A brief visit to Agia Napa

Last week, our friend Alison was here to help with the year-end accounts for Richard's work. All was completed in record time, so Friday was a free day. The weather was a little warmer than it had been, and the sun was shining... so we offered to take her out for the morning. Alison had never been to Agia Napa, which is about forty-five minutes away from here, and a popular tourist resort. We would never go there in the summer when the town is packed with people on 16-30s type holidays, along with vast quantities of intoxicating substances, both legal and illegal. 

But in February, rather like the last time I was in Agia Napa - just over a year ago - it's quiet, almost empty. 

Our first stop, as usual, was the monastery. This time, it was open so we wandered in. We were intrigued by this animal's head and had some debate about it; a brochure explained that it is supposedly a boar's head:

Here's a view of the cloisters:

Inside, there was still considerable renovation going on, so there wasn't a whole lot to see, but still, it was a peaceful place and good to spend a few minutes wandering around. 

Just outside the monastery entrance is my favourite gnarly tree: 

And, as usual, there were some rather lovable kittens who would love to have come with us. Mostly they moved too rapidly to be photographed, but I was rather taken with this one: 

We decided to walk down to the marina. Richard always likes to look at boats, I like the sea (and sea-breezes) and Alison was happy to see anything new. At least, until she spotted the rather gaudy boat approximately in the top middle of this picture: 

We wandered around, then stopped to watch some men who wanted to get a fishing boat onto a boat trailer, without getting their feet wet. They did manage eventually! 

We then looked for an ice-cream place, but almost everywhere was closed. Eventually we found one cafe that was open, which sold dessert-like ice creams. Alison had one, but Richard and I opted for coffee instead. 

Then we drove home, and I took a picture out of the car window. I didn't really capture the beauty of the day, or the sun glistening on the sea, but there's perhaps a hint of it: 

And here, less beautiful, is one of the small electricity plants for the island: 

Going to Agia Napa for a few hours off-season makes a pleasant outing from Larnaka; it's about 45 minutes' drive, so not something we'd want to do often, but around once a year is fine for me. The only time we do anything 'touristy' is when we have visitors!