"Well I'm Going Home, Back to the Place Where I Belong"

Look at all those pins!

Alrighty, so my semester abroad is coming to an end seeing as I leave tomorrow for Larnaca’s Airport at 6:45am for my 10am flight. Since I'm heading home, the lyrics for today's post are from "Home" by Daughtry.  I can’t believe this semester is already over; it feels like I just started this blog and adventure yesterday! Since leaving the United States on September 13^th, I have traveled to 15 countries including: Cyprus, Greece, Italy, The Vatican, Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia, France, Luxembourg, Austria, Belgium, and the Netherlands with Global Learning Semesters, and Egypt, London, and Ireland independently. It has been a crazy semester of planning, trying different foods, meeting new people, traveling to so many countries, and having cool adventures. Looking at a map, it is bewildering to see how many places I managed to travel to over the course of my 3 months abroad.

            I have a few more Cyprus updates before I depart, so now it’s time for the updates!

Kyrenia Harbor

Kyrenia Mountains

 As a group we traveled to Northern Cyprus to visit Kyrenia, and I loved driving through the beautiful mountains. The weirdest part of the mountain range in the North is the section with the record breaking Turkish Flag painted on the mountain, which I have mentioned in previous posts. It’s a symbol 

to display Turkish pride, ownership, and to remind the Greeks who can see the flag from the South. I saw this flag everyday, and it’s a constant reminder of the Turkish Invasion of 1974 that divided the Island. Kyrenia is an adorable harbor town, and we visited St. Hilarion’s Castle, which was the best castle that I’ve been to in Cyprus in my opinion; it was pretty large and fun to explore.

            The other day I went for a run because it was 65 degrees and I needed a break from studying. I thought it was great weather to wear shorts and a t-shirt, but I got some funny looks because all the Cypriots were wearing scarves and coats. Their tolerance for cold is low since their summers are so warm I suppose, but I thought it was perfect weather. Haha. I guess I’ll have to get used to the cold again really soon. Traveling to Ireland and London was a helpful reminder since I had to wear layers there due to the cold weather. But actually, Cyprus has gotten pretty chilly in the early morning hours and at night, so it’s not always summertime here like most people think.

Group in the Troodos Mountains

Another trip we took was to the Troodos Mountains, which are so different to hike than the Appalachians back at home just based on the surroundings. I liked how different it was for a change, but I’m also looking forward to a good hike back home. Afterwards we visited the village Kakopetria, which is exactly the type of place you think of when you imagine an old village. 

Me and Anya on GLS Graduation Day :)

            After classes on Friday, December 14^th, there was a little Global Learning Semesters Graduation Ceremony where we got certificates and watched a video made by my roommate Lauren. We also went to dinner at the same place where we went during my first night in Cyprus. It was nice to look back at that first dinner and think how none of us knew each other back then, and to see how much we have come together as a group since that first night.

The Kiddos playin' B-Ball

Volunteering at PeacePlayers

            On Saturday I volunteered with PeacePlayers and got to keep score for 

the Junior Boys tournament. It was really exciting to observe the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot children playing basketball together. As I mentioned in a previous post, PeacePlayers "uses the game of basketball to allow 11-15 year-old Greek-Cypriot and Turkish-Cypriot boys and girls to play together, learn together and build positive relationships that overcome generations of mistrust and formidable physical barriers to interaction." Volunteering with this organization was a really good way to end my time in Cyprus because seeing the children playing together makes you hope that The Cyprus Problem will one day find a solution that brings the island back together as one whole again.

Kristi and Me at the APOEL Football Game

 Later that day, we went to an APOEL Football game (aka Soccer). So much sport attending in one day, haha so unlike me! My friend Kristi likes sports a lot and wanted to go to a game, and I thought it would be fun to go too. The most interesting thing about the game was people watching the crowd. They chanted and sang in Greek during the entire game, and although I have no idea what they were saying, it was pretty cool to observe. The majority of the crowd was men and I swear we were the only ones in the stadium without cigarettes in our hands. I got tired of the smoke pretty quickly and they also didn’t have good food to eat either! What kind of sporting event doesn’t have good food?! Our team APOEL won the game 1-0, and I thought the game itself wasn’t that exciting considering they made some pretty obvious errors like missing the goal completely several times. I’m really glad we went though because Football is a large part of Cypriot culture.

