Adventures with John & Nina – It’s All Greek to Me
by Nina Sabin - Travel
Our next travels brought us to the beautiful country of Cypress. I think this is country number 24 since we moved to Saudi Arabia. That means at this point of living overseas, in 4 years we had the opportunity to visit that many countries. The perks of living in the Middle East were: being so close to other countries, easy to travel to, and having more time off to enjoy adventures.
We had not been to Greece yet at this time, but from pictures and movies, I would say Cypress reminded us of what we pictured Greece to be like. However, don’t tell a local from Cypress you think their country is like Greece. That would be very insulting.
One main thing I remember from Cypress is the hotel prices were reasonable, but the food prices were very expensive.
The first town we visited in Cypress was Larnaka. If you love museums and are an art fan, this is a great city for you. We however, enjoy the outdoors and love walking the streets of Larnaka. Many cities in Cypress have historical sites from the Bible. As we toured the town we saw the church of St. Lazarus. After his resurrection from the dead by Jesus, Lazarus elected to live out his "second" life as Bishop of Cyprus. He is reputedly buried in a crypt under the main altar to the right. It was so exciting to be standing where people from the Bible times have been. Growing in the Christian faith, I watched an animated show called Super Book. It brought you back into Bible times. This is how I felt as I stood near Lazarus’crypt.
On our third day in Cyprus we rented a car and drove to Limassol. I haven’t shared this story yet, but our first time driving on the left side of the road we totaled a car. That was on our first trip overseas to England. It actually was pretty funny and praise God no one was hurt. We looked the wrong way - can you imagine that! Many cities in Europe, even for pedestrians have signs on the ground telling you which way to look. It helps American tourists, but this time there was no sign.
Since England, we have had more opportunities to drive on the opposite side of the road. I would have to say John is becoming an expert European driver; and no more totaled cars.
Limassol is only a 50-minute drive from Larnaka. It took us a little over an hour to arrive to our hotel. As often as we can, we like to go to the hotel first to drop off our luggage. If the room is not ready, there is usually a storage room for the luggage to be stored so we can continue our day’s exploring.
Limassol is the second largest town in Cyprus. It has a population of about 143,000 people. Limassol is a major port, a busy commercial center, the home of hundreds of offshore companies, and a popular tourist resort. Renowned for its superior hotel accommodation and service, and for its cosmopolitan atmosphere.
Things we really enjoyed seeing in Limassol were Limassol Castle, which contains the Cyprus Medieval Museum, or the Folk Art Museum, which is housed in an old mansion. We walked for a while along the nine-mile walkway along the beautiful beaches, known as the Cypriot Riviera. As I mentioned we love to walk. The sand was so white and the water sparkled. We also experience our first box of wine. We had never seen wine in a box before so we had to try it.
The next day we are off driving again, this time we were on our way to Paphos. Paphos is only a 50 miles from Limassol. There are a lot of things to see and do in Paphos so we spent three nights there.
One of the favorite places in Paphos, we found fascinating, was the Paphos Castle; we really enjoy the architecture of castles and imagining what the castles would have been time during the period it was occupied. It was built by the Turks in 1592 on the site of an earlier, ruined medieval castle. Inside there are rooms once used as dungeons while the main room is occasionally used for exhibitions. From the roof one has a fine view of the harbor and the surrounding country.
We also loved seeing the sights of the picturesque harbor. It is a popular place to go and enjoy the delicacies of Cyprus. Paphos is especially interesting for those who fancy for history and archaeology.
We read we could not go to Paphos without seeing the House of Ancient God Dionisos - a third Century Roman Villa was discovered in 1962 and is named after one of the mosaics depicting Dionysos, the god of wine. The mosaics are unbelievable.
We finished our trip by driving back to Larnaka, which was only 85 miles away.
Check out our itinerary to find out more about the interesting places to see in Cyprus.
Keep a look out for our next Blog as we take you on an ‘Amazing Asian Adventure’.