Cyprus (9/3)

Speaking of places I never thought I would be. There were some places I dreamed of going, but didn't think it would be a possibility, and then there were some places I just never even thought about. First Monaco and now Cyprus. I was trying to get the flag waving, but there was still some wind.
I had to attempt the panorama thing. Since there are two towers where there shouldn't be I didn't quite get things lined up.
I think I did a little bit better here.
More citrus. I really and truly did not think about seeing oranges and lemons while I was traveling, but we saw a lot of them.
Some of the things we got to see .
They are apparently very "green" in Cyprus. Everyone has these solar panels on their roofs, right next to the water tanks that these panels help to heat. It was pretty incredible to see these wherever we went in the country.
Our first stop. I know it's just about impossible to read so I'll quote the pamphlet: "The Kourion area is one of the most important archaeological sites of Cyprus. According to Herodotus, the Greek historian, the city was founded by the Argives, the inhabitants of ancient Argos (NE Peloponnese).



"A Late Bronze Age settlement on the hill of Pampoula in the nearby village of Episkopi has been identified as the site that chronologically coincides with this early colonisation.



"The earliest remains on the plateau of the hill date back to the Late Classical and mainly Hellenistic periods (325-50 B.C.). Most of the visible ruined structures belong to the imperial Roman period (5o B.C. - 395 A.D.) and the Late Roman period (330 - end of 7th cent. A.D.)."

They even had figured out their plumbing and their aqua ducts. I don't think we necessarily give them credit for what they had created back then. However, I am not so sure about the three bath system they had going - starting out in cold water, then tepid, and then kind of hot. Who has the time?
The start of our tour of mosaics. We saw a lot of them in Cyprus. I don't know if it's a specialty throughout the ages, but it's definitely something we did not find a shortage of.
Here's the explanation.
One of the first Christian fishes.

Then we went out to the theater. The coolest part of this was there was a class there on a field trip and they were reading/acting out their play. I have no clue what they were saying - I don't even know what language they speak in Cyprus, but I loved seeing the kids and their classmates cheering them on.

Taking their bow after their performance. They even had costumes. People would go to the center of the stage and clap and hear the echo. I walked past it and heard other people doing their clapping.
View from the stage. It was just so very pretty. I couldn't get over all of the green we got to see. I miss that in Utah - we have a lot of brown.
When the theater was destroyed, it was one of the first things that got rebuilt. How cool was that?! Even back then, they knew how important the arts were - what's wrong with our people that it's one of the first thing that our people think should be cut.
I thought it was funny to see all of these ancient ruins, with our modern spotlight in it. I guess if you were wondering, it's still in use.
The middle rock - not the great big one to the right - is supposed to be the birthplace of Aphrodite.
Look at how clear the water was. I really would have liked to play in it.
I apologize once again for not remembering the whole story. But I do remember each of the handkerchiefs is some one's pray. It was a neat idea, although I don't necessarily think you need to have a physical proof of your prayers, but sometimes it doesn't hurt.
Then down by the pier.
And we got to see more mosaics. Seriously, they were incredible and amazing, but knowing pretty much nothing about Cyprus, I wonder if this is what they were known for.
As they have been unearthing these they aren't allowed to restore them. So instead of replacing the missing tiles or trying to put them back, the agreement is to put clay in place to keep the others from moving. I don't think I ever fully understood the reasoning behind not wanting to "fix" them, although I understand wanting to at least keep them the way they are found.
Really they are unearthing, is that the right word, a whole huge city here. It's amazing to see. I don't think I would make a good archeologist - as cool as it would be. I don't have the patience and I am way too much of a klutz.
Will, looking too cool to hang out with the rest of us. Okay, so really he's just waiting for the rest of us.
Jen did go down and check out the water. She said it wasn't too bad.
I still felt a little bit like I was still swaying from the ship and didn't want to fall in - plus there is that aforementioned being a klutz.

That night was our Italian night in the dining room. To celebrate, the waiters danced with the ladies. Jose was our assistant waiter.

(He did dance with Mom, too, but apparently I accidently deleted that one from here. It will be on Facebook.)

Then we went to the show. That night it seemed like it was the staff talent night show. At the end they pulled lots of random people up on stage for the congo line.

It was a fun night. But I was ready to go to bed. And I was so excited for Israel the next day!