Kyrenia and Larnaca

This weekend we traveled to Kyrenia which is in Northern Cyprus with GLS. We rode in a big charter bus across the border and had to stop at the U.N. buffer zone to show our passports. Since the Turkish Rebublic of Cyprus is not a real country, the process of getting in is pretty laid back. Our program coordinators collected our passports and showed them. We didn't even have to get out! We weren't allowed to take pictures in the buffer zone, but a bunch of people were taking them anyway, of the guys that patrol the area. Eventually, the soldiers ran on to the bus and made everyone delete their pictures! Finally we got to drive into the Turkish side of Cyprus and toward the Kyrenia mountains, where our first stop was at the St. Hillarian Castle. It was built all the way at the very top of the mountain sometime during the 11th century, and overlooks the town of Kyrenia and the Mediterranean Sea. It was so exciting to see a real castle! The ride to the top of the mountain in the bus was very scarey though, because the rodes were SO windy and there weren't any railings. Next we traveled down the mountains and toward the town to the Bellapais Abbey which is a 12th century monastery. The architecture and landscape is beautiful, and the water can be seen from the building. Unfortunately, it has not been in use since the Muslim Turks took over in 1974. The Catholic Church serves no purpose on this side of the island, so it is only used for the sake of tourists. We made one final stop at the harbor, where the Castle of Kyrenia sits along side of the Mediterranean Sea. The Castle was built in the 7th century to protect the town! It even used to have a moat!! The harbor is beautiful and we all agreed that it felt like a scene from Disney World but it was real! We ate lunch at a table outside that overlooks the sea. The food wasn't too grat and of course it was overpriced, but it was so cute that we didn't care. We had a great day.

On sunday we decided to go to the beach at Larnaca, even though it was a little bit overcast. We just wanted to see the beach, so Martin drove us there and we bought him dinner in return! It was a little bit less than an hour drive. It is very cute there with a street just for people to walk down (sort of like a boardwalk but nicer). We went in to a couple shops and I bought a little souvenir plate. All 4 of us were SO excited to see the beach and stick our feet in. The water was warm enough that we could get used to it after a couple minutes of walking around. People there probably thought that we were crazy, but we didn't care because we were so excited to feel the Mediterranean Sea. After that we ate at TGI Fridays, which was a little bit overpriced, but the food was pretty similar to home! I got a chicken strip BLT and it was great.

We also celebrated the birthday of one of the girls from our program this past weekend. Nearly 30 of the students from GLS went out to dinner in the old city, downtown Nicosia. Everyone ordered the Cyprus traditional Mezze, which is a multiple course meal with tons of food. They just keep bringing out more and more food and everyone shares a plate of whatever they bring. It usually starts out wiht salad, bread, olives, beats, and some dip. Then we were served a variety of meats, including lamb and pork. Then came the french fries (which they call chips). We also got chicken, rice, ravioli, houlumi cheese, and probably more food that I just can't remember! Haha. We did not go home hungry that night. We got all of that food for 15 Euros! We had a great time : )