Cyprus Continued - Going West.

Like many of the places we have been on the Mediterranean, Cyprus has many castles and forts because of the Crusades.  The nice thing about Cyprus is they also have many Greek ruins on the southern coast as well.  Here are more pictures from our spring break.

One our first stops going west from Larnaca was the Kolossi Castle. A Crusader Stronghold, it was a fun place to look and learn.

We seemed to be very lucky everywhere we went. We always arrived between tours and therefore it was never too crowded.

Inside the castle.

As always, interesting and beautiful views are everywhere.

It was a nice afternoon but we were ready to head to our villa just up the hill from Pissouri Bay, a nice quiet tourist beach with the main town up on the hill. What a pleasant surprise for us. A great place to stay surrounded by vineyards with few neighbors.

The girls were in the water as fast as possible.

There were beautiful plants everywhere. This was actually part of a large tree.

These smelled lovely

Of course, the true owners of the villa were the cats that lived there. The girls named this one Poseidon.

 

 

And this one, Athena.

We continued traveling west and 10 minutes later were at Aphrodite's Rock. The Cypriots say that this beach is where she came out of the water. What a beautiful place. I think we would have stayed longer if the weather was warmer.

The rocks were fun to climb.

And this is the rock where Aphrodite came out of the water.

The other side of the rock

Another stunning view.

 And as we continued west we stopped in Paphos. The waterfront seemed very British. Fish and Chips for lunch was a must!

Once again, another lovely Corniche to walk on.

And yes, the Medieval Paphos Castle to wander through.

And another great view.

To the north of us is the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Paphos Archeological Park.

 The Archeological Park was our next stop.  We spent quite a bit of time going through the Greek ruins. The mosaics were stunning and interesting because they were different than what we have seen in Lebanon. This is where I will end this post and continue the next one soon!

Larnaca: Of Beaches and Camels

Well, first, so sorry it has taken so long to post. Our computer died and we have had some complications getting our blog up and running again.

Now, on to Cyprus! This will hopefully be one of a couple of posts.  During spring break we went to this wonderful island and had a great time. Spring break is just before the tourist season really gets going on Cyprus so it was a great opportunity for us to look around and not deal with crowds. I would recommend visiting Cyprus. It was truly a great adventure. Only one drawback....DRIVING ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE ROAD! Yes, that was a little nerve wracking!
Here are some pictures of where we started, Larnaca.

We arrived very late and therefore started out early looking around Larnaca.  We spent the day looking around the waterfront area. There were some great museums, a castle, a corniche and of course, great food!

Right on the waterfront. Behind Tim and the girls was a great photography museum.

I just found this posting interesting. Like everything in southern Cyprus, it is written in Greek and English.

This area is well known for it's needlework. This was in a museum.

Outside of the museum. Love the hands coming out!

The Corniche of Larnaca. Beautiful but not as nice as the one at Beirut!

Like Lebanon, there are many mosques near churches. This one was next to a castle on the water.

View of the Corniche from the top of the castle.

The public beach at Larnaca.

Time for food! Strong Greek AND English influence here.

I was truly in heaven with this Greek salad!

Tim was very happy with his Gyro.

As was Delaney. We all love Gyros!

And of course, a nice cheesy pizza for Janna.

 We went to the Church of Saint Lazarus. Yes, that Lazarus. Once again, we were reminded that much of what we see in this region is truly Biblical history!

Within the church.

Lazarus' bones.

Then, we went into the crypt.

This is where his bones were.

This was the outside of the church.

Yes, it was a blustery day.

After looking through the church we found this great place to take a break. The owner had done all of the artwork. Quirky place but I really loved it!

We did look through the Larnaca Medieval Fort by the water as well.

Truly a beautiful place.

I was so proud of my girls when they were able to read the Arabic that was on display. Didn't understand it but they could read it!

This boardwalk was right next to the Fort.

The next day, we started west, traveling to Pissouri Bay and our wonderful villa. On our way we stopped at a Camel Farm. What an awesome place!

Feeding the camels carob.

Not just camels!

So sorry Mr. Peacock but I don't think the turkey is interested!

Yes, we took a camel ride! this was the view that Janna and I got!

Feeding the juveniles.

This camel was born the morning we were there. Really cute!

This is the end of blog one of our spring break! More to come!