Larnaca, Ayia Napa, and such!

Hey everyone! Sorry it's taken me awhile to write this weeks post! I've been so busy! Last weekend we went to Larnaca to visit a famous mosque called Hala Sultan Tekke. It's the most important Muslim religious site in Cyprus and one of the most important MMuslim shrines in the world. It holds the tomb of the prophet Muhammad's wet nurse. It was really interesting because you had to take your shoes off before entering and the mosque is basically empty. It was really interesting. Then we went to the Church of St. Lazarus where his remains and skull is kept. It is a huge Greek Orthodox Church with beautiful gold plated icons and a huge gold iconostasis. You can go into the basement of the church where the tomb is too! It was breathtaking! We then headed over to Ayia Napa, which is basically the Las Vegas of Cyprus. We stayed at the Green Bungalow hotel which was near all the bars and restaurants and about a 10 minute walk to the beach. On Friday after visting the monuments, my roommates Amanda and I decided we wanted to go to Cape Greco to go cliff diving! After walking for over an hour, we were no where near close to getting there so thankfully a taxi driver came back and brought us the rest of the way! He said that normally people don't drive out the cape because its so secluded! It was probably one of the coolest things I've ever done! I jumped off two cliffs then has  to swim into a cave to get out of the water! It was such an awesome experience! On Saturday, a group of my friends and I went on a boat called the Yellow Submarine that takes you out to the sea caves where you can snorkel and swim into the caves! The boat also had a really high diving board and two slides on it! It was soo much fun! The water here is crystal clear and you can see just about everything! The Captain of the boat also let me drive for a minute! The rest of the day we went to Nissi Beach, which is a very popular tourist beach with white sand and clear, clear water surrounded by a bunch of bars, restaurants, cafes, and water sports! Saturday night we went out and experienced all of the clubs that Ayia Napa had to offer, it was craziest place I have ever been to say the least! On sunday I went to Nissi Beach again and then headed back to Nicosia. This week I had class all week and a few presentations to work on! We have been busy, busy with school work but it is all so interesting that I don't mind. I actually am enjoying my greek language and art history class a lot more than I thought I would! I am going to Israel this weekend to check out Jerusalem and visit the Dead Sea! I have finals on Monday then leave for our week long trip on Tuesday!


Catch up with you soon! 


here's the link to check out my pictures from the past weekend:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150866445872035.399326.564557034&type=3&l=1d4e818436       

Week 1 down

γειά σου! well my first week at University of Nicosia went FABULOUS! The classes I am taking are very interesting and I am learning a lot! My art history class really focuses on teaching us about ancient artifacts and art that we are going to see while on our trip. My greek language class is also very useful, but I am still trying to learn the language a little better, at least the slang portion. This weekend we went on a trip to Limassol, Pafos, and Lefkara. Here was my itenerary: 

On friday we went to Limassol, stopping at Limassol Castle, where the wedding of Richard the Lionheart with Berengaria of Navarre took place!  

Next we went towards Paphos stopping at Kolossi Castle (http://www.cyprus.com/kolossi-castle.html) which is said to be the best preserved medieval castle in Cyprus and Kourion ((http://www.cyprus.com/theatre-of-kourion.html) to see the beautifully preserved mosaics and magnificent Greco-Roman theater of this ancient city kingdom.

Our last stop before Paphos was at Petra tou Romiou ("The Rock of the Greek") (http://www.cyprus.com/petra-tou-romiou.html ), to take pictures at the birthplace of Aphrodite, goddess of love and beauty!

When we arrived in Paphos we had free time for lunch at the harbor, after which we will continue with our tour, visiting the Mosaics (http://www.cyprus.com/pafos-mosaics.html).

We stayed at the Aqua Sol Holiday Village, then on Saturday we had a free day, where I went to Coral Bay beach, the most clear water I have ever seen in my life! 

Sunday morning we stopped in Lefkara, a village famous for its lace and silver works in the Troodos mountains where you can have lunch.  According to tradition, Leonardo da Vinci visited Lefkara and bought a lace alter cloth which he donated to the Milan Duomo!


We got back late sunday afternoon in Nicosia. Today starts week 2 of school! We will be going to Ayia Nappa and Larnaca this weekend where I plan on snorkeling and cliff diving! I also got an email from Nicosia General Hospital, for the OK to volunteer there once a week for a few hours to get the feel for the healthcare system over here.


Check back next Monday for a new update! 


To see pictures from my trip so far check out: 
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150853962487035.398107.564557034&type=3&l=128f29b0e9
and
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150854025517035.398116.564557034&type=1&l=45ed210fa5

Old Nicosia

Today we took a tour of Old Nicosia, which is a really cultural area here in Cyprus. There was about 4-5 Greek Orthodox churches just in a small area. I also checked out the Archeological Museum, which had tons and tons of ancient artifacts! Unfortunately we were not aloud to take pictures! After that, we went into old Nicosia, which is surrounded by a huge wall called the Venetian wall. We toured old Nicosia and ate at an authentic Cypriot cafe. I had a hallumi pita! My new favorite food! We got to see the wall that divides Northern Cyprus which is inhabited by Turks and the rest of Cyprus which is manly Greeks. There was a huge wall and a guard tower every so often, which was so intimidating. Our tour guard called it a "war wall". Supposedly in the buffer zone there are a lot of drug dealers, human trafficers, and wanted people hiding out. Kinda scary! We also got to see where the Archbishop of Cyprus lives, which happens to be the big, huge, beautiful mansion. There were two black Cadillacs parked outside of the mansion in a big glass box. The tour guide told us that JFK gave the Archbishop and 1st president of Cyprus these black Cadillacs as presents! The tour was pretty awesome! We got back from the tour and my luggage finally came! My roommates and I just hung out all night, talking about our families and eating pizza.

xoxo

Γεια σας από Κύπρος

Greetings from Cyprus! Well today is my first official day as a Cypriot! Cyprus is the most beautiful country! The weather has been in the upper 90s and HOT HOT HOT! The sky is blue and the water is clear and the beaches are white!

Anyways, yesterday when I got into Cyprus, my luggage was lost so I am still waiting to get it. Good thing I packed a few outfits in my carry-on! Once I got here, I meet up with my roommates and just hung out and got to know each other! We went to the "mall" which is actually a grocery store and bought some stuff for our apartment. We had an orientation yesterday where we met everyone at the GLS head office. Then we all came back and napped for a while and then went out to a bar right down the road from our apartment! Today we had orientation all day and tonight we are having a "family dinner" with all the other students from GLS. Tomorrow we are taking a tour of Nicosia and going to a museum! I start class on monday and have class Monday-Thursday from 9-2:30 with a half hour break in between. I am taking a Greek Language class and an Art History Class! Pics to follow sooon!

Cyprus is everything I thought it would be and MORE! Next weekend we are going to Pathos to check out the beach and more cultural stuff...CANT WAIT!

ONE DAY!!!

As of tomorrow, there is only ONE day until I leave for CYPRUS! I have all my suitcases packed up and zipped SHUT so I can't try to pack anything else! I have one large suitcase, a medium suitcase, a carry-on, and a purse! I am definitely set for 6 weeks worth of fun! I joined my programs facebook group and am actually meeting up with one of the girls doing the summer in the med. program. We'll be meeting up in the Toronto airport then stop in Austria, where we will meet up with a few more people, and then fly into Cyprus! I cannot believe this trip is actually happening! It feels so surreal! I cannot wait to get into the warm weather! It was 60 degrees here today! Blahhhh =p