In cyprus with my sweetheart

I’m sure it’ll be no surprise but out of all the horrible things that COVID caused, the lack of holidays was the worst bit for me. So naturally, now that things are starting to open back up again, I’m making up for lost time! The last week of August was meant to be attempt number 2 at our African safari (attempt number 3 now booked for 2022) so with the time already booked off work, me and Ollie start browsing for a bit of summer sun. You’d think that right now, I’d be happy with anywhere, but I’m still very much hungry to tick new places off my list where I can, so Cyprus (where I’ve wanted to go for 2 years now) came out as the winner. Despite them being on our amber list, all you needed for entry was proof of full vaccination (which both of us now have) so it meant fewer costly tests than some destinations on our green list. It’s been a loooong time since I’ve done an all-inclusive, lying-around-doing-nothing holiday and it was exactly what I was craving so we booked a week at the Leonardo Plaza Cypria Maris in Paphos (through Thomas Cook).

The flight times to Cyprus were not ideal whatsoever so we arrived at our hotel at around 11pm, although we were greeted with champagne so it wasn’t all bad! The hotel had been an absolute brain scramble to book, because they have SO many different room types with all very similar sounding names and after finally choosing the one we wanted, it became a moot point because we got upgraded on arrival anyway. Not exactly a bad problem to have though, as it meant we were on the top floor with a deluxe room and perfect sea views. Plus the deluxe rooms had jazzy features like ‘do not disturb’ and ‘make up my room’ buttons, a pillow menu and a nespresso machine (which didn’t have the right plug to be able to be used but still). The hotel also had “5” restaurants. I use quotation marks because one of them was just an outdoor area of the main buffet restaurant, and one was a snack bar rather than a restaurant, but they did have a Greek a la carte restaurant and Asian a la carte restaurant in addition to the usual main buffet one. Plus it was right on the beach and had a water sports stall just next to it. Overall, super happy with the hotel and I’d highly recommend.

As you know, I normally write all of my holiday/weekend/lifestyle blog posts in chronological order, but if I were to do that with this one then I'd be writing 'sunbathed, read my book and napped in the sunshine' 7 times over. No one needs to read that that many times! So instead, I thought I'd do a little summary of the day time best bits. Not that I didn't love the sunbathing, reading and napping just as much! Something I was really excited for when we booked the hotel was the swim-up bar, which I initially thought might be positioned next to the main pool. It actually had a complete separate pool next to it which was almost clover-shaped and acted as 4 little jacuzzis all together. Me and Ollie certainly made the most of the all inclusive cocktails in there, sitting in the pool for a few hours during the hottest part of the day (on most days)! We also took advantage of the water sports company that was just next to our hotel and we did parasailing and jet skis! I love parasailing and have done it a couple of times before and although I've done jet skis a couple of times before too, it's always been with a passenger on the back of me. So having one to myself was a different experience and a really good one at that. It also meant I could rev it a lot harder (since my previous 2 passengers had been mum and little Katie who are largely both scaredy cats).

Having never been to Cyprus before and not wanting to have to return to the same place in quick succession, I wanted to feel like we had seen atleast a bit of the island outside of our hotel. I love doing boat trips (whether it's in Croatia or York) so naturally that's what I was on the hunt for. After a bit of searching, we found a day trip that was half a bus tour and half a boat trip, with visits to a fishing village, vineyard and winery and the blue lagoon included. Which sounded right up my alley! In reality, it was a bit of a chaotic mixed bag to be honest. After we got on the coach, we were told they were swapping the order of things as the weather was meant to change in the afternoon so we were doing the boat trip first (not ideal but no biggie). The port latchi was so pretty and we got on a 2 decker boat that took us out on the blue lagoon. Honestly it was so beautiful and some of the bluest water I've ever seen. When we dropped anchor, we had the chance to jump in and have a swim, which was meant to be for like an hour. What actually happened was that the water started getting really choppy and wild so they called us back in after 5 minutes and we started to make our way back in what can only be described as a nightmare journey. The boat was swaying this way and that with people feeling seasick all over the place! The people on the boat set out free wine after our swim and I could barely hold it up to drink it because the boat was throwing me around so much! I felt like I was in a real life remake of the boat storm scene in Wolf of Wall Street.

Luckily, we did make it back all in one piece; a little traumatised and feeling like this was soooo not what we signed up for, but in one piece nonetheless. We then stopped off at the Aphrodite baths (the fountain of eternal youth and beauty) before we headed back to the fishing village port for lunch. Lunch was a real highlight of the day! We went to the restaurant that the tour guide recommended and she really saw us good on that one. Right on the beach with a menu bursting with incredible seafood and pasta dishes, we got a seafood platter for 2 which included a salmon fillet each, a lobster tail each and a giant prawn each, plus some fries and grilled vegetables. Obviously I got an aperol spritz to go with it, not least because I definitely needed a drink after the eventful morning!

The afternoon went a little downhill as it was just lots of sitting on a hot coach and getting ferried around with 50 of the most annoying people they could seemingly find on the island. The vineyard and winery was more like a giant supermarket where you could sample a thimble of wine in a plastic cup, rather than any kind of "wine tasting" I've ever done, but we did learn a lot of interesting stuff about Cyprus and the shipwreck was really cool to see too. A bit hit and miss overall but certainly a day to remember!

