What started off as a romantic couple holiday for my parents, slowly turned into a full-on family trip. As soon as my sister found out that my parents wanted a cute little getaway to Cyprus, of course she had to join. Admittedly, I got the case of FOMO and booked my tickets the week after they did!

We went in the first two weeks of March 2023 and the weather was lovely. The sea and the swimming pool were still cold so we didn’t actually swim, but we had to chance to sunbathe and dip our feet in the pool.

We booked a 5 star hotel called Constantinos the Great Beach Hotel which is directly situated on the Protaras Beach.

Here a few pictures of the hotel:

I booked my own single room and luckily, my parents got upgraded to the suite with a front-facing sea view. What a sight to wake up to! Because of their amazing view, we did try to wake up at 4.30am one morning to try and see the sunrise. We did, but instantly regretted it as we were so tired and the sunrise was… unimpressive. It is a funny memory with all of us just randomly sitting in the balcony still half asleep whilst sipping green tea. My mum being my mum was the most energetic and chatty out of all of us :’) if only all of us were morning people!

In the hotel, there was daytime and evening entertainment. Everyone was super friendly and really got to know my parents in the two days before I joined them. My parents also made friends with a lot of the people staying in the hotel, so walking to our table during breakfast and dinner was always a sociable affair. The guy who owned the bar gave us free mocktails every night! When there was a pub quiz, he even tried to get us to cheat by acting out some of the answers behind the pillar – it was so cheeky but hilarious! Might start taking my parents with me on every trip!

We went for a walk one evening to see if there was anything open for my father to buy cigs. There are an array of shops, bars and restaurants near our hotel but hardly anything was open. It really just looked like a dead town – but I can imagine it being lively when its peak season. After walking for 15 minutes, we eventually found this cute little shop selling souvenirs, cigs, foods etc. I bought some really large Cypriot olives, as I loved the ones they served in the hotel breakfast! I am so glad we bought some here as we later found them in the Duty-free for 3 times the price. I would recommend you buy your goodies and food to bring back before you reach the airport.

For two evenings, we went to watch sunset in a nearby church. The Church of Prophet Elias is built on a steep Cliff in Protaras, 10 minute’s walk from our hotel. This chapel was built in 1984 and was built on the site of another smaller Byzantine chapel. Access to the chapel is a bit difficult as anyone who wishes to visit it has to climb 156 stairs! We loved our time up here and took some cute family shots. There were lots of cats playing with us. I am not a cat person but they were adorable and really friendly – too friendly that my dad was playing with them, forgetting that he sometimes get a reaction from them. He had a bit off a swollen eye for the rest of the night but luckily it went away by the morning – ooops!

One of the days, my lovely second-row cousin came to visit us as she also lives in Cyprus. She took us on a little road trip to Ayia Napa, which wasn’t too far from where we were staying. She took us to the most amazing seafood restaurant called Ocean Basket. We ordered the seafood platter and guys… it was beyond delicious!