            Yesterday we went to Meze one last time with a group of 17 to say goodbye to my roommate, Anya. (See my post entitled "All it Takes is a Little Faith, and a lot of Heart" from September 17^th to read about Meze). Both Anya and Lauren have left now, so it’s just me and I have the whole empty apartment to myself. It’s a little weird because it really means that it’s time for me to leave soon too.

Things I’m looking forward to back home:

1.    Seeing my family and friends

2.    Driving my car and being able to go wherever I want, whenever I want.

3.    Playing my Ukulele!

4.    Going back to work at ArtsQuest

5.    Starting another semester at Muhlenberg

6.    Rooming with Allie Wertheim again!

7.    Eating good ol’ American Food!!

8.   Hearing people speaking English

9.    Being able to flush toilet paper again

10. Being able to read all of the signs and menus

11. Not having to pay $5.30 for ONE load of laundry, and that’s was just washing.

12. Being able to use a dryer rather than air drying my clothes!

13. Using my cell phone that doesn’t require topping up

14. The fact that Non-smoking rules are strictly followed

Things I will miss after leaving Cyprus:

1.    Being an hour’s distance away from the mountains or the beach in any direction.

2.    Wearing shorts and t-shirts in December. (It actually did get chilly here towards the end though!)

3.    Grilled Halloumi cheese….yum

4.    Random trips to Zorba’s 24 hour Bakery

5.    Papaphilipou Ice Cream

6.    All of the people I have met here

7.    The beautiful blue Mediterranean Sea

8.   Being able to travel around Europe rather easily

 So, that's about it for the updates before I depart! It's already 1am here, and I have a few more goodbyes to say, so I'll wrap it up here. There will be one more  post when I  return home to complete my study abroad blog, so stay tuned for my final thoughts! 

Goodbye, Cyprus! It's been an adventure. :)

-Courtney <3

"Nightswimming Deserves a Quiet Night"

 Hello again, readers! I figured it’s time for a Cyprus update, so you’re going to hear about my Cypriot Dance lesson, my 21^st Birthday weekend, and of course Thanksgiving! Enjoy, and thanks for reading!

Cypriot Dancing

     For my European Cultures class I was assigned a research project and paper relating to a cultural aspect of Cyprus. Since I am a theatre major and love to dance, I thought it would be fun and interesting to research Traditional Cypriot dances! To jump-start my research, I looked up local dance studios in Nicosia that offered Cypriot dance lessons, and I was lucky enough to find Revolution Dance Studio. With them I arranged a private Traditional Cypriot/Greek Dance lesson for four friends and myself. Katie, Kyle, Kristi, and Jessica were just as eager to learn as I was!

Cypriot Dance Lesson

            Monika was our dance teacher, a 20-year-old Cypriot student studying dance and education. As she was teaching, she kept saying it was funny to see non-Greeks dancing in the traditional Greek style, but she was happy to teach us and was thrilled that I wanted to learn the dances for my culture project. During our one-hour lesson we learned 4 types of dances: Kalamatianos, Tsamikos, Tsifteteli and Syrtos. Tsamikos was my favorite because it was the most complicated and involved a lot of steps to learn. I’m really glad I decided to research traditional Cypriot dances for my culture project because I had a great time learning the dances with my friends!

21^st Birthday Weekend!

Kolossi Castle

Climbing Kolossi's walls!

