Above the Mediterranean
We, and the rest of the mob, crowded the doors of the bus. Germans pushed their way through and past other people to get to the front, while British tourists tried to find some semblance of a queue to join. The scene was frustrating, but we finally made it onto the bus. What happened next was typical Cyprus. After collecting money from everyone boarding the bus, the driver shut off the engine, got off the bus, and went into a neighboring building to grab a cup of coffee. After frantically trying to make it to the stop on time, we spent the next 15 minutes sitting on the parked bus as the sun shone brighter and hotter through the windows.
Finally, the bus driver returned from his break, and we started off for Ayia Napa. We decided to get off up the road from our resort, so we could grab some lunch. We found a nice little restaurant and sat down. Now, I don�t know if there is such a thing, but I was convinced the Cypriot mafia was having their lunch meeting at the restaurant. These were some pretty seedy-looking characters. One man in particular, muscular with a weight-lifter shirt on, black jeans, and work boots seemed to be in charge, his long, black, curly hair seeming to ooze styling liquid all over his shoulders. His olive complexion highlighted the many gold chains hanging from his neck. You get the picture. They moved to the table next to ours as soon as we sat down. The whole restaurant was empty and now they were moving closer. Soon more men, some older, some wearing suits, arrived at the table. This was going downhill fast.
But in Europe, we have learned to ignore these things and just concentrate on each other. Colleen commented that �at least the day isn�t a total wash.� We had the icon. Or did we? I asked her if she had grabbed it when we got off the bus. No. The sloppy driving had made her sick to her stomach, and all she could think of was stepping on solid ground. We had left the icon on the seat between us.
Well, to make a long story short, we found the name and number of the bus company the next day. The concierge at the resort called the company and found out that the icon had been found. Later that day, the bus driver dropped it off at the hotel. Typical Cyprus � the people were nice as can be without any sense of schedule. I expected they would make us go back to Paralimni or, at best, have us wait at the bus stop at a certain time. But no, they went the extra mile for us. I can just imagine all the passengers staring at one another in wonder as the bus came to a stop in front of the resort and the driver got off the bus to go inside. They must have wondered when, or if, he would ever be back.
In the end, we were sad to leave Ayia Napa. We spent the whole day yesterday in the sun, hoping to eke out every last Vitamin D-filled ray. This morning we caught a cab to the airport and headed back to Italy. Back to our own �reality.�
We hope all of you are doing well. We are enjoying all the emails. Keep them coming.
Paul and Colleen
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