Although it's not January, I have made a new resolution; to start living like a visitor to Larnaca.
As a writer, I am always extolling places to visit and things to do both in our town and across the island, but I have only actually done/seen a fraction of them myself.
On Easter Monday, we went to CyHerbia in Avgorou for an egg hunt then onwards to Agia Napa for lunch and a stroll around the harbour. It was a glorious, sunny day and as we had my mother-in-law visiting from the UK, I felt like I was on holiday, experiencing the day and its sights through her eyes.
When you live somewhere, it's easy to get caught up in the every day routine with its stresses and strains, forgetting to enjoy everything your hometown offers. In our case, we don't always feel like it, but for many, Larnaca truly is paradise. What a shame it is that we do not stop, appreciate and absorb our paradise.
And the crazy thing is, so many of the activities and sights cost peanuts to enjoy; our museums are very cheap, a walk down the salt lake, Kamares or seafront is free, it costs nothing (except petrol) to visit a traditional village, and there are always free events on too – some of them pretty major sporting events. What excuse do we have not to discover or rediscover everything we are trying to promote to visitors to entice them?
Personally, I have never been skiing up the mountains, I have never been on a glass-bottom boat, I have never been to the Pierides museum or planetarium, I have never visited the artisan workshops, I have never explored Cape Greco. And I am ashamed to say that I haven't even visited the Larnaca district villages with the exception of a handful… the list goes on and on.
It's not that I stay at home all the time, cooped up. We do things as a family, we go places, we enjoy life, but for some reason, we seem to avoid tourist activities, just as most residents of wonderful cities around the world do.
When I lived in London, it was the same. But that was mainly because a visit to somewhere like Madame Tussauds is expensive, and with the miserable weather and the daily commute on the stuffy, dirty underground, I didn't really feel in the mood or have the wallet to be able to experience all the rich, historical things that London offers.
From now on, I am going to start looking at the event diary that I write in these pages and picking something new to do each week. I am going to make a list of everything I want to see on the island and work my way through it. I don't have to rush through it, it might take me years, and that's okay, because at the end of the day, everyday life does get in the way… but as long as I remember to stop and smell the roses sometimes, life on the island really can be paradise!
First appeared in The Cyprus Weekly, 26/04/14
