It’s the Christmas holidays and we fancied a trip to Nicosia for some final Christmas shopping and to soak up the atmosphere at Christmas Fairyland.

This is our first Christmas in Cyprus and I felt drawn to the capital. Why? Because, I realise, one of our Christmas traditions in the UK is a trip to Winter Wonderland in London. I love London at Christmastime; the lights reflecting off wet pavements, the bustle, and the smell of hot chestnuts. I was looking for something to fill its place.

I wasn’t expecting Nicosia to be like London. Nicosia is nothing like London and I love it for that. Nicosia has its own unique charm. As we drove through the modern part of Nicosia, I loved how the Christmas lights illuminated palm trees lining the avenues. Palm trees and Christmas decorations don’t usually go together in my mind. And that’s why I love living aboard.

We headed for Ledra St, mainly because I thought it would be atmospheric, but also because I wanted to look out for last-minute Christmas presents. Icicle lights hung across the street, like flashing droplets of light.

We walked past stalls selling hot chestnuts and also these round battered balls. I have no idea what they are, but I’ve tasted them before. They are very sweet and UTTERLY DELICIOUS. If you come across them, try them!

We looked for somewhere to have dinner. I was hoping to eat at Diosmos & Kanela Kitchen Bar on Onasagorou St (the street parallel to Ledra St). I’d eaten there during my girls’ weekend to Nicosia last month and the food was delicious. But it was closed. Goobie was hungry, so we went straight to Café la Mode Town House at the top of Onasagorou St. I’ve eaten there a few times before and it’s always a reliable choice. The food is great, the kids menu good and the staff are always very friendly and attentive.

After dinner, we headed out of the Old Town to visit the Christmas Village on Makarios Avenue. I have never walked down Makarios Avenue before. It was full of shops like Benetton, Top Shop and Marks & Spencer. There were more shops (posher) along the roads leading off from it. The road had been closed and was now lined with children’s fairground rides and little huts selling gifts and treats. I was hoping to find one selling mulled wine as nothing makes a Christmas village feel more Christmassy than the smell of mulled wine. But no luck. When we went, many of the huts were closed, which was a shame because I’m sure the atmosphere would be great when it is fully open.

In the middle of the street was a small stage where various choirs were performing. We watched a children’s choir and a folk group while we were there.

We got in the car and set off to find the main reason for visiting Nicosia – Christmas Fairyland. Christmas Fairyland is open until 8^th January and can be found just off the A1 motorway. Turn off at the Strovolos junction (the Ikea junction) and head in the opposite direction from Ikea. Christmas Fairyland is just on the side of this road. You can see the Big Wheel from the motorway.

You have to pay a €4 entry fee into Christmas Fairyland. Once you are in, you have to buy tokens for the rides. A token is €1 and the rides cost between 2-4 tokens each. Don’t expect Winter Wonderland – Christmas Fairyland is like a big travelling fair that you’d see in larger towns in the UK. I’m a sucker for fairgrounds, particularly when they are all lit-up in the dark. There were also lit-up Christmas displays. It did feel Christmassy.

There was only one thing missing – mulled wine!! Perhaps it’s not a big thing in Cyprus. There were Christmas-market-style huts, but they were all shut up. There were also various booths selling stuff in a big tent, but that was closed too. Perhaps they are open on a concert day. A big stage near the entrance hosts various performers over the Christmas period. See here for details.

What felt particularly Christmassy, though, was the ice skating rink that was housed in a big tent. Goobie enjoys ice-skating and was desperate to have a go. It costs €5 each for half an hour. We were asked Goobie’s age and were told that only over-5s were allowed. Then Matt, who is catching on to how things are done, said ‘What if I just tell you that he’s 6?’ The ticket guy’s face broken into a massive grin and he said ‘Then that’s fine! Come in.’ And in we went.

It’s a good-sized rink, bigger than in My Mall in Limassol. It was also half-empty, so we had a lot of fun pushing Goobie up and down as he clung to his big penguin.

After ice-skating, we went on a few rides. Goobie chose the Caterpillar Rollercoaster, a tad slow, but he enjoyed it nonetheless.

There were rides I would have loved to have gone on, like the pirate ship, the upside-down dance whizzy thing, the swing chairs and the Wild Mouse rollercoaster. Maybe not the haunted house. I have an over-active imagination and even the naffest ones scare me.

But it was getting late and Goobie was getting tired, so there wasn’t time to go on everything.  I most wanted to go on the Big Wheel so I could see the lights of Nicosia below. I think I was expecting it to be all lit-up like London. But Nicosia doesn’t have loads of high-rise buildings (another reason why I love it) so what we did see were loads of spread-out lights, like little grounded stars. The most noticeable lights were the green Leroy Merlin sign and the massive Turkish flag on the side of the Kyrenia Mountains in the northern side of the island. I had no idea it lit up.

Before we headed home, Goobie fancied a go on the carousel. I like carousels and excitedly asked him to choose a filly. But he chose one of the (boring) sofa seats to ride on. He was now too tired for riding horses – even carousel ones.

We had a fun, Christmassy day out in Nicosia. Best seen at night. Goobie stayed awake long enough to see it in the dark. He was asleep in two minutes once his head hit the back of his car seat.