Ayia Napa, Cyprus

It's not Greece and it's not Turkey. It's Cyprus. As large as Cornwall, with two airports bringing countless tourists from mainly the UK, Russia and Germany, to enjoy a handful of destinations mostly along the bottom two thirds of its aqua coloured coastline. We came to Ayia Napa, situated on the east coast, close to the border that splits north and south Cyprus.

I always imagined Ayia Napa to be a place for hipsters and clubbers all rolled into one; clubsters, but that must be a myth? I never saw an inch of nightlife, instead finding families with small babies, enjoying the easiness of the resort and its 'no problem' attitude.

I certainly left my worries behind. I think they may have been dropped on the floor at home somewhere around the time I was emptying the bins, bleaching the bogs, or hoovering - what is it about leaving a clean home?




It was a wonderful break away, full of endless days that you wish could somehow stretch even further. The previous Easter festivities meant that Lyme soon caught up with me and I slept loads initially, dropping off there and here. Mingling with the poolside furniture 'til I got to know a favourite.

Airbnb came up trumps as a last minute decision. The charming three bed was a bargain, the owner dropping the price just prior to our booking. Didn't think that happened anymore? We got lucky.

We also got lucky with the weather. The weather is bloody awesome in Cyprus most of the time, Easter or October half term being the ideal time to go with young children. It's not uncomfortable then, although saying that, we had a couple of days at 27, the rest of the time a perfect 23/24: Blue skies and the sort of heat that warms you through nicely. Mind you, after the freezing start to Spring that the UK's endured, 24 was always going to feel very hot. I'll leave it at that, not wanting to push it or anything.

The beaches are lovely, many of them Blue Flag. The water is pristine and in part - particularly on local Nissi Beach - the sand is white. The kids snorkelled loads, and saw so many fish, they were in awe. Fia referred to the snorkel as a snort hole which I personally think is better and have since adopted for the rest of my days.

The only thing about Nissi beach being so picture perfect, is that it is busy - full of picture perfect people. I'm always amused by those that can stand body beautiful in front of the entire world, scantily clad, even then bikini bottom missing so as to encourage the best tan. One couple were stood over everyone else for at least an hour catching the last rays, seemingly unaware of the red hue that had angrily crept over them that afternoon. They both stood out like sore bums(!).

Be warned. Fia had a repeated covering of SPF45 and still managed to burn, her fair skin not sure what to make of the sudden and permanent appearance of an unfamiliar round ball of fire in the sky, apparently known to everywhere else but the UK, as the sun. Fortunately, we took an all-natural moisturiser with us (a blog review, I'll post soon) - a godsend.

The evenings passed in swift succession and our week dwindled as quickly as each day's setting sun. Blood orange, we enjoyed the palm filtered mellow light it afforded.

Of course one of the great delights of being away from home, is not having to cook. Dining out was a steep learning curve. We found our first restaurant experience dire. The next expensive. We worked it out eventually. One of the places we went to - for the kids - had live music for the adults, which was absolutely incredible. The Bedrock Cafe for anyone that's interested. Food for me (courtesy of Lyme) consisted of mainly salads and fresh fish. Of course everywhere offers an English kids menu - chips with everything. My advice? Stick to traditional Greek Cypriot and you can't go wrong.

So that's food, sun, sea, beach, pool, accommodation and nightclubs covered, and to be honest that pretty much sums up our holiday. We didn't do much else. We hired a car (Europcar £80 for a week) and used it to travel short distances to check out a couple of other beaches, but that was all. This was time spent chilling.

One week on, I returned to that clean home to spend time wistfully looking at the weather app for Cyprus, wishing we'd booked 10 days not seven, trying hard to find reasons to be happy about being back in Blighty... Hold it. There may just be one... what's that? The mention of a potential heatwave arriving next week? Bring it on!