{"id":4665,"date":"2025-05-17T15:48:47","date_gmt":"2025-05-17T14:48:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/?page_id=4665"},"modified":"2025-05-17T16:07:10","modified_gmt":"2025-05-17T15:07:10","slug":"week-19-cyprus-mostly","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/?page_id=4665","title":{"rendered":"Week 19: Cyprus, mostly"},"content":{"rendered":"

The main event in the second week of May was a business trip to Cyprus, where we had 2 days of an important meeting gathering the heads of the IP offices of all 27 EU member states, and our office. It was quite a large gathering, as there were 2 people from each country, and about 10 of us from the EUIPO delegation. It was not the most interesting location: a posh beach resort about 7-8 km from Limassol, with nothing interesting within walking distance. Still, this was my first visit to Cyprus, so I was determined to take advantage of the opportunity. Our meetings were very intensive and lasted all of Tuesday and half of Wednesday; but fortunately our hosts had arranged some sight-seeing on Wednesday afternoon and evening.<\/p>\n

19_1<\/strong>
\nI start with a few images from the beach bar 100 Montaditos. I like going there mainly to watch the people on the promenade and on the beach itself:
\n\"1040871\"<\/p>\n

19_2<\/strong>
\n\"1040874\"<\/p>\n

19_3<\/strong>
\n\"1040873\"<\/p>\n

19_4<\/strong>
\nAn image from my local bakery. I am not the only one who combines walking the dog with buying bread:
\n\"1040876\"<\/p>\n

19_5<\/strong>
\nSunday the 4th was Mother’s Day here in Spain, so we went out for lunch at a Georgian restaurant. Since we were sitting outside, Mochi could join us, his first restaurant visit:
\n\"DSF0626\"<\/p>\n

19_6<\/strong>
\nI have come to really enjoy Georgian food, with khinkali <\/em>one of my favourites:
\n\"DSF0630\"<\/p>\n

19_7<\/strong>
\nMonday was a travelling day, starting with a 6:30 a.m. flight to Athens, a couple of hours layover there, and then a flight to Larnaca, finally arriving at the Parklane hotel outside Limassol around 5 p.m. The hotel’s atrium certainly looked impressive from the 3rd floor where my room was:
\n\"DSF0715\"<\/p>\n

19_8<\/strong>
\nOnce installed in my room, I went downstairs in search of refreshments. The hotel was right on the beach, and the bar certainly offered a pleasant setting for a (very expensive) beer:
\n\"DSF0721\"<\/p>\n

19_9<\/strong>
\nThe wind was blowing, and this kitesurfer was taking advantage:
\n\"DSF0724\"<\/p>\n

19_10<\/strong>
\nThe business part of the meeting was starting Tuesday morning. On Monday evening we had an informal dinner on the terrace near the pool:
\n\"DSF0731\"<\/p>\n

19_11<\/strong>
\n\"DSF0730\"<\/p>\n

19_12<\/strong>
\nI was surprised to see cats in a posh hotel like this. It turns out that Cyprus is full of them, and apparently they are treated well and so are not afraid of people:
\n\"DSF0734\"<\/p>\n

19_13<\/strong>
\nIt is Tuesday morning, and the meeting is about to start:
\n\"R001726\"<\/p>\n

19_14<\/strong>
\nTwo Polish ladies during a coffee break. Edyta (on the right) was president of the Polish Patent Office until the end of 2024. Since then, she has joined us as deputy executive director of our agency. I have known her for several years and like her very much:
\n\"R001734\"<\/p>\n

19_15<\/strong>
\nWe did have a proper photographer with us; Fany works in our communications department and recording the proceedings was her main task:
\n\"R001741\"<\/p>\n

19_16<\/strong>
\nWe finished the day’s meeting around 5 p.m., and I then went for a walk in the rather boring expat ghetto surrounding the hotel. Once again, I saw several cats along the way:
\n\"DSF0745\"<\/p>\n

19_17<\/strong>
\nTuesday evening we had the gala dinner of the event. Before that, the group photo was being taken. One of our colleagues, Marian, is trying to herd us all into the frame:
\n\"R001749\"<\/p>\n

19_18<\/strong>
\nJust before taking my seat at the dinner, I popped out to take a picture of the hotel terrace:
\n\"R001755\"<\/p>\n

19_19<\/strong>
\nThe table service was very attentive:
\n\"R001759\"<\/p>\n

19_20<\/strong>
\nTwo ladies from the Polish Patent Office, listening attentively to my colleague Rahul:
\n\"R001770\"<\/p>\n

19_21<\/strong>
\nAfter the food had been served, the waiters approached my table to offer coffee. I requested something stronger instead, and it proved a popular choice with people from the neighbouring tables as well:
\n\"R001778\"<\/p>\n

19_22<\/strong>
\nOn Wednesday we continued the meeting until lunchtime. Afterwards, our hosts had arranged a visit to an important archaeological site called Kourion, dating back to the 4th century BC. Here, the guide explains what we are about to see:
\n\"DSF0757\"<\/p>\n

19_23<\/strong>
\nView from Kourion of the Mediterranean coast. Not visible in the image is a British naval base, of which there are two in Cyprus:
\n\"DSF0766\"<\/p>\n

