Saturday, 27 October 2012

Cyprus - Day 1

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 We’ve only been here for one day and it really feels like we are on holiday. We left a particularly grey and dreary Oxford yesterday. This morning when we came down from our hotel room for breakfast on the balcony, it was to a cloudless blue sky, bright sunshine (I’m going to buy sunglasses tomorrow) and a view of the sea. We were so very obviously newbies as Sophie yelled out “I can see the seaside”. All the other diners (many Germans, some Italians and Brits) turned and smiled. A couple of minutes into breakfast Sophie reached up to touch her hair, “My head is hot” she says. I don’t think that she remembers experiencing such lovely weather before in her lifetime.
 We went straight to the beach after breakfast and all spent a lovely couple of hours playing in the sand and splashing in the crystal clear water. I don’t think that Sophie remembers much about going into the sea (expect maybe some paddling in Pembrokeshire last Summer) so it was as if we were seeing her first responses to walking out into the waves. The joy and excitement on her face were great! I’m looking forward to more of it during our Summer in Melbourne this Dec/Jan. I’m afraid that I turned and said to Andrew that this was better than an Australian beach…….no mosquitoes, not too hot, warmer water….. do I lose my citizenship now?
 After a bus to the local town (which turned out to be closer than we’d thought – we walked back along the beach in 15 minutes) for lunch (giant chocolate milkshakes beforehand may have been a parental tactical error as they didn't eat any food!) we returned to the beach by the hotel for the afternoon. Sand and water really do supply endless entertainment!
I did, however, wonder whether it was worth coming all the way here at the end of the day, as we lay in bed talking about the events of our day. I asked Sophie whether she enjoyed being here on holiday and what she liked the most about today. She replied "when we went and saw Thomas" referring to a trip to Didcot a month ago to see Thomas the Tank Engine. Cue the large parent SIGH.

Some good quotes from Sophie today:
“We need that camera to make people say ‘Cheese’”.
“I do it all by my own”. I think that William used this same turn of phrase at the same age, perhaps it is a common stage of learning?

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