
Our first full day in Northern Cyprus was to explore the coastal town of Kyrenia its a small town with an impressive Byzantine castle at the entrance of the old harbour. with many waterside bars and restaurants along the waters edge, very picturesque indeed we spent some time meandering around the harbour and the small streets, after which we deposited ourselves in a very nice harbour side restaurant for a nice cool beer and some lunch and to watch the world go by. The town of Kyrenia was founded in 1200BC in 1191 the castle was captured by Richard the Lionheart on his way to Jerusaem on his third crusade. (he was a bit of a lad was our Richard) During British rule the town became the haunt of retiring (ex colonial) civil servants but when Turkey invaded in 1974 almost all greek Cypriots and british retirees fled. In the evening there is a nice little market selling local arts and crafts its only small but is worth visiting, Tip if you do plan on visiting the market get there early to witness the magnificent sunset over the mediterranean sea.

Sunset over Kyrenia