just waiting for such a stop after quite some time spent driving over here. So here we are slides, swings, see sour, nice to see you again. The breeze surrounded us and gave us the pleasure to feel free again. Running, laughing and smiling is what we like to see on their small faces no matter how tired sometimes we feel: this is our paradise.


The main reason that brought us to Kalavasos was the only train in Cyprus which is a mining train that could be seen exactly from the playground. It is left on a small bridge which makes it look like a small treasure of Cyprus.




Living the playground you could see the signs that bring you to the Kalavasos Tenta. Together with Choirokoitia, Kalavasos-Tenta provides evidence for the initial establishment, at the end of the 7th millennium B.C., of sedentary communities on the island, who originated from the neighboring mainland. These communities developed an original civilization: the Cypriote Ceramic Neolithic.


We choose to pass the village and to see a beautiful sunset over the dam. The sun was already dying today. And there were only us, the stone lake, the lonely road and the crying mountains.






Returning in the village you could be surprised that people are there moving, smiling, living their peaceful lives. This is Cyprus.





Kalavasos Tenta
District Larnaka
Opening hours:
Winter hours (16/9 - 15/4)
Monday - Friday: 8.30 - 16.00
Saturday, Sunday: closed

Summer hours (16/4 - 15/9)
Monday - Friday: 9.30 - 17.00
Saturday, Sunday: closed

Entry fee: €1,70


Lots of sunny days from Izzy the Cypriot Lizard!

Aphrodite Hills Resort - The right place for the summer

Hello everybody,

I was very happy to see Aphrodite Hills Resort again yesterday, as it was not like the previous time but much much better. Aphrodite Hills Resort is a golf resort, with luxury homes, hotel, restaurants and lots of facilities about which you can have a detailed look on their website.




My personal interests are going out with the kids and have a nice evening and this is what I was very happy to find and enjoy: a spectacular evening with kids along.
First of all even if you do not count yourself between their luckiest guests, you could still make a visit probably the best while, are you going towards the beautiful “Petra tou Romiou”. From Limassol – Paphos highway just take the Aphrodite Hills Resort exit and here you are.
There is a very nice and big outdoor playground with slides for all ages, swings, climbing areas, sand and all sorts of games. Don’t forget to bring some sand toys with you!  They have a small football field for kids and also a basketball field so be prepared with a ball too. This place is like heaven especially if you are going there after the heat goes down, is chilly and you can enjoy a short walk trough the beautiful resort.








What I find new is the family bicycle (if I can say like that! – see the photo) that you could rent beginning with 10 euro for 30 minutes. They look great and a good fun for everyone.




After you had finished all the kids energy you could stop for a nice dinner at one of their restaurants as they have so many for all the tastes and feelings so to name a few: Chinese, Italian, traditional, Costa Coffee, Hagen Daze, (some of them open only seasonal between April and October months). We were there on Sunday evening so they had live peaceful Greek music just to entertain and relax. Grate atmosphere I have to tell you everything was perfect.




The one that I liked the most was their new Beer Garden were you could stay for a nice beer and do not feel like you are taking your kids to a bar (I hope you know what I mean!). They had a very nice selections of beers, nice music, a large green grass patio for the kids to run and of course plenty of kids.








So imagine after having a nice beer there (alcohol free!) I could say that this was a heaven on earth for me. I love you Aphrodite Hills!

Lots of sunny days from Izzy the Cypriot lizard!

Aphrodite Hills Resort
Entrance free
Phone no: +357 26 828000
Address:
3, Aphrodite Avenue
Kouklia 8509
8072 Paphos

Lots of sunny days from Izzy the Cypriot Lizard!



Kelefos, Roudia, and Elia the most beautiful Venetian bridges in Cyprus

Hello everybody,

As the days get hotter and hotter we are less interested to go to the beach and we are trying to find places to stay in the shade as high as we can, up in to the Troodos mountains.
Going with the kids to this kind of trips is always a new experience for us. We ask ourselves what we are going to find over there, what we are going to do. Surprisingly they always found something to do.

