Village People

Lots to catch up on today.  We have spent the past week and a half at the village and there is no Internet connection there.  It makes us realize how much we depend on our computers.  A week ago this past Thursday we made our way to the village.  On our way, we stopped at the airport to pick up Aunt Margaret who was arriving from Athens.  She is married to Uncle Yiannis who is Electra's brother.  Uncle Yiannis had arrived the previous week, but Aunt Margaret had to pay a visit to her mother before coming.  Margaret is originally from Holland, and she and Yiannis have spent most of their married life in Athens.  They have a house in the village next to Electra's.  Demetris' siblings and families were also at the village because during this time of year pretty much everyone in Cyprus goes on vacation.  There happens to be a holiday on August 15 (Assumption of the Virgin Mary) and everyone plans time off around this.  We did our best to make the most of our time there.  One day we took the kids to a water park and they had a great time.  Alex and I went down some pretty big slides many times.  Sofia liked just playing in the water and floating down the lazy river in a tube with me.  The day ended with a bang.  As we were leaving, someone ran a stop sign in the parking lot and hit Diana and Michalis' car.  Quite a bit of damage on the front end.
Demetris and I like to search out new places to see.  One day we were planning to head to a beach, and on the way there we saw a hand painted sign that said, "beach this way."  It pointed down a rough dirt road but we chanced it and found a bit of a hidden jewel.  It was a beach in a small cove with only about twenty other people.  There weren't any amenities there, but the water was clear and the scenery beautiful.  On other days we enjoyed driving through the mountains and trying to squeeze in a bit of exercise when possible, including taking the kids on walks.  During our down time we watched the Olympics.  Cyprus won a silver medal in laser sailing, the first Olympic medal ever won by a Cypriot!

Picnic under the large cypress trees in Salamiou

An aqueduct we discovered on one of our adventures

This is all that remains of the river during the dry summer months

Aunt Margaret joined us on a hike on the Caledonia trail

Scenery at our newly discovered beach

The boys had to climb the rocks at the beach and Demetris ended up with another scraped leg.

"Little" Electra and Sofia