Blog Update Cyprus

We never planned to come here is something we often say. And some of our best adventures happen by accident. Cyprus is a large island in the mederateranian off the coast of Turkey and south of Greece. We decided to cut our time in Morocco from three months to one after we found out that we could stay in Cyprus as it does not count against our visa (we have to be out of Europe for three months before we can go back in for three months). We are glad we did as it is a really nice place to visit, English friendly (although they speak Greek), 340 days of sun a year, lots of stuff to go see, beautiful beaches, clean, safe and affordable. You can buy a 5 euro (about $6) hamburger and rental cars start at 25 euro ($30) a day. Who knew, so much history here. The island is cut in half. Half Turkey and half Greek. It was all Greek until Turkey invaded in 1974. Now there are boarder crossings into the Turkish side which we will go check out at some point. In the history of this island just about everybody has conquered and claimed it at some point, it truly is the dividing point of Christian Europe and the Muslim East. The Greek side is Orthodox Catholic and the Turkish side is Muslim. There are a few Muslims on the Greek side and a few Catholics on the Turkish side, but most were made to move after the invasion. So some on either side lost their homes, ain't war grand. The Goddess Aphrodite is said to have been born here, and has been the recipient of worship from the cult of Aphrodite, long before the Greeks ever got here. She is said to have been lifted up out of the sea on a rock (rock is still here), and was made from the testicles of another God Uranus who had them cut off by his son and thrown into the sea, quite a tale. Another myth says she was the daughter of the God Zeus and Dione but that would be Greek and Roman, the cult of Aphrodite goes back before Phoenician times, pre-written history. Enough of that. Let's see, we visited the "Tombs of the Kings" today, pretty amazing and again prior Greek, 300 plus BC, rooms cut from solid rock (see pictures). We visited a small castle/fort built in 11th century and the Turkish baths (Turkey had possession in the 1800's). Called the Turkish baths because they used them but were actually built back when the island was under Muslim rule. The Aposle Paul starting his journey carrying the message to Europe starting here in Cyprus and was said to have put curse on a sorcerer causing him to loose his sight, it's in the bible. We will be visiting many more sights but thought I would write this up before I forget as I am sure there will much more to write about here. We think that this might be a great place for expats to consider as it has a lot going for it: lots of history and things to see, beaches, sun, not a lot of rain, mountains if you prefer it cooler in the summer or sleepy little fishing villages if you want to get away from the crowds of tourists, lots of small stores and traditional restaurants or a modern mall if you want, clean and safe, reliable shipping and costs are pretty reasonable. OK there ya go, stay tuned for more Chrysalis Adventures.