Right so I will do the night time content in chronological order because there's food and fashion galore to discuss for every night! It's always tricky to choose your outfit for night 1 because you don't want to go straight out there with your dressiest outfit (or the one that looks best with a tan) but you don't want to waste an insignificant one (if like me, you always bring a few spares). So I settled with shorts and a dressy top! Both were from shein and I love the pastel palette and pattern of the top as well as the off-the-shoulder style. I added cream heels and cream bag and chunky gold chain to finish the look. It was only the people of our hotel that got to enjoy my outfit, as we headed to the hotel buffet for dinner. When we initially booked the holiday, I said we should use the all inclusive for food in the daytime and all our drinks but then eat out at night but Ollie wasn't sure on the idea. After night 1 at the buffet, he soon came around to my way of thinking! The buffet wasn't bad per se; I just don't think the buffet experience is a night time one. I like my food brought to me and my wine served from a bottle rather than a serve-yourself tap. 

So on night 2, we headed towards the centre of Paphos in search of a restaurant and quickly came to a cute little Italian with outdoor seating and staff that were the literal Cypriot equivalent to the team at Amores back home in Beeston! The food was incredible there; I had beef carpaccio (fave) followed by salmon in pesto sauce and it was amazing. Since we were out-out, I went with a slightly dressier outfit. Having not been very enthusiastic about dresses for a number of years now, I'm finding myself in a dress-loving phase at the moment, whether it's for daytime or evening. I love the porcelain-esque print of this red and white number and it's a lovely skater shape with a really flattering neckline. I kept my accessories a little simpler on this night and let the dress do the talking, although I couldn't resist a colour pop red lip to match.

After making our decision re restaurants, we planned ahead for the coming nights so I already knew we were going out to a French restaurant when I planned my outfit. This orange skirt has been a favourite for years now, especially on holiday, and this time around I wore it with a new black bardot top with beautiful crochet trim neckline. You may have noticed that when I'm at home, I play it very samey with my hair. It's always either straight, curly, or some level inbetween. But on holiday is the one time I seem to play around with it a bit more so I completed my look with a sleek high ponytail, dangly butterfly earrings and a glossy lip. And it wasn't only the hairstyle department where I was feeling experimental. I went all-in with the French cuisine when we got to the restaurant and ordered frogs legs to start! I'm happy I tried them but I can't say I'd order them again; they tasted just like chicken wings but even more fiddly and annoying. The main and dessert were incredible though; camembert topped veal steak followed by crème brulee. Tres bon! (that A in French is still serving me well, as you can see).

At the hotel, you got a complimentary visit to each of their a la carte restaurants so the following night we were in-but-out. It was Greek night which was as close to the local cuisine as we'd tried so far so I was excited for this one. The food didn't disappoint! We had a mixed set mezze menu that seemed to come out by the tray load; Greek salad, pitta, dips, halloumi, feta topped aubergine, meatballs over couscous, cheese-filled ravioli, moussaka, chips and a mixed meat platter, followed by a mixed dessert platter. We were so glad that our waiter warned us not to fill up on the earlier dishes, as we managed to keep going long enough to try everything. Outfit wise it was another oldie-but-goodie with a topshop playsuit that I've had for years and simply love to wear on holiday. I jazzed it up with my statement yellow Ted Baker bag which is a perfect one to pack because it's perfectly flat as well as perfectly gorgeous!

Dinner on Thursday was the one I'd been most excited for as we were heading to a South African restaurant, which I'm pretty sure I've never tried before. I was excited about the outfit too as I went with black shorts, black lace up heels and one shoulder nude polka dot top with a tie at the top. I again added the Ted Baker bag for a pop of colour and straightened my hair with a centre parting. Although it was somewhat a waste of time straightening it! At 80ish% humidity, Cyprus and my hair were not friends and whatever I did to it, it ended up at the same level of frizz by the time I'd sat down at the table! Luckily I was there to enjoy the food instead of my own reflection, and the restaurant theme was done so nicely with fairy lights covering an open terrace and lots of safari paraphernalia everywhere (particularly fitting as we were meant to be on safari). The menu was filled with incredible sounding steaks but we opted for the meat mezze in a bid to try a bit of everything. With the advice from the waiter at Greek night still fresh in our ears, we tried to pace ourselves with the food but to no avail. We quickly felt like we were on man vs food as the amazing dishes just kept coming, each one bigger and bigger than the last one. We even thought the waitress was joking when she still said we had another dish to come (after eating the equivalent to a small horse each) but there were no jokes. Just even MORE food! It was all incredible but wow were we stuffed by the end of it.

It was another night at our hotel for our kind-of last night (last night staying over) and this time we were at the Asian a la carte. I always save the best until last with my holiday outfits and this dress is simply a dream; the cut, the fit, the colour, the pattern, the fabric. All 10/10! The evening as a whole was a dream too, as the Asian restaurant was set just back from where the hotel had live entertainment every night so this was the perfect backdrop to our meal. I feel like the entertainment was where you could really tell it was an adult-only hotel. No cringey magicians or karaoke nights in sight; there were violin duos, piano players, boybands singing in beautiful foreign languages and singers doing Amy Winehouse classics. Not only was the entertainment perfect, but the meal was too. We both had sushi followed by stir fry dishes, followed by chocolate mousse (the latter not being particularly Asian but lovely all the same).

Our flight home was at about 11pm the next day which was a bit of a strange experience as we checked out of our room in the morning, had a full day soaking up the sun, the sea and the all inclusive cocktails, had a shower in one of the shower rooms and then got ready for the evening as if we weren't about to fly home in a couple of hours. We headed to the hotel buffet one last time and I was reminded again why we'd eaten out all holiday (having sat down at the table with the most random collection of beige foods you've ever seen together on one plate). After a few last drinks and a cheers to the end of an amazing holiday, we headed to the airport to wave goodbye to Cyprus. What a great time we had finally ticking it off our list!