We flew into Cyprus, grabbed our rental car and drove to our hotel in New Helvetia in Platres—a small beautiful mountain town.
Although this picture does not show the hairpin drive up to the entrance- one can feel it!
The hotel is about 100 years old- but excellent and a bargain!
One side of the room is down stairs and it contains the bathrooms and the bed,
and the stairs going up contain the television and reading couches. The porch has chairs and are semi-enclosed and separated from your neighbor with a view of the hill side.
I took this picture from the balcony looking down to see how many were still eating. And as you probably noticed my camera is having troubles and there were no postcards to be had I found out later.
After settling in we decided to see our small town.
The first stop was Choirokoitia, an ancient site existing from around 4,000 B.C.
Lying at the crossroads of Egypt, Persia, Greece, Rome, Turkey, and among others who were interested in their rich copper deposits. Their name Cyprus came from Kypors which meant copper.
The trasnition between the Stone and Bronze age was called the Chalolithe- and was the site we were heading for. The Troodos moutains had a large deposit of copper.
A Neolithic village, in the 2nd half of the 7th millennium B.C. Choirokotia was inscribed on the UNSEC world heritage list.
The “house” consisted of a group of these structures around an open space where all were installed for growing and storing corn. Light came through the openings in the walls for visibility. Their custom was to bury the deceased inside the bottom of the pit so that the families could remain together.
We were tired and hungry when returning from this excursion so I leaned out over the balcony to see how crowded the dinning area was. It showed very few people.
So we ended up having lunch in the bar and discovered the huge tree trunk growing there. It was planted by our hostess grandfather. He was revered by both his family and the town. And by the picture of his last car embedded in the outside patio wall.
Mike thinks it’s a Morris Miner car of the 50’s.
I included this picture because I thought it revealed the attitudes and ambiance of both the lovely hotel blending with the early Fall season at the outside dining area.
We will get to the wine areas next time!
2Independent-Travelers 