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Cyprus Vacation |
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Since Regina wouldn't leave me alone until she went somewhere warm and sunny for her vacation, I decided we should go to Cyprus. There has been civilization on Cyprus since about 1500 BC. Now, the island is divided between Greeks and Turks (after the Turkish army invaded in 1974 - probably in a deal brokered by the US). Wow, the people were friendly, the skies sunny and the sea warm. Still, I always enjoyed the AC when we got back to the room! |
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Here's a view of the sea from our hotel balcony. Too bad we didn't face the other way to the extremely noisy amusement park on the other side of the hotel. :-( |
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And here's the reason we went to Cyprus - so Regina can be by the sea. It is her element! Can you tell she's happy? |
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Here are some villa apartments by the sea. Of course, we would have stayed in one of these but I couldn't resist our own hotel where you couldn't flush toilet paper and you had to pump the handle to get the toilet to flush. Ah, what old world charm! |
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We met a retired Greek/British couple near this complex. We were going to pick some figs from their tree by the sidewalk, and they invited us to have a drink with them on their patio. We liked the Greek guy, Alex, but his British wife kept complaining all the time. Alex became a refugee in 1974 and worked as an architect in London and the Persian Gulf. He finally resettled in Nicosia some years ago. |
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Just a block away from Nicosia's old town, Regina has found her true definition of civilization. I heard they will be opening a Starbucks in Pyongyang soon! |
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This is in the old town of Nicosia, the landlocked capital of Cyprus. The town has existed since Byzantine times. This restaurant in a shady arcade is typical of what Byzantine city life looked like. |
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After some practice I did manage to learn how to take photos of us both. Can you tell I took this photo myself? |
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Typical Byzantine architecture with second floor extended over street. The reason this street overhang architecture was so popular was because residents paid tax based on the size of the land parcels, not square footage. |
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