Hello again readers! In this post you’re going to read
about my favorite weekend in Cyprus so far, so it might be long, but there’s so
much to say!! My motto for the weekend: Experience everything.
Awesome Adventures in Agia
Napa
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| Hala Sultan Tekke |
We left Nicosia on Friday, October 12th for a
promised good time in Agia Napa, which is Cyprus’ best beach town. Some even
say it’s the best beach town in Europe! On our way we stopped at Hala Sultan
Tekke, a famous mosque on the salt lakes of Larnaca. The salt lakes were shiny
and pretty cool to see, but the most interesting thing about the mosque for me
was the beautiful carpets neatly arranged on the floor. They made me want to
buy a Turkish carpet from Northern Cyprus, but I don’t think I’ll have room for
that in my suitcase! Haha.
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| St. Lazarus Church |
Then we visited St. Lazarus Church, which is dedicated to
the Lazarus that Jesus resurrected. Lazarus moved to Cyprus and became the
first bishop of Kition, which is why his tomb was in this church. His skull is
actually placed in an altar where people can pray to him and bless items by
rubbing them over his skull.
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| The altar with Lazarus' skull |
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| Panas Village Resort |
After lunch and some shopping, we were back on the bus and
headed to our Agia Napa resort! The set up reminded me of a Disney resort as
the buildings were separate and laid out in square sections much like the
Disney Movie Resort. There were lovely flowers lining trellis filled pathways
to our rooms! I wasn’t impressed with the rooms themselves though.
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| Kristi, Kyle, and Me swimming at Nissi Beach |
For our first adventure in Agia Napa we went to Nissi
Beach, where the sand was white, and the water was clear and less salty than at
Larnaca Beach. I might be so bold to say this was the best beach I have ever
been to! It’s up there with Castaway Cay, that’s for sure! I enjoyed lots of
swimming, and then joined the group at the top of the rocky cliff. I watched as my peers jumped from the
cliff to the water below, making sure to jump to the clear spot to avoid the
rocks. Assessing the risks of the situation, I decided that I would regret
not jumping, so I
watched more people do it safely so I knew exactly where to jump. My Nissi Beach experience is what inspired today's post title to be from "In the Sea" by Ingrid Michaelson.
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| Me cliff jumping at Nissi Beach! |
When it was my turn to jump, I climbed up the ledge (which
was a lot like climbing a rockwall at the gym, only without a harness) and I
stood at the edge looking down. Now, I’m not afraid of heights, and I wasn’t
scared to jump, but part of me felt nervous about allowing gravity to deliver
me to the Mediterranean Sea. I convinced myself that it would be just like a
diving board, and I got the courage to jump as far out as I could to the clear
spot in the water below! What an adrenaline rush! I only jumped once because of
the actual possibility of getting hurt. Out of the 30 of us who jumped, only
one person received a cut on the shin worth worrying about. (I should mention
she’s ok!)
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| Sunset at Nissi Beach |
That night we ate at a Mexican restaurant called Tequila,
and I got yummy tacos and a virgin pina colada!
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| At the Mexican Restaurant |
Saturday, October 13th, I was eager to start
the day! After free breakfast provided by the hotel, my friend Lauren suggested
we make lunches out of the breakfast food so we wouldn’t have to pay for lunch
later. The good thing about Europeans putting ham, cheese, and bread out for
breakfast means you can make a perfect sandwich. Take advantage of free
food!
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| My companion for the day : ) |
My choice of
transportation for the day was my little yellow bike, which I rented from the
hotel for 8 euro (about $10.50). Lauren, Jess, and I set off for our
destination: Cape Greco (Kavo Greko in Greek). We weren’t sure how long the
ride was cause we had mixed estimates, but we decided to go for it. My guidebook said 7km (4.4 miles)
but it ended up being 14 miles round trip. At times we had to bike on the left side of the street since
they drive on the left, and that felt really strange.