                I was lucky enough that the planned GLS trip to Limassol and Paphos was during my Birthday weekend! During the trip I saw the Limassol Castle (which wasn’t anything special in my opinion), drove through the foothills of the Troodos Mountains (which were beautiful and I can’t wait to hike there later), and stopped at Kolossi Castle (the much cooler one). During the drive, our guide told us about the Carob bean which Cypriots ate in ancient times for good health and long life. They are still found on the island and people eat them today. An interesting fact: in ancient times 24 Carob bean seeds was equivalent to 1 karat of gold, so that’s how they measured weight back then. Claudia picked some Carob beans off a tree, and we all tried it. They tasted like naturally sweet chocolate! We also visited the Ancient City of Kourion where we saw roman baths with amazingly preserved mosaics! My favorite part was the ancient theatre, of course, and Katie, Kristi, Kyle, Jessica, and I practiced our Greek dancing on the stage!            

Aphrodite's rock

               On the way to Paphos we stopped at Aphrodite’s rock, the place where she was born out of sea foam. It was beautiful and I’d love to go back sometime to swim around the rock like the legend says to absorb some of Aphrodite’s beauty. We ate lunch in Paphos’ lovely harbor where I got swordfish at the Pelican Restaurant. I had to pick around some bones, but it was delicious, and the restaurant even had a pet pelican walking around that bit me when I pet him. Haha, I didn’t get hurt, don’t worry!

            We checked into our hotel, The Coral Beach Resort, and our room was huge; there were bathrobes and everything! Our terrace was beautiful and I was looking forward to spending my birthday there. After getting settled we watched the sunset on the beach, which was magnificent! Later that night we relaxed on the beach by the sound of the waves, and we even went night-swimming! (Which is what inspired today’s post title to be from "Nightswimming" by REM).  Surprisingly the water wasn’t that cold and we had a great time. 

This is how I spent my Birthday...in November!

            On Saturday we ate breakfast at the hotel and lounged by the beautiful hotel pool for a few hours and went swimming for a bit. The pool water was freezing and way colder than the sea from the previous night! 

 

Scuba diving adventure!

Then we headed to…….guess where?........PADI Cydive for SCUBA DIVING! For a decent price we were instructed how to use the gear, rented suits etc., and got to go scuba diving in the Mediterranean! Finding a wetsuit that fit was ridiculous. Apparently I have abnormally sized calves, haha. With all the gear on, it was so heavy, and we had to walk with the gear from the truck to the practice spot in the sea. I was glad when I entered the water and the water took away all the weight. After practicing safety steps, hand signals, and getting used to breathing it was time to dive! Breathing underwater was actually harder to get used to than I imagined. It was fun to use the skills and swim with flippers; scuba diving is definitely something I want to do again! I have an official certificate and everything. J

            For dinner we went to a Japanese Steakhouse to celebrate my birthday. I got tasty teriyaki chicken and pineapple. The cook’s tricks were different than the ones back home, and he even sang Gangnam style, haha! He was very entertaining, and we even got to participate! I got to try tossing the egg on the spatula: if one of us got 10 flips, our dinner was free. Danielle technically got 10, but the egg broke on 8 so it didn’t count. I only got one flip before mine fell off! I also had to catch flying rice bowls in order to ‘earn my rice’ and I got a free birthday tempura ice cream! It was such a great birthday dinner!

Commandaria Cypriot wine, my first drink

            When midnight rolled around, it was my 21^st Birthday! Since I’m 7 hours ahead of Cassie, I technically enjoyed 7 hours of being the older twin for the first time in my life! My first drink was Commandaria, a Cyprus specialty and the oldest named wine still produced in the world. Shakespeare apparently liked it and The Queen of England loved it. I didn’t care for it much because it was so sweet, but then again I don’t like alcohol in general. I finished my wine on the beach and it was such a relaxing night. The stars were so bright, and Kyle and I commandeered the peddle boat on the shore and took it for a few laps around the sea.

            On my actual Birthday it rained pretty much all day, and we left Paphos to return to Nicosia. On the way we stopped at Lefkara, a cute village town where they still produce lace and silver goods. When we got back to Nicosia, I studied for my International Marketing class midterm (see I do study here!) and we took a break to walk to Zorbas (the 24 hour bakery) to get a birthday treat. I had a great Birthday weekend full of beaches, sun, scuba diving, and lounging around in a bathrobe! Thanks GLS for planning this trip perfectly around my Birthday!

