We woke up this morning off the coast of Cyprus. This is an exciting one for Barbie, because when her father traveled the world as an agricultural chemist this was one of his frequent stops. It was seeing the slideshows of her father's pictures from around the world that lead Barbie into a Bachelor's Degree and career in travel. Connect those dots and there would not be a Waste without her Dad's pictures.
Today has to start like every day.
A breakfast with a lot of fruit.
This represents our first look at Cyprus.
Cyprus is the third largest island in the Mediterranean, and has been its own country since 1960. Sitting off the coast of Europe, Asia and Africa, Cyrpus represented a major strategic position throughout history. Guess what that means? It has almost been held by as many great powers as Jerusalem. I tell you, being centrally located is not always a good thing. Ask Poland.
Cyprus has been occupied by the Hittites, Assyrians, Egyptians, Persians, Rashidun and Umayyad Arab caliphates, Lusignans, Venetians, a long periods of Greek rule under the Ptolemaic Egyptians, the Byzantines, and then centuries under the Ottomans. The last three represent a problem, because they left Cyprus filled with two communities, Greek and Turkish. When you speak different languages and practice different religions, you have a good shot at being good neighbors. You also have a shot at war. More after another pic.
It is not a fancy airport welcome sign, but it will do.
At the end of the Russo-Turkish War, one of the many wars in which the musicians of Europe were tuning up their instruments for the World War symphony that was to come, the British ended up in control of Cyprus. How? The war was between the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire over control of the Balkan states. (Russia wanted them "free" from the Ottomans, which would of course would make them Russian puppet states needing protection.) In order to bring about peace, the British got involved, sending a fleet of battleships to prevent Russian troops from advancing on Constantinople during the truce. It worked, and they signed a treaty giving independence to Romania, Serbia, Montenegro, and Bulgaria.
In order to stabilize the region and be near enough to protect the Suez Canal which connected them to their essential colony in India, the British set up a naval base on Cyprus. Does this sound familiar? As I type this, there are congressmen and senators in the USA arguing that we should be establishing permanent bases in Iraq and Afghanistan.
You sick of history? How about some sights? We can hit more history later.
Time for the Sanctuary of Apollo Hylates.
Dating back to approximately 800 BC, this temple was a central focus of worship on the island of Cyprus for centuries. It is called the Sanctuary of Apollo Hylates because here Apollo was worshipped as Hylates, God of the woodland and protector of the Kingdom.
A very pretty tourists gets a picture of my taking a picture.
These remains of the temple have been matched and rebuilt in the exact fashion as when it was first built.
An earthquake destroyed this temple and complex around 300 AD. Christianity stepped onto the scene and the ruins were left as ruins until the last fifty years, when an independent Cyprus saw the tourist value of restoration.
I like this shot. Call it a rule of thirds shot.
I never pointed my camera in the sun when working with film. With this digital stuff, I do it all the time.
We left the Sanctuary of Apollo Hylates and headed to... ah... Our guide, he wanted to take us to a wine tasting while everyone on our tour had singed up for a series of archeological sites. It got a little silly/ugly when the guide, a cocky Greek man, said, "I thought I had a bus of nice people but maybe I was wrong." Wrong? We are not nice because we do not be taken to something we did not pay for? Oh, he was a jerk. And it was obvious to us all that he was getting paid by the head to bring us to some wine tasting. The member of the ship's crew who was with us as chaperone went to work, showing the guide the description of the tour we had paid for, and he agreed to follow that itinerary. But it was a struggle, and the insulting thirty people at once was a nice touch.
This mosaic lined the bottom of a public bath.
The Kourion Theater, built around 200 BC and modified for at least 400 years can accommodate up to 3,500 people. In fact, they still hold cultural events here today. Also note Barbie's ability to travel in space and time.
Kourion is a vast and fascinating ruin. I suspect that you could spend half a day here. We spent a short time and then moved along. We lost a little chunk of time to our debate with the guide.
In Kourion I met a cat that, yes, looks a tiny bit like Hitler.
I believe that I left the history of Cyprus at the end of the Russo-Turkish War, with Britain setting up a base on Cyprus.
Along came World War I and the Ottomans logically lined up with the Central Powers, opposite the Russians who were with the Allied Powers, looking to regain territory they had recently lost in the Balkans.
Cyprus remained a British mandated island with mostly Greeks and a large Turkish minority through both wars, during which the Greek Cypriots fought alongside the British hoping that their reward would be enosis, or union with Greece. This did not make the Turkish Cypriots very happy. Between the World Wars the new Republic of Turkey that rose from the ashes of the Ottoman empire relinquished all claims to Cyprus. It was a wise political move at the time.
