Day 1 in Cyprus

What an incredible time we have shared on my first visit to Cyprus. I don't think I could even begin to describe how perfect it was. Every minute I felt so happy, so at ease and so content. And that was just from being beside my Love for 10 days, the rest of the island was nice too and wonderful to tour ;)

It really wasn't even close to enough time to see and explore everything I would have liked. The island is so rich in history and culture, so beautiful that it would take a month to go see and do everything and that would just scratch the surface. And then there are all the stories I can tell about the lifestyle and day to day things that you don't think about until you actually experience them firsthand. Cyrus driving and traffic is a post by itself! lol

So let me start with Day 1. The first few days were really hot, as they are having a warm October just as we are here. Oh we think its dry here having so little rain, well it is, but there you can see the dust in the air at times and everything gets covered so quick in it. The dams are all so very low right now. I think even though we think about conserving water here in the states we don't realize just how good we have it until you go to restaurant there and have to buy water!

After breakfast and coffee we headed out to explore. I was most wanting to see some of the archaeological sites and that sort of thing, so we took the first day and planned a trip to Curium and the Kolossi and Limassol Castles. It was probably too hot to do it, but we were not having so many days to do everything so we journeyed on. The area of Curium is beautiful really. You could spend the entire day or two just in that area alone. The first place we went was to see the Curium amphitheatre. Today the theatre is used for cultural events. I've had a few mails since we met and Alison has often spoke of going to see performances there so this is one of the first places I wanted to see and experience. It was originally built in the 2nd century B.C. but what is preserved today dates to the Roman period with 2nd and 3rd century A.D. additions and restorations. In the curved auditorium the spectators’ seating area accommodates around 3500 people. The stage only preserves its foundations but it originally rose to the full height of the auditorium. You can Google up Curium or Kourion and get more detailed history of the theatre and the surrounding city itself. It was a wonderful feeling though to sit on those steps and think that almost 200 years ago how many people have sat there with the same view I had of the sea and it must have been magnificent to sit under the stars. There was a tour group there when we were walking around and even though they were situated near the top seats of the theatre as she was giving the history, we were down below and could hear quite clearly her voice. Amazing the acoustics in these places! Right next to the theatre is the remains of The House of Eustolios, which consists of many rooms with fascinating 5th century AD mosaic floors and a complex of baths. The majority of it all protected by over walks and a large canopy. The photos show many of the different mosaics that once covered the bottom of the baths and its not hard to imagine how splendid it must have looked in its day. In some of the photos of the rooms you can see the pillars that once held the floors up, as well as the clay pipes that served as the conduits for the water, a system that is still in popular use today as well in the area! You look at things like this and think that with all our advances in technology have we really come so far today in just the basic day to day living? I don't think so.

The Amphitheatre is directly above the Curium beach, and you may see hand-gliders riding above the Curium cliffs. One of the most appealing beaches on the island, Curium is a beach of unspeakable beauty. The sea is rough and wild, whereas the beaches are gentle to have fun on. This beach is also a popular sailing spot but can get overcrowded with swimmers. We left from here and rode down to get to the beach area. We stopped just before the beach area to a little stone church still in use, St Ermogenis. The Entry door can't be much more than 5 feet tall. And inside probably has less than a dozen wooden carved seats, the walls are covered in the icons which are in all the churches here. Over on one side is the tomb and burial site of the saint the church is named after, St Ermogenis . I thought we had a picture of it but I don't see one. Itwas very quaint and you could feel a deep sense of it being used continually as a place of prayer and peace.

From there it was just a short drive down to the beach . We didn't go on the Beach itself that day. Forgot about our swimsuits really, so with it being hot we went to one of the restaurants right on the beach and had a cool drink and just sat in the breeze a while. That's one of the things that struck me all over Cyprus, no one seems to be in a hurry (unless they are driving lol) and you can go and sit in a place like this without feeling you are rushed to leave. I was absorbed in the beautiful view from there, you can see the cliffs and the sea and its quite a striking site. the photos really don't do justice to it. And the colour of the sea itself amazing. It makes the ocean and sounds around NC look like mud! I took a ton of pics of the sea from all over the island! And the rocks too ;)

With more than half the day already gone we made our way back with a stop at the Kolossi Castle. It is still in very good shape. The Castle of Kolossi was initially built in 1210 and rebuilt in its present form in the middle of the 15th century. The castle first belonged to King Hugh I who gave it to the Knights of St. John in order for their support in his fight against the Muslims. The knights controlled sixty villages on the island and being such good farmers and having a great business sense, all villages were strengthened. Kolossi became one of the Knights most valuable overseas possessions when they produced the famous Commandaria wine, which was sought after all over Europe and brought the knights fame and fortune. According to tradition the Kolossi Castle is where Richard the Lion-heart and Queen Berengaria spent their honeymoon.

Next on the agenda was a quick stop at the Limassol Castle or fort as some places call it. Located near the old port, Limassol Mediaeval fort was built in the 14th century, on the land of an earlier Byzantine Castle and it houses the Cyprus Mediaeval museum. This is where it is believed that Richard the Lion-heart married Berengaria Navarre crowning her Queen of England in 1191. We didn't go inside this one as by this time we were both drained from the heat and climbing stone stairs all morning long! Theres tons of links though to its history and pictures if you ant to google it.
From there we decided to make our way home. We took out some chicken kebabs to do on the grill for supper. Even that was a surprise to me as we had to go get some charcoal for the grill. Another one of those things you don't think about until you are in a different country. I love my Matchlight charcoal, pour it in light it and 10 minutes its ready! Americans really are a lazy bunch!! Well its nice! lol Anyway the charcoal here is just that, chunks of charred wood! There are all sizes in the bag, not uniform at all ,and you have to use paraffin to get it lit! JM did a great job getting it going! Poor guy about wore his arms out fanning it with a dustpan to get it fired up hot enough to cook the kebabs. Anyway they turned out great and we had a wonderful supper there in Alison's garden under the stairs and in the cool evening air.

Wow I think It will take me a month at this pace to recount all all of my trip, well it will not be leaving my mind anytime soon and after I get the day to day posts done I will come back and elaborate more on some of them.

All the pics for this post are here http://picasaweb.google.com/garazon/Day1Cyprus
Thanks for reading and for keeping up with us~ love you all
Chester and Alison