Thanksgiving

Potluck Thanksgiving

     When Thanksgiving rolled around, everyone on the program that I talked to felt a little homesick. How can you not on a holiday that is all about family, I ask? I went to class on Thanksgiving for the first time in my life, and I gave my presentation on Cypriot Dancing in European Cultures. The teacher enjoyed it, so I think I did a good job. Now all I have to do is write the corresponding paper for my final for that class due at the end of the semester…..

            For Thanksgiving GLS held a potluck style dinner where they provided Turkey and drinks and each room brought something to contribute. As a room, Anya, Lauren, and I brought mashed potatoes. Overall it ended up being a nice Thanksgiving, but I was still jealous that my family went to Hershey to celebrate back at home.

The Scuba Diving group :)

Anyways, that’s a good enough update for now, and I’m actually leaving in 40 minutes to catch the airport shuttle for my independent travel during our free week! I’m heading to London and Ireland, so stay tuned for posts about my travels!

Till next time!

-Courtney <3

"Morning in Paris, the City Awakes to the Bells of Notre Dame"

France

It’s time to read about Strasbourg and of course Paris, France!

Strasbourg

Sunset on the Ill

We arrived in Strasbourg during sunset, and it was beautiful to see the colors reflecting in the Ill River. After checking into the hotel, we set out for dinner and found a cute French place in Petit France where Katie and I shared roast duck with a caramelized ginger glaze, and spätzle with a puff pastry and chicken in a cream sauce. I also got chocolate moose for dessert!

Chocolate Moose!

When I returned to the hotel that night I discovered that I left my European adaptor in Salzburg, Austria. Whoops! I never leave stuff behind, but I guess I just left it in the wall with all the hustle and bustle of moving around so much. I called the hotel, and luckily they found it and were willing to ship it to me free of charge! I am happy to report that my adaptor set is complete again because they were true to their word and it was waiting for me when I returned to Cyprus!

Strasbourg was adorable :)

During our tour of Strasbourg I learned that Strasbourg has exchanged hands between Germany and France several times, so it’s no wonder that most of the signs were in both languages. It’s a cute harbor town, and the economy is in great shape because of the harbor.

A quirky thing about Strasbourg is that they are known for their storks. Apparently they didn’t return after migrating one winter once the Germans took over, and they became a sign of the Revolution because they returned when France took over again. I didn’t get to see any storks since they migrated for the winter.

At a local bakery, I tried their 7-spice special gingerbread, and it was refreshing even though I’m not a gingerbread fan.

Me and Katie with our bikes!

Celebrating Halloween in France...Vampire?

For the rest of the day, Kaite and I rented bikes and rode alongside the Ill River until we reached Oranjerie Park, where we continued to bike by lamplight. The weather was surprisingly pretty warm for a change and I was so happy to be riding a bike! We passed the Zoo inside the park, but of course it was closed at night, so I pulled my bike over to the wall and stood on the seat in order to look in. I knew there were Storks in there somewhere, so I decided the sleeping thing I saw in the closest cage was a Stork. I guess you can say I sort of saw one, maybe? Haha

We celebrated Halloween in Strasbourg by going to an ‘American’ diner, where they served burgers, fries, and shakes. It was kind of nice to be in that atmosphere since they had decorations and were dressed for Halloween. We wondered if people think all American diners still look like the 50s.

Paris

Paris!

Paris was the last city in our tour of Europe, and it was a nice way to end our adventure. We left Amsterdam at 9am and it took 7 hours for us to drive to Paris. The drive wasn’t actually bad at all! We were lucky with traffic during our entire trip really. After checking into the Hotel we walked to the Eiffel tower, and it glowed a beautiful gold color against the black night sky. It also twinkled on the hour, which reminded me a lot of a show at Disney. There's a video below!

Escargot!

