Diary of life in Neo Chorio

Notes from Neo Chorio

Well it is nearly a month since I arrived back in Neo Chorio and I am settling back into village life, such as it is at the moment. My journey to Cyprus was fairly uneventful. I got the bus from Portland over to the train station. I stopped off at Greggs in the petrol station for a bacon baguette and a latte only to be told that as it was after 11:00 they were not doing breakfast, apparently a bacon baguette constituents a breakfast snack, so I had a pepperoni pizza slice instead! The train was very empty, I think there were only two or three people in my carriage it when we left Weymouth and very few people got on it on the way to Southampton.

Top tip, if you are travelling to Gatwick, or even London by train it is much cheaper and sometimes even more convenient to go via Barnham rather than take the direct service to London Waterloo. I changed at Southampton for the train to London Victoria via Barnham. However if you are going to Gatwick you usually have to change at Clapham, and also sometimes Woking which is a lot less civilised. If you are going to London you can change at Three Bridges or Gatwick and get the train to London Bridge rather Victoria, which cuts out the journey from Waterloo or Victoria if you are heading to the East side of London! My single ticket to Horley, where I was staying the night was £18.45 with a network railcard. While I was waiting for the train to London Victoria I had another latte and a slice of walnut cake from the Isaac Cafe on the central platform of Southampton Central, where the Gatwick/Victoria train departs from.

Anyway after changing at Gatwick airport I arrived at Horley train station at about 16:15, which was just about on time and walked to the White House Hotel, where I was staying the night. I have stayed there several times, so I knew where it was, near the town centre convenient for the station. When I arrived there was no one there although the front door was open, eventually the night porter turned up and booked me in. The hotel itself was in almost total darkness, with the restaurant and the bar both closed. I had expected this, I may have been the only one staying there that night. The night porter told me that they weren't doing transfers to Gatwick Airport and gave me the number of a taxi firm, however I decided to take the bus to the airport in the morning.

I had dinner and several pints of beer at 'Ye Old Six Belles' Pub which is about 200 yards down church lane, across the main road, from where the White House Hotel is situated. The next morning I got the 100 Metro Bus to the North Terminal at Gatwick Airport at 04:36 from the bus stop outside the Lidl in the centre of Horley I could've got the 5:36 bus but as I wasn't sleeping well and had woken up I decided there was no point in hanging around.

At just before 5 o'clock I was one of the first passengers to arrive at the airport. Security were being really thorough just to keep themselves amused I think. I had to take, my shoes off for the first time in ages and was even patted down, after I had been through all the scanners. Hardly any cafes or restaurants were open, even the Wetherspoon's was closed, so I had a latte and a bacon/sausage roll at Pret a Manger while I waited for the gate to be announced. Pret a Manger was busy because it was the only place open and

I later realised that nearly everybody there was on my flight. I looked at the flight board and saw there were about 12-15 flights on it, I thought to myself these must just be the morning flights but then I looked at the times and realised that they were all the flights for the day! The Easyjet flight to Cyprus was quite full, however as I was right at the back I had a whole row to myself.

As I hadn't slept well the previous night and had had a tiring journey the previous day I slept virtually through the whole flight, only waking up to be served coffee and a snack by the sweet air hostess. There was only one row behind me, I think the bloke sitting there was a smoker as he was vigorously chewing gum and coughing throughout the flight. He wasn't very keen on wearing his mask, the air hostess had to frequently ask him to cover his mouth and nose with it! We touched down in Cyprus and it was a hot sunny day.

We were dealt with efficiently at the airport. As I now have an MEU1 and have the right to reside in Cyprus, I was tested for Covid on arrival at the airport. I paid by card and it cost me 55 euros. They seemed to be testing everyone. The test itself was fine, one swab stick was used to collect a sample from each side of the mouth and another was used to take a sample from the nose, this was pushed up a long way, which felt strange but didn't hurt.

I had arranged a transfer from Paphos airport to the old town, where I get the bus to Polis. Sometimes I take the bus from the airport to the harbour and then another bus to the old town but with Covid I didn't really know what things would be like so I decided to travel as directly as possible. I was the only person on the transfer, normally there would be a minibus full of tourists going to various hotels and holiday apartments. I was dropped off in the old town. On the way to the temporary bus station, below the market place, (the main bus station is being rebuilt), I stopped off at the Kavva Cafe at the market place, overlooking the harbour. The owner was having his lunch but leapt up to greet me like an old friend or at least a paying customer!

I had a discussion with an Ex Pat couple on the next table about whether the Xmas Panto at Empa Theatre was still happening, I said oh no it wasn't, they said oh yes it was! Turns out they were correct, although I didn't end up going! After I had had a beer it was time to get the bus to Polis. For some reason the bus did a diversion around the government and business district, so it was late getting to Polis, I just missed my connection to Latsi, which was just pulling out as my bus arrived.

As I had an hour to kill before the next bus I decided to have something to eat and went to Costas Corner, which funnily enough is on the corner of the main restaurant and bar street in Polis, just opposite the bus station. There I had something to eat and another beer. Jay the lovely Lithuanian barmaid told me that all the bars and restaurants were going to be closed from the Friday, (this was Wednesday), until further notice, they still haven't reopened. I got the bus to Latsi marina where I picked up some essential supplies at the supermarket there and then got a taxi up the hill to my apartment, where I arrived about 5 o'clock. Everything in my apartment was OK, so I put the kettle on and made some tea. I had finally arrived back at my apartment!

Anyway this concludes my gripping account of my journey to my apartment in Cyprus. For those of you that can't wait my next instalment will be about my walks around the village and the surrounding countryside, trips to the beach, marina and town as well as the Xmas Celebrations.

I'll leave you with a cliffhanger, do I make it to a bar on Thursday in time for last orders before they close on the Friday?