Cyprus in the full

Here they are! All the photos we've been promising. Some of them might repeat with Mom's, I just went through and put them all on. I can't seem to figure out how to put the pictures on in Chronological order yet, because the program uploads them backward.. so will do the best explaining that I can! We really loved our trip, and hope you like the pictures!

This is the two of us on the top of a mountain, with Mt. Olympos in the distance. The view was incredible!

This is the amazing man who's been collecting ancient lithographs and maps his whole life. We got some absolute treasures from him. Thankfully, he recognized that we'd actually cherish them for years and knocked the prices down! Plus, Mom and Dad are returning buyers.
The views of the mountains.
We were above the clouds!

This is the wall in Nicosia that separates the Greek Cypriot from the Turkish Cypriot side. It's actually a UN buffer zone. Let's just put it this way, it's Palestine in reverse, except this time it's the Muslims that are occupying land that they shouldn't be.
Street cafes in Nicosia, empty because Wednesday is their designated everyone is closed day, mandated by the government. Weird huh!

This is the fanciest and most well-endowed monastery in Cyprus. The mosaics are absolutely incredible, even though they are not ancient.
You can see the gold from the mosaics shining off the second floor. All the doors in between are rooms for the numerous monks that live here. This monastery houses a really important icon from Constantinople that was given to Cyprus a long, long time ago.
Above the monastery is this amazing peak with a tomb on it. The tomb is for the most important monk in Cypriot history, who was also a political leader that sort of got the country going. He tried to unite Cyprus but unfortunately the Turks weren't having any of it. So he has this amazing tomb, and the view, is unreal.

The selling point for this restaurant was definitely the giant fireplace,. but much to our excitement, the food was even more awesome! After taking our orders, Mama grabbed a shovel full of coals from the fireplace, hobbled around back and cooked up a feast for us. Some dishes were similar to Egyptian dishes, but they had PORK!!
The Christmas lights.
More mosaics at the big monastery.

Apollo himself, at the Tombs of the Kings, Pafos.
Aphrodite's bath, too bad you can't really see the waterfall trickling down behind us.
Shameless Westmonsters.
From a trail above the ocean,. lots of awesome trails with goats!

This is also the tombs of the kings, tombs where important people, not necessarily kings were buried.

Like the catacombs in Alexandria, they're sort of creepy.
So are the inhabitants.

Kykkos Monastery, home of hand made Byzantine icons and awesome wines!


Marcus had to go back to the car and change. Ok he didn't but I love this sign! I feel like it needs to be reproduced and put up around Egypt at all tourist spots.
This Greek-only speaking Wine maker toured us around, tasting wines straight from the barrels. We bought some and were given some,. and had a grand old time.

It looks like something out of "Troy," it's so pretty.
Mosaics! These are the real deal, ancient and amazing.
Above Pafos,. there are villages nestled in the hills all over, with windy ridiculous roads, roads that exist on maps but not in real life,. herds of goats,.. it makes driving with the stick shift on the left really exciting.
Overlooking Pafos and all the surrounding towns.
Driving through the countryside.

Pafos

The harbor

These are some of the amazing mosaics we saw in Pafos. The stones were amazing!

Well, that's all for now of photos. It was an awesome trip. It was definitely on the expensive side, I mean,. a latte at Starbucks was about $6! Yikes. Oh well though, it was vacation! Not exactly beach weather, but we had such a great time driving around. The nice thing was that it wasn't crowded like it is in the summer. I imagine that it's absolutely packed and stinking hot. There were so many British people and restaurants around, it almost feels like it's an English colony or something. The people were very friendly, we got to do some Cypriot/Greek dancing at the hotel which was a riot, and absolutely loved the food everywhere. Homemade sausages,. tons of pork. Interestingly enough, although you can get fish, it's not as big a fish place as we thought because there aren't many local types of fish that are caught. Surprising!

Sadly, I feel like it's moving in the direction of what we saw in Southern Spain, which is absolutely packed to the brim with resorts, golf clubs and condos,.. and Brits! I hope that doesn't happen here in Cyprus, but Real estate development is off the charts, and it's expensive. It's pretty sad when people from England can't even afford to live there anymore so they move to and develop all these other beautiful places!

The historical sites that we saw were very impressive, and it was just such a blessing to be in a Christian country. I love the lights and decorations everywhere!

Hope you enjoyed all the pictures!!