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| Found this coastline while biking |
We discovered a trail along the beautiful blue coastline,
and a dirt, winding road up to the Kavo View Point. After locking up our bikes,
we hiked to the top, and the view was amazing! You could see the peculiarity of
Cyprus’ landscape: crystal blue water, white rocky formations, dry land of dirt
and dust and some green growth in random places. (Definitely different from the
views I’m used to from the Appalachians in PA!)
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| Kavo View Point |
Back on our bikes, we headed for Cape Greco. Our timing
was perfect because we managed to meet up with our friends who had taken the
bus! The Sea caves at Cape Greco were a magnificent sight, and only a picture
can show you what I mean.
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| Sea Caves at Kavo Greko |
I couldn’t wait to join my friends in the water, so it
didn’t take long for me to prepare for the jump. The cliff was more than twice
the size of the ledge from the previous day, but I could see clearly into the
water, and there were no dangerous rocks within the jumping area. So, I jumped
from the cliff with no hesitation, and it was awesome! I even decided to climb
up the rock to jump a second time. After thinking: Who knows when I’ll ever
get the chance to do that again?...I jumped a third time. Haha! For some reason I was
nervous for the third jump, but I think it’s cause more people were watching.
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| Before..... |
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| .....during cliff jumping....... |
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| ....after! : ) |
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| Kyle, me, Jessica, and Kristi cave exploring |
We swam in the cove and ventured into one of the Sea Caves
to do some exploring. When we entered the cave I couldn’t help but sing “Part
of Your World” from the Little Mermaid; I was so happy when my fellow GLS
friends joined in! Singing and swimming together is an excellent bonding
exercise.
When it was time to bike back to Agia Napa, Lauren noticed
she had a flat tire. Luckily the United Nations guys there were leaving soon
and could give her a ride back to Agia Napa. Jess said she’d go with her. I,
however, wanted to ride my bike back even if I had to do it alone. I knew the way, I had my phone, and
I felt comfortable biking along the bike path. So I ventured solo, and it was
the best bike ride ever!
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| Dune Buggy! |
Later that day Preston offered me a ride in his dune
buggy! It was fast, low to the ground, wild, and dirty cause the dirt splashed
up when he took it off road. It was definitely a ride I will never forget!
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| Riding in the Dune Buggy |
Danielle, Jessica and I went out for an enjoyable Chinese
dinner at Ji-lu’s were I got yummy spring rolls, vegetable fried rice, and a
fried banana split! (My camera battery died otherwise there would be pictures.)
It was an exhausting day, for myself and my camera!
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| Relaxing at Kavo Greko |
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| The Lonely Tree we discovered while biking |
Sunday, October 14th marked my one month of
studying abroad! It’s hard to believe that time is going by so quickly! For our
last few hours in Agia Napa, we all decided to relax at the hotel pool. I even
participated in water aerobics for the first time, which is a great workout!
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| Sunset in Agia Napa |
At one point I noticed two young girls playing volleyball
in the shallow end, and they were speaking German. Danielle and I wanted to
join them, so I used my High School German to talk to them. I was able to successfully ask
the girls if we could play with them, what their names were, how old they were,
where they were from, and why they were in Cyprus. Loli was 7 and Laura was 9.
They were friends and both in Cyprus for Fall vacation. Neither of them spoke
English, but they are learning it in school. They could say their numbers in
English, but I counted with them in German so we bonded quite well. It was nice
to use my German skills again and see how much I actually remembered. I always
liked talking to kids in German because my vocabulary works with theirs and
they speak slower. Basically it was wunderbar! Some of my other friends wanted
to join in too, so I introduced them auf Deutsch and we played grösser gegen
kürzer (tall ones against short ones) as the girls put it. This made me laugh
to be considered tall for the first time in my life!
Shortly after, it was time to get on the bus and travel
back to Nicosia. I had a great time in Agia Napa and I would definitely
recommend it to anyone! I kept my mind open to new experiences and that's why I had such an amazing time! I must admit that my muscles were sore for a fews days from all the swimming, biking, hiking, climbing, cliff jumping, dune buggying, and beaching, but every moment was worth it!
I hope you enjoyed following my adventures in Agia Napa!
Till next time!
-Courtney <3
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