Kelefos Bridge

Roudia Bridge


The pleasure to see these bridges stays in the beauty of time and nature. Even now in August there was a river under each of these bridges and amazingly all sorts of people finding all sorts of activities to do there. Imagination and the wheel of doing something relaxing is sometimes better then anything else.


Kelefos Bridge


Elia Bridge


People just sitting on their chairs on the shade, people gathered together around tables having a nice late afternoon lunch or just sipping a cup of home made coffee, people walking, people reading books, people watching other people around them, people eating a nice ice cream, people like us looking for a nice photo, people with kids just throwing some stones in to the water.

Kelefos Bridge
Roudia Bridge

Roudia Bridge




It seams like each of the bridges appears out of nowhere, hidden well between the tall trees they are like paths in our wish to make our dreams come true. We are looking at the peaceful waters being there then and today running. Imagining the people they build the bridges then… the new people of today… us looking to the future.
Kelefos Bridge


Elia Bridge



I am not going to write a lesson of history about them I am just telling you that it’s worth visit them and depending of the age of the participants you can do by car or walking on trail in one or two days. Even if we drive to see them I believe that walking could be the most interesting way. The road takes you trough one of the most shaded areas of Cyprus so it is a very nice experience also for the summer as long as you have enough water with you.






Directions:

To Elia bridge:
From Limassol, take the road to Troodos. After Trimiklini there is a Lukoil petrol station. Turn left immediately after it, towards Mandria, Kato Platres.
Pass Mandria and enter Kato Platres.
Turn left towards Foini, Agios Dimitios. After few km you have to turn left and follow signs to Agios Dimitios.
From Agios Dimitrios village follow the road to Tris Elies and then to the last village Kaminaria.
At the end of Kaminaria the road continues on asphalted road toward Elia Bridge.

From Elia Bridge the road continues to Kelefos Bridge and Agios Nikolaos.

To Kelefos bridge:
You can reach Kelefos Bridge from Elia Bridge or from Agios Nikolaos village.
To reach to Agios Nikolaos village from Limassol, take the road to Troodos. After Trimiklini there is a Lukoil petrol station. Turn left immediately after it towards Mandria.
When you reach Mandria turn left over a bridge towards, Agios Nikolaos.
As soon as you enter Ayios Nikolaos, you will see a brown board pointing towards the right for Kelefos Bridge.
From here there are about 6km on earthen road to reach the bridge.

To Roudia bridge:
The road to Roudia Bridge starts from Kelefos Bridge. Take the road across the river through the water and follow the earthen road for about 10 km. In about 3 km you will reach to Pera Vasa picnic place. You will see a tree trunk on display, just near the place where it grew. I believe this supposed to be the oldest and biggest tree in the area.

Continue the road, pass Pera Vasa Picnic site and you will come to a T-junction, where you have to turn right, towards Mylikouri.
Keep going on and, as a rule of the thumb, at any small junction just follow the road that has more tire marks on it. You will come to a big fork in the road with a bench and a sign that marks the Venetian bridges trail. Take the road going right (and downwards).
You will reach to another junction with pointing sign toward Pano Panagia (25km). Take this road.
Later you find sign for Agios Ioannis, take this road. The road will start to go down.
When you see the brown sign “Gefyri tou Roudia”, you just reach to the bridge.

From the bridge there are 2 ways out. The one you came on and another one that crosses a new bridge climbs up and continues toward Pano Panagia (about 17 km). Only there you will find asphalted roads again.


Kelefos Bridge





GPS coordinates:
Kelefos Bridge:
N 34° 53.378 E 32° 44.827
36S E 476893 N 3860833

Roudia Bridge:
N 34° 53.500 E 32° 41.250
36S E 471446 N 3861074
Coordinates:
Latitude: 34.891667
Longitude: 32.6875
Coordinates DMS:
DMS Lat: 345330
DMS Long: 324115

Elia Bridge:
N 34° 53.753 E 32° 46.446
36S E 479360 N 3861520
Coordinates:
Latitude: 34.895833
Longitude: 32.775
Coordinates DMS:
DMS Lat: 345345
DMS Long: 324630



Lots of sunny days from Izzy the Cypriot Lizard!