Limassol

Alex was excited to go to his Uncle Themis' house today to help dig out a tree stump. The men worked hard and got the job done. Maria made us a nice lunch of Greek meatballs. We then headed to Limassol for a quick, late afternoon trip. It takes us about an hour to drive there. The seashore is a pretty area with a nice path for walking and many restaurants across the street. It is a long, narrow beach with dark sand that is soft like powder. We let the kids play for a bit and luckily Sofia didn't take any tumbles in the water this time.

Sofia doing her ballet move

It is a port city.  We saw five tankers in the sea today.

Alex took this picture

Handsome

Athalassa park

We are fortunate to have the Athalassa park close to where we live. It is a national park and my favorite place to go for a run. There are plenty of bike/walking paths and hills that make running a bit challenging. Plus, it is never crowded. While I am running I usually see 20-30 salamanders. They are little, about 4-5 inches. They sun themselves on the path and scurry under a bush when they hear me coming. Once, I also saw a bright green chameleon. It stood along the path with it's back arched keeping an eye on me. As I approached he backed off a bit, but didn't take off like the salamanders. While I'm running, Demetris takes the kids to play in an area by the pond. They keep busy digging in the dirt and pretending to plant trees. A few weeks ago the fields in the park were full of blooming flowers, but things have already dried up as the hot, dry summer begins.

Still flooded from the heavy rains this past winter

Working together to plant a "tree"

Agia Napa

The weather is warming up here so after lunch yesterday we decided to head to the beach in Agia Napa. This area is located on the southeast side of Cyprus. We went to nissi beach which is a very popular tourist location. In the summer it will be packed and tourists, especially from England, are already starting to arrive. There is a good reason everyone goes there. It is a beautiful beach. The sand is light in color and very soft. The water is a light turquoise close to the shore and becomes a deep sapphire color further out. There is a sand bar area that leads to an area of rocks that jut out into the sea and Demetris and I took turns climbing on them. Couldn't take the kids because they are pretty sharp rocks.  Since it was a hasty trip for us, none of us were really prepared to swim except for Alex who had been wearing his swim trunks all day. At least I had taken a change of clothes along for the kids this time so we didn't mind that Sofia again took a tumble in the water.

The dark part of the water is because there is a rock formation underwater

Sofia

"I'm the first one to sit in the water."--Alex

You can walk all the way around on the ledge of rock by the water.

House upon a hill

Took a short drive outside of Nicosia to the Stavrovouni Monastery. It was a scenic area and the monastery is perched on top of the summit of a small mountain. Women are not allowed on the actual monastery grounds. Demetris would not have been allowed in either because he was wearing shorts. Since we didn't think it would be a good idea to send the kids in alone, we all stayed outside the gate. We did encounter four monks in the outside area so maybe they aren't as secluded as their rules suggest. I wandered into the bookstore (think gift shop but with religious items) and the monk working there spoke to me in Greek. Once I replied that I don't speak Greek he began to talk to me in perfect English. He asked where I was from and then pulled out a map of the United States to locate Boston and Illinois. We bought pictures of the saints bearing our kids names at the store and a little wood carved cross necklace for me.

The cross gate is as close as we could go

The Church of all Saints of Cyprus, across from the gate

The monastery

Outside the Church of all Saints

Mosaic at the entrance gate

Must not have been too easy to build

With her picture of St. Sofia

With St. Giorgos

Easter Monday

More games organized by the village this morning. This time we met in the center of town. Alex and the older girl cousins joined the game where you tie a balloon around your ankle and try to not let anyone pop it. Then they all formed a group for a scavenger hunt throughout the center. All the clues were in Greek, but even if Alex knew what they meant he wouldn't have known where anything was. All the girls took off running to find the clues and he followed along happy to be part if it all. Their group won!  Following the great victory we visited an old church in Salamiou. It dates to the 13th century and is on very pretty grounds. They continue to have some services and there is a group of nuns who reside there.
After lunch we went out in search of a medieval bridge we had heard about. We took a very winding, narrow road through the mountains and found a scenic river area where we stopped for a bit. Once again the kids had the best time throwing rocks in the water, digging in the dirt, and "mixing cement". It doesn't take much to make them happy. The bridge turned out to be less than a mile down the road from this spot. It is called the Kelefos Medieval Bridge and it dates back to the 15th century. We followed some small paths around the area and hope to explore it more in the future.
Back to Nicosia tomorrow.

Alexis and Stephanos in the door of the coffee shop in the town center.

Ready for the balloon popping

Mosaic at the church

Home of the nuns.  Notice the solar panels on the roof.

The bells at the church

The church

In the dirt at the river

Beautiful view of the river

Kelefos Medieval Bridge with Demetris and Alex in the background

Me with the kids on top of the bridge

Easter day

Happy Easter!  We slept in a bit this morning since we had a late night last night.  There were twenty of us for Easter lunch and we ate at a long table in the courtyard area of the house.  We feasted on souvla (larger pieces of pork grilled on big skewers, compared to souvlaki which is small pieces of pork), koupepia (stuffed grape leaves), roasted potatoes, and salads.  Everything was very yummy.  Salamiou is a small village, with a population of about 300 people, but they had organized activities in the afternoon at the local school.  The games were like those you would expect at a grade school field day; sack races, carrying an egg on a spoon, the three legged race, tug of war, and a short race. Alex had fun participating in most of the events. I joined Diana and Maria in a couple of races in the all ages category. I'm happy to report that Demetris, Alex, and I each were on the winning tug of war team in our respective group.

These large chocolate eggs are popular and often have a toy inside.

Michalis supervising the souvla

This is where we attended Easter service.

The egg race.  Maria in the turquoise, me next to her and then Diana.

Preparing Alex for the egg race.  He dropped his.

Tatiana cheering on Alex in the sack race.

After the ice cream

Three legged race.  Stephanos and Alexis as a team, and Nayia and Alex together.

Ready for tug of war.