Here I am in a room at the Holiday Inn, where I arrived late last night - plane was late as usual! But our driver was waiting for me, it was nice to see her again, and she brought me and my 40 kilos of luggage straight here.

The room is big, with a huge bed, the usual Cypriot bathroom (not luxurious, but adequate), and a little balcony with a strange view over a rundown part of the Old city and into the Occupied Area:

That flag on the hillside is placed to be seen from the unoccupied area and cause as much offence as possible.
And there is a mosque in the background.... I can see (and hear) a few of these from here. We do have mosques on this side of the Green Line as well, although I think only one is in use, and that mostly by diplomats etc.

As it is Sunday, very little is open in Nicosia, but the town is full of Filipinos and Sri Lankans, workers who only have one day off per week. I went out earlier, before it got too hot, just to see that everything is where it was......... then I came back and had a swim, there is an indoor pool here, which is good. I did my version of aqua aerobics and lounged in the jacuzzi for a while. Then came back up here to figure out the internet and so on. Breakfast was good, you can have omelette and mushrooms, also fresh kiwifruit and pink grapefruit, even hot halloumi! It's nearly time to think about lunch, they have Italian and Japanese in this hotel. With "specially flown in chefs", their brochure says. Let's hope they are tasty!