We went to Monmarte and Basilique du Sacre-Coeur (the Sacred Heart Bascilica) where we could see Paris lit up in the night. For dinner we went to a cute little place with a piano player and I even tried Escargot (aka snails)! Surprisingly, the snails were pretty good. I’m not sure I would seek them out if I wasn’t in Paris, but I liked how the butter and garlic complemented the snail.

At the Moulin Rouge!

Kyle, Kristi, Katie and I walked to the Moulin Rouge; tickets were way too expensive and we didn’t care to see that kind of show anyways, but it was cool just to see it all lit up.

The Louvre (Yes, I took this picture!)

As a group we visited the Louvre, Paris’ most famous museum. The architecture of the building with glass pyramids and a ‘u’ shape structure was art in itself! Our audio guide was a Nintedo 3Ds, which made navigating the massive museum a little easier and it was super cool to use!

Mona Lisa :)

I enjoyed looking at a bunch of statues and paintings at the Louvre, the most famous of which was the Mona Lisa. I had heard that she is actually pretty small, but I guess I pictured her too small because she was bigger than I imagined! Haha

Pont des Arts

Next we crossed the Pont des Arts to walk along the Seine River, and I think the amount of locks on the bridge were the most I have seen yet! Of course we visited Notre Dame, which is as extravagant as you’d imagine, and I couldn’t help but break out into "The Bells of Notre Dame" from the Hunchback of Notre Dame, which is where I took my post title from today!

Notre Dame

If you ever go to Paris, stop at Shakespeare & Company, which is a quaint bookstore that used to house aspiring artists, writers, and musicians at no cost so they could pursue their art. I thought it was really cute and worth looking around at least if not purchasing a book or two.

It wouldn’t be Paris if it didn’t rain for at least a little bit, so we endured some heavy rain for about 4 hours; I’m glad that’s all we had to deal with compared to other stories of rain in Paris I’ve heard about! There was a beautiful double rainbow across the sky though! Katie, Lauren and I did some shopping in the fashion capital of the world on Rue de Rivoli during the rain.

Enjoying a Crepe!

My trip to Paris wouldn’t be complete without getting a crepe, so I got a banana, butter, and sugar crepe! Yummmm…I also had nutella crepes for breakfast almost everyday at the hotel. haha

Arc de Triomphe

After throwing around the idea to spend the day at Disneyland Paris or go to Versailles, Lauren and I decided to stay in Paris and just explore the city. I saw the Arc de Triomphe and strolled down Avenue des Champs-Élysées all the way to the Louvre. It was a lovely walk and along the way we saw street dancers that were pretty good; good enough that I put some change in their hat! 

Climbing trees in Luxembourg Gardens

Statue of Liberty

Père Lachaise Cemetery

We crossed through Luxembourg Gardens, which is absolutely beautiful, and we even took the time to climb some trees! We found the Statue of Liberty, watched some gentlemen play bochee ball, and headed to Père Lachaise Cemetery. This cemetery is a must see in my opinion because it was so interesting to see the long rows of elegant resting places; I even found Chopin’s grave!

View from the second level of the Eiffel Tower

For my last day in Paris, I woke up early since we were departing Paris at 11am in order to get to the airport. I decided to climb the Eiffel tower as the last thing that I would do on my 18-day journey across Europe. I left the hotel around 9am and climbed 1,665 steps to the second level in about 10 minutes. The weather was oddly warm and I climbed without a coat. I didn’t take the lift to the highest point because I was worried about time, and quite frankly I didn’t want to spend the extra money either. I climbed the tower alone since most of my friends did the tower the day before, but I’m glad I went alone because it allowed me some time to reflect.

The Group at the Louvre

While looking down to Paris below, I thought about the whole 18-day trip and how much of the world I had seen in such little time: 13 cities in 8 countries. Traveling around Europe so quickly was certainly exhausting but I enjoyed exploring so many cities and countries, and trying new foods was a big highlight of the trip! I learned some things about myself and I certainly feel a lot more cultured! When I arrived at Paris’ airport, I used the airports’ free 15 minutes of internet in order to register for Spring 2013 classes at Muhlenberg. Luckily I got the classes I wanted and I am happy to say that I am looking forward to returning to the Berg in the Spring.

