Troodos Mountains
While Cyprus has amazing beaches and the Mediterranean Sea is indescribable, my favorite part of the island looks inward. The Troodos Mountain range is much larger than one would expect for an island of this size. I guess in a way they remind me of the Smoky Mountains back home. The difference is these mountains have fewer trees and are mostly made of rocks and dirt. The roads leading into...
Read MoreFading Traditions
“You are only 1/3 of the way through.” After stuffing our faces for over an hour, when the owner of the tavern where our group ate our meze spoke these words, every jaw around the table dropped. We had already been presented with a fantastic array of bread, cheese, vegetables, salads and dips. We’d barely gotten into the meat portion of our multi-coursed meal when the...
Read More“Ruin is a gift”
This morning, the Tennessee group woke up to meet at 7 AM to drive to Famagusta (on the northern side of the island). Our first stop in Famagusta took us to St. Barnabas’ museum (used to be a church). I never knew Cyprus was so influenced by characters in the Bible – Lazarus & Barnabas, both individuals I have grown up learning about. It was so interesting seeing where St....
Read MoreAdventuresome and Amazing
About five years ago one of my favorite shirts had written on it “the world is pretty amazing.” It took an incredible adventure in Ayia Napa to make me realize that I had forgotten that fact. Last Saturday I was presented with an opportunity to go explore the Sea Caves. The sad thing is, I actually had to sit there and think if I really wanted to go or not. I had woken up expecting...
Read MoreEat ’til you die.
Nothing would be more tiresome than eating and drinking if God had not made them a pleasure as well as a necessity. ~Voltaire The ultimate focus of the documentary our group has been filming was on the food of Cyprus, specifically the meze. A meze is a massive meal. Think of a feast, a Thanksgiving meal and a cookout, then throw in all the food from the freezer and you have the idea of a...
Read MoreA Trip to Famagusta
On Wednesday our group woke up early to catch a bus down to Larnaka. We waited on the main street by the sea for a little while before the big tour bus showed up. We loaded up and picked up a few more tourists before we were on our way to the north side of the island, our destination – Famagusta. We had to stop at the UN checkpoint before crossing the green line. While stopped, we...
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