When I talk to my students about statehood and recognition, I often use the example of the Turkish Republic of North Cyprus. And now here we are in this political anomaly, seeing it at first hand. We've found it a really delightful place to visit. Greeks, Romans, Franks, Venetians, Ottomans, and British have all left their (sometimes tragic) mark on these northern shores, and the number of historical sites is extraordinary. North Cyprus also offers another alluring glimpse of Turkey, which we so briefly tasted last year. Not all will see this as a good thing, of course, but for me it was a huge bonus.



Highlights:

1.
Staying in Girne. Walking the harbour (blue sky, bobbing boats, a girt big castle, and a backdrop of mountains); scrambling all over said castle (quite a workout, but it's very picturesque, and contains an amazing little time capsule in the shape of a recovered 300 BC shipwreck); and just enjoying the laid-back vibe of this beautifully situated little town.











2.
Lodging at The Dome, where Laurence Durrell once stayed. It may not overpower you at first sight, but its 1930s charms will grow on you, and the breakfast buffet will simply blow you away... Vast selections of olives, local cheeses, salad greens, and breads and savoury pastries; the best grilled tomatoes anywhere; fried halloumi; pitta bread encrusted with oregano or layered with spinach; a spicy egg, capsicum, and tomato dish (I think this is called menemen); rich yoghurt with cherry compote or honey... All exquisite.

3.
Visiting Gazimagusa. Venetian city walls, quaint streets, more ruined churches than you could possibly imagine, and a cathedral that has become a mosque (saw off the towers, add a minaret, and Bob's your uncle). On the way there and back from Girne, you really appreciate the coastal scenery of the wilder eastern end of the island, and the contrast between the craggy Kyrenian mountains and the wheat-rich plain (which used to be sea-bed, Durrell tells us).

















4.
Doing the antiquities at Salamis. The city was founded around 1075 BC, and was the biggest cheese on the island for more than 1,700 years. So Greeks, Romans, and Byzantines had a hand in shaping this place. Now it's tranquil, educational, and not a little humbling.











5.
Doing Gothic at Bellapais. This was the village where Durrell settled in the 1950s. We didn't look for his house, but we enjoyed visiting the incredibly beautiful Gothic abbey that attracted him there in the first place. Having read his descriptions of village life, I couldn't help wondering how the locals feel about the wave of popularity the village is now enjoying. How different a place it is now... We got there early, and the only thing disturbing our abbey visit was an enthusiastic man with a leaf-blower. But as we were heading out, the first tour parties were arriving. We shunned the vast Tree of Idleness cafe, and patronized instead the Ismail, which is part of a vast, venerable, and quirky building. We climbed to the roof terrace, past a caged ptarmigan, and enjoyed not only orange juice and cake, but the brightness of the flowers, the coolness of the morning breeze, and the aural melange of clucking ptarmigan, chirping birds, and classical music on the radio.

















6.
Hiking up to Buffavento Castle. If I'd known it was that far UP -- so very, very UP -- I might have demurred. But the views were extraordinary. As we were coming down, the call to prayer rang out from the nearest village, carrying extraordinarily across the dry, still landscape. Magical.







7.
Clambering around St Hilarion Castle. Not so remote as Buffavento, and not so high. But more extensive and more intact. The story about St Hilarion inspiring Walt Disney is not true, but it is nevertheless the sort of castle a child would imagine for a fairy-tale. And like all fairy-tales it has plenty of dark sides.









8.
Pacing Lefkosa (northern Nicosia). Approaching from the north, the city suddenly materializes in front of you. No long ribbon development of out-of-town commercial complexes. Just fields, and then a rather attractive, bright, low-rise city. The inner walled town (split in half, of course, by the Green Line) is full of beautiful architecture. Some has been nicely restored; some has pretty much tumbled down; some is half-way between the two states. But it's all interesting. There are a number of museums (we visited the Mevlevi Tekke, which commemorates Rumi's teaching and the order of so-called "whirling dervishes", and the Lapidary Museum, which is a little celebration of Gothic architecture). But if you have only a day in Lefkosa, focus on just walking. It's very rewarding.



















9.
Discovering and rediscovering Turkish food -- a doner chicken wrap from Halil Ibrahim Sofrasi in Girne was a big star for me, and Nigel's adana kebab got the thumbs up too; the salads everywhere were light, fresh, and interesting; at St Hilarion we had home-made cheese bread, full of herbs and onion and chunks of halloumi; and I finally got to try Turkish ice-cream, which has a different texture to common-or-garden ice-cream, and was served, as is traditional, with an amusing bit of hocus-pocus and sleight of hand.

10.
Discovering and rediscovering Turkish drinks -- ayran, fresh lemonade (so many versions, all delicious), fresh orange juice, rose milk, classic Turkish tea (in a glass), classic Turkish coffee (always served with a glass of water), clove and cinnamon tea, raki (neophytes as we are, we didn't realize we were supposed to mix it with water, to get the milky effect...), and Efes beer (both the "strong" one with the Efes label, and a lightly malted one labelled Bomonti)...

On our final morning, we had a lovely little breakfast at the Cypriot Swallow in Lefkosa, where we'd spent our last night. Fried halloumi, cigar borek, boiled eggs, hard cheese, feta cheese, cream cheese, tomatoes, cucumber, jalapeno, brown and white bread, preserves of fig, orange, and blackberry, halwa, coffee... All beautifully laid out for us in the turquoise-themed dining room.

Then we walked over the border to Lekosia (southern Nicosia), and out of North Cyprus.

The capital of Cyprus is touted to tourists as "the last divided capital of Europe". We can only hope that the outstanding issues between the two Cypriot polities can be speedily resolved.