Cyprus

I just had to get my feet in the Mediterranean

(Sami here) One thing is for sure, the Islands in the Mediterranean were prizes that civilizations have fought over for centuries. The standard seemed to be if you had the power to conquer, that is what you did. After someone with a big army and the right alliances “won” an island they would switch out languages and religions to suit themselves. Then it would happen all over again. Cyprus has been under Assyrian, Roman, Egyptian, Byzantine, Ottoman, Venetian and British rule. But the most enduring element of the island seemed to me to be its place in Greek mythology. Cyprus is home to Mt. Olympus, the home of all of the gods, and it is the place where Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty, was born. Although Don points out that the British custom of driving on the "wrong" side of the road has had a lasting effect on Cyprus.

We had a rather low-key tour which took us up rocky hill sides to see an old castle and then down to the coast to see “Aphrodite’s rock.” Afterwards we had free time to walk around the old town.

Our day in Limassol, Cyprus was the warmest of our trip, with Temperatures in the low 80s. People were swimming around Aphrodite's rock.

Agia Napa Cathedral, a Greek Orthodox church in the old part of town.

Inside the beautiful, and relatively new, Church (1900)

Don and I wondered around town independently and I found my way to a Mosque, something I had been trying to do all along. There was a 23 year old guy inside who talked with me for a while. It was one of the most personal experiences I had on the trip. He showed me all the the different Korans they had, including the one in Arabic and English, and explained what the two different pulpits were for. In one the cleric stands, in the other he is seated. One is for leading prayers, the other for lectures. The digital clock on the wall is set to show all five of the daily prayer times are, plus a special Friday prayer. I learned a lot, in spite of having little language in common.

If I understood him correctly, he is a student and also the teacher of two young boys who where running around inside the Mosque.

I "googled" about the clock and it seems the timing of the prayers is both mathematical and something to do with the angle of the sun.

I took a lot of photos of buildings, especially doors and windows. Here are two that I like.

I often came upon men playing backgammon in settings such as this.

I spoke to our tour guide, a local. She said that in the Greek part of Cyprus there is a lot of desire for and hopefulness about the two parts of Cyprus to be united. Only Turkey formally recognizes the Turkish part of the Island as legitimate. It seems like there is a lot of political unrest in Cyprus.