We packed our bags and headed out. As Bilbo said to Frodo: “You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to.” Like when Frodo left Bag End, we started with familiar terrain, in our case breakfast at 📍Cafe Toucan. It wasn't stellar last time but not bad either. This time around the execution was better, even the coffee. We didn't have to meet Merry and Pippin in Farmer Maggot’s field for some food so there’s that.
First, and only first breakfast taken care of, we jumped in the car to go hiking. The way Karine described the hike we were going in a cedar forest hiking in the shade of the trees with an about 300-meter elevation gain and some views. Like Gandalf sending Frodo to Rivendell thinking that the issue of the ring would be settled there for Frodo, but turning out to be a whole different adventure; what was promised and what was delivered turned out to be very different. Unlike Frodo, I didn’t get 185 days of misery, I got a 7km loop with 300-meter elevation gain on a dirt road in the middle of vineyards on top of a plateau with views all around the island. We got a much better deal!
The 📍Vouni nature trail wasn’t without its challenges. Not trying to upstage Frodo here, but, what should have taken us under two hours took us two and a half hours because we had to stop every 10 meters to take pictures. Walking in fields of vines in the process of being harvested with long sight lines to mountains and the coast, with beautiful puffy clouds in the skies, makes for beautiful sights. We ended up with 622 pictures to process. That’s roughly 4 pictures a minute. We had a lot of pictures of the same thing 10 meters to the left.
We didn’t hop on the back of eagles as the mountain exploded around us. We took our rental car and drove to our Airbnb in Kato Paphos (the lower neighborhood of Paphos, near the sea). Not really knowing Paphos when we booked, we landed in the main tourist area. The “downtown core” of Paphos is located a 45-minute walk north of where we’re staying. That’s also where our dinner reservation tonight is. We’re not stuck at the Prancing Pony inn and having to schelp the 64 kilometers to the Shire for a dinner with hobbits but it’s not near either.
We elected to have an apero on our patio while we did laundry and leave a little early, allowing us some time to stop at other restaurants on the way to reserve our next three dinners in the city. Good thing we did too as, while the first two we visited were happy to save us a seat for the our last two days, the last one could not. That’s when we learned that some dark wizard forecasted rain in the evening tomorrow, forcing some restauranteurs to close their terraces and limit space. Our weather app didn’t mention rain in the daytime at all. Maybe some rain during the night but that’s it. We chucked it to that restaurant being over cautious and reserved another place instead.
Dinner was at 📍Onar, a fancier restaurants than the others we’ve visited in Cyprus. Also, the first restaurant to offer us boiled haloumi cheese—halloumi’s origins being in Cyprus but typically served grilled. While I would not go for boiled cheese again, it was an interesting experience to say the least and the rest of the meal was well executed and delicious. Probably our best meal in the country yet.
Tomorrow we’re going for a slower rhythm and visiting ruins near the city. We’re leaving the car in its parking space and walking everywhere.
Places
Cafe Toucan · Limassol
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Vouni Trail, Paphos, Cyprus - 70 Reviews, Map | AllTrails
Experience this 4.2-mile loop trail near Pano Panagia, Paphos. Generally considered a moderately challenging route, it takes an average of 2 h 18 min to complete. This trail is great for hiking, and it's unlikely you'll encounter many other people while exploring. The trail is open year-round and is beautiful to visit anytime. Dogs are welcome and may be off-leash in some areas.
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Onar Pafos · Paphos
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