Olive's blog

It was some experience, watching Marcos Baghdatis play at the National Tennis Centre in Nicosia for Davis cup on 13th April.

It was a mercilessly hot afternoon and everything else about the match was very Cypriot too. The charged atmosphere, slogan shouting crowds, the horns reminiscent of a football game, the heaving coffee stalls, the smell of souvlakia and Marcos who communicated with the crowds all the time and played for them.

It was an easy win for Marcos, but the poor Slovenian did not have a chance. The crowd leaves no doubt at all about whose side they are on. It would be a surprise if even top seeded players like Federer or Nadal could win against Baghdatis in Cyprus. The kind of adulation and oneness with the spectators that he enjoys is unbelievable.

On a recent trip to Akamas we took the road from Latsi to Pegeia for Paphos. It was evening and the sun was setting on the west coast of Cyprus -let's follow this sunset:

The Akamas Peninsula at the western coast of Cyprus is a place of stunning beauty. It’s a perfect place to get in touch with all the elements of the island’s natural beauty in one place – the hills , the sea, the greenery and the goats!
Its part of European Commission's Mediterranean protection programme.

We went for a day out not expecting much, having packed our lunch we left early afternoon and set for the hills of Troodos without really any gameplan.We then remembered someone praisng Venetian bridges, so we said, "let's go!".
After the last leg of a drive through the Troodos mountains and having gasped upon its vallies, we got to our destination and ....

All Aboard! Lay Off!
With those words we left the old port in limassol and made for the crystal clear waters of the Mediterranean Sea. We weren’t going to go far out, but it was just a sort of “Coastline Cruise”.
We had to battle the midday sun but the view made up for that. You look back and you see a perfectly symmetrical stream of white foam the outboard motors leave behind, look forward and you see the front cutting through the water like a knife through butter.
Over to the left was the multi coloured shoreline with a thick canopy of trees in the middle, the glass – hi tech building behind and the sandy beaches in front full to the brim mostly with tourists but also a fair amount of locals too.