Searching for the key

The hills around Troöditissa Monastery

I wanna go on a bit of a driving tour today because it is the only way I can get to the places I want to go. It is some remote villages around the mountain in central Cyprus which is famous for the frescoes on the wall of the churches. I have been to a somewhat similar place in Romania and that was really impressive so I got big expectations for the day.

But there is a tiny problem with this plan. The car has got a misplaced steering wheel at the passenger seat which means you gotta change gear with your left hand. This is a little bit of a problem because when you need to put your car into first you generally have to pull the gearstick towards you - this is not the case when you are sitting on the passenger seat having to change gears. If you pull the gearstick towards you - you will end up in fifth gear and it is a bit hard to start the car when you have put in fifth. There is sort of the same thing when it comes to hitting second and forth but this works somewhat better.

Troöditissa Monastery

Well of I go up to the mountains where there is some churches somewhere. But first I am going to find a couple of old Venetian bridges which were build so the Venetians could have caravans of camels carrying the produce of some cobber mines in the mountains down to the coast. These bridges are situated in small forest areas with a small stream running under them and they are pretty scenic.

Next up is a stop at the big Kykkos Monastery which is the most important religious building in all of Cyprus. It is placed up in the mountains but unfortunately it is sort of a bad weather day which means lots of low hanging clouds around to make fog over the monastery. There are lots of frescoes and mosaics on the walls with different scenes from the bible and there are also what appear to be saints of some later date. In the centre of the monastery is a big church where you unfortunately are not allowed to take pictures. But the churches are even more lavishly decorated than the rest of the buildings.

And then it is time to find those famous churches - I start looking and find one it is closed but there is a phone number - which do not answer. Great start on my trip around the churches - on to the next church after all there are ten to choose from - the holder of the key is supposedly hanging out in the local coffee joint - super just need to go there. Unfortunately the key holder has left for Lemosos for the day. Next church and wuhu it is possible to get into this one. But I must admit I am not overly impressed by this one or the next I go to. I try a last church but it is impossible to track down the key holder hence I give up and I have to start figuring out the way to Lefkosia.