Above the Mediterranean
Hello to everyone. It has been a few days since I have had much to write about � just the sort of break we needed. We are now fully refreshed and on our way back to Italy.
The resort in Ayia Napa was very nice, with all the amenities we needed to make our stay wonderful. Except for one rainy morning, the weather held for us, and the sun shone brightly on our weary bodies. Most of the time we just lazed in the sun.
Most other people at the resort came from the UK, Ireland, and Germany. It seemed like they were running from the cold weather to a nice, sunny paradise they could call their own for a few days. I don�t know if many people realized we were American, and Cyprus is certainly not a spot that is used to visitors from the US. The European beach culture shone through daily.
A word about Europeans and the sun. They love to get as much sun as possible, and they don�t really care what they show to the world in the process. We found ourselves in what seemed like the Speedo capital of the world. Most of the men, no matter their age, wore skimpy little Speedos that left little to the imagination. Unfortunately, some men thought they would push the envelope and go for the thong. But you have to admire their self-confidence and absolute refusal to care what the world thinks of their bodies. The people we saw were definitely there for themselves.
The women were also self-confident. Many women chose to spend the afternoons on the beach topless � again, no matter the age. It was one afternoon at the beach that we saw a quite unbelievable sight. A woman, probably in her mid-twenties, stood topless on the beach practicing her juggling. She wasn�t very good, but she just kept working at it. Definitely not the sort of thing you�d see in the States.
At the hotel, we were enrolled in the half-board program. This meant that we received breakfast and one other meal at the hotel. Most of the time we chose dinner, a buffet affair in a nice dining room packed with other tourists. Like many vacation resorts, the dinners were theme-based, with each night dedicated to a different cuisine. We had Italian night, Greek night, International night, and so forth. The food was pretty good, but obviously not the quality one would expect in a restaurant. Nightly buffets are always a problem anyway. I always end up eating too much food with too little attention to nutrition (imagine lamb chops, souvlaki, grilled squid, moussaka, fried fish, and meatballs all in the same night�). You get the idea. Usually, I leave resorts like this one feeling much worse for the wear.
We did manage to get out of the resort one day to do some sightseeing. We had heard of a nice town not too far from the resort called Paralimni. It was supposed to have some good shopping, and rain was coming down pretty hard, so we walked to the bus stop. Now, I have to say that Cypriots work on their own timetable. Everything seems to take longer than it�s supposed to, and people are never in a hurry. So it was little wonder that the 10:30 bus didn�t show up until 11:15. Luckily, we had planned to catch the 11:00. We thought the ride would only be a few minutes, but it took the better part of an hour to reach the town. When the bus driver announced our arrival, we jumped off the bus. The scene around us was nothing like we had imagined � small, mostly closed shops on a windy road with sidewalks that ended randomly. Worse than that, the sun was peeking out from behind the clouds. We could have been at the beach.
We walked around the town for about five minutes before realizing the center of town was tiny. Most of the shops and all of the churches were closed. Sightseeing would have to wait for another day, another trip. But there was one small consolation. We had hoped to find some quality icons to buy for our house. These small religious pictures are, and have been since Byzantine times, painted on pieces of wood. They can depict anything from the Last Supper to famous saints. I had wanted one of Saint George killing the dragon. So we walked into a souvenir shop and looked around. There it was. But we have become smart travelers, so we decided to keep looking around to make sure it was the best quality available at the best price.
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