Thanks for reading my post about France! I’ve posted a few updates within the past week to separate my trip for organizational purposes, so be sure to check if you missed any Country posts since there were so many! Next time you’ll get to hear all about my trip to Egypt, so stay tuned for the continuation of the craziest semester of my life!

Till next time!

-Courtney <3

"You Must Know Life to See Decay"

Hello again, readers! Thanks for keeping up with my posts. Tomorrow morning I will be leaving at 5:30am to travel to Germany, Austria, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Luxembourg, Belgium, the Netherlands, and France! My journey will last from October 22^nd -November 7^th, and I can’t wait to travel to so many places! I’m not sure if I’ll have time to blog while I’m traveling, so my next update might be when I return. Stay tuned!

Also, I’d like to make a shout out: HAPPY 50^th BIRTHDAY, MOM! Sorry I can’t be there to celebrate. Love you!

 

Now I’d like to tell you about yesterday. I took charge of planning a trip to Famagusta and Salamis, which are ancient cities in Northern Cyprus. I’ve always wanted to visit Famagusta after researching it in 7^th grade, so I was happy to plan the trip!

Kyle, Kristi, Lauren, Danielle, Me, and Katie on the bus to Famagusta!

We left our comfortable home, Nicosia, and headed into Northern Cyprus via the Ledra St. crossing. Since Kyle and I figured out where the bus stop to Famagusta was the day before, we knew exactly where we were headed. Plans changed, as they often do, when a bus pulled up next to us and said it would take us to Famagusta. His price was higher than the bus we knew of, so we were about to walk away until he changed his price and we hopped on. An hour later we arrived in Famagusta, which is called Gazi-Mağusa in Turkish.

Kristi and Me outside the walls

It was so exciting to see the walls surrounding the old part of the city built by the French Lusignans and strengthened by the Venetians. 

 

Danielle, Me, Kyle, Kristi, Katie, and Lauren hanging out on the Salamis ruins

Gymnasium ruins at Salamis

From there we took a taxi to Salamis, an ancient city about 20 minutes from Famagusta. It was amazing to explore the ancient ruins! The ruins stretched across over 2 miles of land, and although we saw a large portion of them, we didn’t get to see everything. I wish we had more time at Salamis because we only had an hour. Our taxi driver agreed to take us to Salamis, wait an hour, and then drive us back to Famagusta at a decent rate, and since our Republic of Cyprus cell phones don’t work in the North, having transportation waiting to take us back to Famagusta after exploring the ruins for an hour was a good solution to the problem.   

Ancient Theatre

Navigating the ruins was probably my favorite part of the day. I got to see the gymnasium columns, roman baths, ancient theatre, fish market, and some other things I have yet to identify because the map was in Turkish. Haha. Exploring something so old makes you appreciate history and the importance of preserving what is left of the past.

posing at the Theatre :)

Photo ops were hard to resist! haha

 

Salamis ruins

 

Being ancient statues

Shadow art at Salamis

Yeah, we took the coolest pictures at Salamis. haha :)

Lala Mustafa Pasha mosque

When the hour was up, we headed back to discover what Famagusta had to offer. Within the walls we traveled through the city and visited Lala Mustafa Pasha Mosque that used to be St. Nicholas’ Church, St. George of the Latins, the Sea Gate, the ruins of St. Francis’ Church, and Othello’s Castle. My favorite was Othello’s Castle. The reason it’s called Othello’s Castle is because Shakespeare mentions a fortress/port in Cyprus in ‘Othello’ and it is believed to be this one in Famagusta!

