Paphos Ruins1

Here a few more pictures from Paphos. These are from this massive archealogical site which once contained an impressive complex of temples and palace-like buildings. The ruins are all that is left today unfortunately...this site was just absolutely incredible and I wish I could have seen the complex when it was in its glory! The mosaics were also impressive and really showed the skill it took to create the intracate scenes the artists portrayed. As always, it is taking a long time to load pics, so I will add more tomorrow.

Paphos Fort

So, this weekend we squeezed in a ton and I don't have the time to load all the pictures in one sitting so I will  be adding them by location. On Friday we headed to the Western-most city of Paphos (pronounced "Baphos") which is considered to be where Aphrodite originated "...from the sea foam off the coast of Cyprus came the silouhette of a maiden. This goddess became known as Aphrodite-the Goddess of love, lust, and romance." There is a lot more to the story (which I conviently studied in my Honors Greek Marine Biology course in the fall) but will save the details for another time. Getting to Paphos was crazy-in fact all our transportation routes were crazy this weekend, but I will tell you about that later.

When we got off the at the bus station-we were in the middle of nowhere and it was about sundown. We wandered aimlessly looking for a hotel, touristy area, anything in English and not sketchy! We wandered down dark, dirty streets with a feeling that we could be getting lost. You may be wondering if this was scary or dangerous, but one thing about Cyprus is that is extremely safe. I have learned to trust even the darkest alleyways, the worst I might find is an alley cat or an old man who will help me find where I'm trying to get to. However, we were packed like mules or something and the weight started to strain our backs. Luckily we finallyyyy found what we were looking for and ended up staying at the Dionosys Hotel. Breakfast was amazing there and all weekend the temperature was in the 60's.

We walked along the stunning water (which I posted pictures of before this post) and then found our way to an old fort. And I will continue with the prettiest, most amazing place I have been yet in tomorrow's post since it is midnight and I have class in the morning.

I tried to capture the fishies in the water, but it was challenging. In the above picture on the far left is a good size bass, there were tons of these guys! Then below are hundreds of minows which darted this way and that as we walked along the pier.

This is a picture of a mere glimpse of what is to come..hopefully you will be as impressed as I was!

Here are the first couple pictures from Paphos, my computer is having an issue and I don't want to lose the images I've already loaded. And I have a lot more to come!

Occupied North-Famagusta

First, for those of you who have left comments, I always read them and love them! They are sent to my email, so I can easily access them. However, it is challenging to comment back, but know I appreciate them and it is nice to have feedback.

Second, I will be away till Tuesday, so anticipate a post then. I am going to the city of Pahpos till Saturday and then Sunday is Carnival, so am heading to Limassol for the parade and celebration.

Now onto this post...These are pictures from the other city we visited in the occupied north. The city of Famagusta was Cyprus's' most treasured city and its main tourist attraction AND it has the deepest port in the entire country. Although the Turks had not planned on coming so far to this city (which was about an hour from Kyrenia-where the castle was), they decided to invade and then hoped to use the city as an advantage in negotiations. Unfortunately the Turks are not willing to negotiate in a way which gives Cyprus back its prized cities. Half of Famagusta is still funcitoing, but the main city is completely abandoned. Since it was such a significant place for Cypriots, the Turks agreed not to move anyone and no one is allowed to actually enter the abandoned city, just look at it from the beach. It is also illegal to take pictures, but people sneak them anyway, the fear is apparently of spies. The city looks so sppoky, sad, creepy, and brings on this senesation of pain and sadness, as if someone has died or something. The city has been left to the elements the past 40 years and is falling a part, slowly washing away with the sea and time. The buildings are beyond repair and would need to be torn down and rebuilt if Cyprus ever gets it back from the Turks. It reminded me of the movie Inception (how the buildings are abandoned and falling into the sea), or horror/thriller movies like "I Am Legend" etc. Imagine NYC completely abandoned, and that is what it looked like to see this in person. I cnanot capture the intense emotions that were spurred up from this experience, it was nothing like anything I have ever experienced before. Also, they told us that the lights were all still on for many years until they burned out and that once a photographer was allowed in, and he found that all the food and everything was still on peoples' tables, it was like time had been frozen there. Because the Turks invaded so quickly, Cypriots had to flee immediatly, leaving everything behind, those that didn't move quick enough were killed and there are still thousands "missing" which are presumed to be dead or in Turkish prisons.

These are Turkish Delights!

From below on are pictures from the abaondoned part of Famagusta.