19_24<\/strong>
\nThe site consists of various houses and is a combination of Greek and Roman architecture. This is the House of Eustolius with some very impressive mosaics, from the Roman period in the 3rd-4th century:
\n\"DSF0760\"<\/p>\n

19_25<\/strong>
\nAncient water pipe. Since there was no way to pump water up in those days, the settlement was supplied with rain water collected at higher elevation and then piped down:
\n\"DSF0765\"<\/p>\n

19_26<\/strong>
\nThe amphitheatre was very impressive. Sadly, it is a reconstruction from the 1970s (but using original materials found on the site), with the original structure having been destroyed by a massive earthquake in 365. It is used for classical Greek plays, and occasionally Shakespeare plays are also staged here:
\n\"DSF0780\"<\/p>\n

19_27<\/strong>
\nSuddenly four musicians appeared and started playing:
\n\"DSF0784\"<\/p>\n

19_28<\/strong>
\nThen a group of dancers, first depicting some scenes from traditional Cypriot life:
\n\"DSF0786\"<\/p>\n

19_29<\/strong>
\nVarious dances followed, some unisex…:
\n\"DSF0794\"<\/p>\n

19_30<\/strong>
\n…others mixed:
\n\"DSF0798\"<\/p>\n

19_31<\/strong>
\nAnd then the grand finale:
\n\"DSF0802\"<\/p>\n

19_32<\/strong>
\nAfter the performance (which was very enjoyable) it was time to get on the bus again and drive about 30 km to an inland village called Vuoni. It is a very pretty place, located at 800 meters altitude (the name means “low mountain”). The population has been declining for several decades, falling from a high of more than 1200 in the 1940s to about 150 today. But the village makes a good living today from day trippers coming from Limassol and elsewhere in Cyprus. Many of the houses also appeared to be vacation home:
\n\"DSF0850\"<\/p>\n

19_33<\/strong>
\nAn impressive street sign:
\n\"DSF0882\"<\/p>\n

19_34<\/strong>
\nBut the street it points to is not very impressive:
\n\"DSF0881\"<\/p>\n

19_35<\/strong>
\nWe went on an organised walkabout, watched by the local cats:
\n\"DSF0829\"<\/p>\n

19_36<\/strong>
\nIt seemed that every 50 meters there was a table offering us food and drink. Everything was delicious but given that we were going to have dinner in the village taberna later, one had to exercise some restraint:
\n\"DSF0847\"<\/p>\n

19_37<\/strong>
\nThe local red wine was actually better than the red wine that was served during the fancy dinner in our hotel the night before:
\n\"DSF0849\"<\/p>\n

19_38<\/strong>
\nLearning to roll stuffed vine leaves:
\n\"DSF0853\"<\/p>\n

19_39<\/strong>
\nThe finished product:
\n\"DSF0854\"<\/p>\n

19_40<\/strong>
\nIrene is the head of the Cyprus IP office, and thus our host this week:
\n\"DSF0857\"<\/p>\n

19_41<\/strong>
\nA Polish selfie:
\n\"DSF0861\"<\/p>\n

19_42<\/strong>
\nThe village has a lovely small church:
\n\"DSF0865\"<\/p>\n

19_43<\/strong>
\nIt was a real treat to visit the church and to be able to take pictures. Usually, Orthodox churches forbid photography, but not here:
\n\"DSF0871\"<\/p>\n

19_44<\/strong>
\nSince my mother was Orthodox, I lit two candles in her memory, one for me and one for my sister:
\n\"DSF0874\"<\/p>\n

19_45<\/strong>
\nLater in the afternoon, we came across the local priest chatting with people on the main square:
\n\"DSF0886\"<\/p>\n

19_46<\/strong>
\nMy colleagues Edyta, Marian and Maria enjoying themselves:
\n\"DSF0887\"<\/p>\n

19_47<\/strong>
\nThere was also song and dance here:
\n\"DSF0889\"<\/p>\n

19_48<\/strong>
\nIt all ended like this, with several of my colleagues roped in, but I kept a safe distance most of the time, only approaching for quick snaps:
\n\"DSF0895\"<\/p>\n

19_49<\/strong>
\nThen it was time for dinner, a very pleasant informal affair with an abundance of food, so I had to apply myself. Here my colleague Antonio examines the local beer:
\n\"DSF0911\"<\/p>\n

19_50<\/strong>
\nWe also had a demonstration of the local sport–very impressive:
\n\"DSF0919\"<\/p>\n

19_51<\/strong>
\nI popped outside for some fresh air and was met with this lovely scene just outside the taberna:
\n\"DSF0912\"<\/p>\n

19_52<\/strong>
\nFinally, around midnight we were back at the Parklane hotel. The Alicante contingent was departing the hotel at 5 a.m. on Thursday for our flight to Athens and on to Alicante, so we said our goodbyes and turned in:
\n\"DSF0922\"<\/p>\n

More photos from Cyprus can be seen here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The main event in the second week of May was a business trip to Cyprus, where we had 2 days of an important meeting gathering the heads of the IP offices of all 27 EU member states, and our office. It was quite a large gathering, as there were 2 people from each country, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":4543,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4665"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4665"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4665\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4670,"href":"https:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4665\/revisions\/4670"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4543"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4665"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}