Othello's Castle

Tower of Othello's Castle

Sign on Varosha fence

Abandoned, broken house within Varosha

Next we headed to the Ghost Town of Varosha, which is the abandoned, fenced in area of Famagusta previously owned by Greeks. It is now guarded by the Turkish military. This area has been empty since 1974 when the Greeks fled due to the Turkish invasion, and the Turkish military has left it that way as a bargaining tool for future negotiations. Peering beyond the fence, it was sad to see the grand hotels that used to be the most popular tourist places in Cyprus but are now beyond repair after being bombed and left to the elements since 1974. There are also several cranes in the skyline, halted mid-construction of new hotels. As I learned on this website, there is even a car dealership in the Ghost Town that still houses brand-new models from 1974! Everything beyond the fence is frozen in time and left exactly as it was in 1974, which leaves an eerie feeling in your heart and makes you feel the struggle between the Greek and Turkish Cypriots. My visit to the Ghost town is what inspired today's post title to be from "After the Storm" by Mumford and Sons

Bombed hotel with Ghost Town (Tower of Terror, much?)

We continued to walk around the outskirts of the fence, which brought us to Palm Beach. The hotels along the coast were in the fenced in area, and it was strange to swim in the Sea with the deteriorating city as a backdrop. Nevertheless, the beach was lovely and it was a great way to relax after such a busy day. One of the hotels along the beach reminded me of the Tower of Terror because the elevator shaft was bombed and open to the world.

Palm Beach

St. George of the Latins ruins

Knowing we wanted to catch the 5pm bus back to Nicosia, we left the beach and headed to the station. When we got there the owner was very rude and demonstrated that the next bus was coming at 6pm by waving a clock in our faces. Previously we were told that a bus was coming at 5pm, so we were annoyed that we left the beach early only to have to wait another hour for the bus to come!

Eventually we made it back to Nicosia and crossed the buffer zone into the South. When we arrived in the South, a group of peaceful protestors were parading down Ledra St chanting about anti-fascism.

Palm Beach

It was an exhausting day traveling through ancient ruins, traversing the city of Famagusta, peering into the Ghost Town, swimming at Palm Beach, riding buses, and observing protestors. The more time I spend in Cyprus, and the more I travel around the island on both sides, my understanding of the Cyprus Problem increases and I am left wondering if a solution will ever be found. Being exposed to the Ghost Town in the North and the protestors in the South makes me realize that the issue continues to span generations of Greek and Turkish Cypriots, but hopefully their issues can be resolved one day and maybe the Ghost Town will flourish once again. Only time will tell, of course, but for now I am thankful that Cyprus is in a ‘peaceful agreement state’ that allows free passage between the North and South so I am able to experience the island from the Turkish and Greek perspectives.

As I mentioned previously, I wanted to visit Famagusta since I had to research it in 7th grade. As part of the cross-curriculum research project, we had to write a poem about a city in our chosen country as if it would be printed in a travel brochure. I would like to share that poem with you even though it is not very good and some of it is inaccurate, as I have learned by traveling there.

Fantastic Famagusta

The Sea Gate

By Courtney Haines (2004)

Come to Famagusta, one and all!

Walk up to and touch the mighty wall.

Go to the beaches and surf the waves,

Or have an adventure in one of the caves.

You can visit the many historical towers.

Maybe stop and smell the flowers.

Take your time and stay up late.

Visit sites like The Sea Gate.

Time will fly, so make it last,

But don’t rush through things way too fast.

Eat a good dinner at the Lime Light;

You’ll be in heaven with your first bite.

In Famagusta there’s adventure galore,

And not even that, there’s so much more!

 

I decided to write a new poem to reflect the actual Famagusta I discovered from my visit.

 

 

Faded Famagusta

By Courtney Haines (2012)

So grand an image I used to be,

Where tourists flocked here to the sea.

Born to resist with walls so strong;

Beyond those walls, something went wrong. 

Despite towers and ruins to explore;

My spirit changed in 1974.

Depends who you ask, the South or the North,

To discover how the issue came forth.

The subsequent struggle made my beaches grow dim,

But luckily now, some tourists will swim.

Frozen in time is a city so still;

The desolate scene gives my bones a chill.

I hope one day that city will shine,

And the divided country will have no Green Line.

 I know I’m not a poet by any means, but I wanted to share those with you. As always, thanks for reading, and look forward to posts about traveling through Central Europe!

Till next time!

-Courtney <3