Wednesday 27 Sept – Locked out in Larnaca

After packing our bags and saying farewell to our charming host Lucianne  we set off for our final walk around Valletta.  First stop a lovely outdoor restaurant opposite the cathedral for a delicious breakfast, then a stroll through the local street markets, a look at the churches of St Francis of Assisi and St Barbara, and a visit to the National Archaeological Museum to view farming implements from earlier than 5000BC, carved limestone and artefacts from the Temple Period of 4000BC and pottery and jewellery from the Bronze Age.  We then walked up to the Upper Barracks and sat in the shade until it was time to return to our apartment (through the throngs of tourists who had come off the four large cruise ships that had docked overnight), collect our luggage and be driven to the airport for our flight to Larnaca, Cyprus.

We were met at Larnaca by our friendly driver Salah and driven the short distance to our hotel in the main street of Larnaca, directly opposite a 10^th century Byzantine church.  The only problem was that the hotel was closed, there was no reaction to our repeated knocking and we received no response to our calls to the two numbers listed outside the hotel.  Fortunately a neighbour wandered up and showed us a secret hiding place in the wall of the hotel. We opened the hatch, sure enough, there was a set of keys with our name on it.  Welcome to Cyprus! We high-fived our saviour, found our room and immediately set off for a walk around the village-like town of Larnaca before settling on a lovely restaurant directly opposite the church.  We sat outside and had meatballs, haloumi and Greek salad, washed down with a local white wine, before returning to our hotel for the night.  Life’s an adventure!!