After the Second World War the British maintained control, and there were referendums proposed in the following decades for independence as well as unifying with Greece. In 1960 they brokered a deal creating the independent state The Republic of Cyprus. And... it took 3 years for violence between Greek and Turkish communities to break out, and of course both motherlands provided support. The UN sent in forces to attempt to enforce peace.
Time to break away from the history for some pictures. Along the Southern coastline of Cyprus one fints the Petra Tou Romiou, ir Rock of the Greek, or Aphrodite's Rock,
Aphrodite's Rock is THERE.
Aphrodite's Rock is THERE.
Why is this called Aphrodite's Rock? Myth states that Gaia (the Earth) asked one of her sons, Cronus, to mutilate his father, Uranus (the Sky). Cronus cut off Uranus' genitals and threw them into the sea. A white foam appeared from which a maiden arose, the waves first taking her to Kythera and then bringing her to Cyprus. The maiden, named Aphrodite, went to the assembly of gods from Cyprus.
The ancient Greeks looked at that rock formation THERE and saw Uranus' dismembered genitals, which marked this as the spot of Aphrodite's birth.
I really do not see that rock formation as the genitals of an immortal.
Before we get to the next and last stop, shall we finish up Cyprus' recent history?
When we left off, the Greek and Turkish Cypriots factions were battling son after independence. In 1964 Turkey was about to directly intervene in the fight but a telegram from US President Lyndon Johnson caused them to pause, as the telegram basically stated that if Turkey invaded Cyprus then the USA and their allies would not be able to stand beside Turkey were the USSR to invade. These were real threats.
In 1974, the Greek military (Greece was run as a military dictatorship from 1967 to 1974) carried out a coup d'état in Cyprus, removing the constitutionally backed and democratically elected President and replacing him with their own President who would join their goal to unite the island with Greece. Five days later, the Turkish army invaded to protect Turkish Cypriots and to restore the President and the constitution of the Republic of Cyprus. By the time a cease-fire was negotiated, the land of Cyprus was divided 2/3 Greek and 1/3 Turkish with forced migrations of Greeks out of the North and Turks out of the South. Cyprus had become an island divided.
In 1983, the Turkish Cypriots proclaimed the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, a nation recognized by only one nation on Earth, Turkey. The capital of Cyprus, Nicosia, is divided in half between the Turkish North and Greek South. The city even had a Berlin-style wall dividing it in half, but after 32 years the wall was taken down on April 3, 2008, but the possibility of real unification may be years or decades away.
And, that, my friends is a Cypriot nutshell. I do love that the adjective for Cyprus is Cypriot.
After taking pictures of Aphrodite's Rock, I noticed this funny sign on the steps re-entering our bus. Apparently to Cypriots ice cream does fall into the food category.
Cyprus is an arid island with a subtropical climate. Not too green.
Our last stop is...
Kolossi Castle. Kolossi? Kolossal?
Kolossi Castle was built around 1210 AD by Germanic crusaders, and then used by Hospitaller Knights as well as Knights Templar during the Crusades.
Imagine this room filled with smelly Crusader knights eager to take back territory from the Ottomans for their kings and their church, not realizing that both would stab them in the back when they were no longer needed.
A panorama from atop the castle.
I had just been standing THERE.
Time to go home.
Home.
Burger lunch by the pool.
Cypriot sunset.
Time for dinner. Barbie is feeling sicker than ever. We walk into parts of the Crystal Serenity and the perfumed carpet cleaner smell is so strong that, if we cannot move quickly enough, she covers her face with a scarf. That is one of the nice things about the Waste and is that the pictures and words almost wipe from memory how sick and miserable we both are. But I am just well enough with a pseudoephedrine and Dayquil cocktail to go eat dinner.
Therefore I dine alone. Our lovely British table partners are all off doing their own thing, and the waiters look at me with great pity.
First course, Oven-Baked Lobster Strudel, in Crisp Filo with Crayfish Sauce.
Second course, Green Split Pea Soup, with Champagne and Whole Wheat Croutons.
My main Slow-Roasted Rack of Kurobuta Pork, with Apricot Jus, Served on a Crispy Baklava of Pistachios, SPinach, Honey and Caramelized Shallots.
For dessert Duo of Pumpkin, Pumpkin Cheesecake with Butter Pecan Sauce; Pumpkin Mousse with Caramel Sauce.
Not a bad way to finish the day. To sum up Cyprus, I would say it is an interesting visit but not a must visit. Perhaps with a better guide and tour, perhaps going solo in a rental car, you would love this island divided into two states.
And I believe that we learned that Cyprus was a late addition to this cruise. The people on board with us had purchased this cruise around the Eastern Mediterranean with a stop at Alexandria, Egypt. With the turmoil in Egypt, they switched away from there and added the first ever Crystal stop at Cyprus. Another time, Alexandria. That is one city I long to visit.
Until tomorrow.
Today has to start like every day.
Cyprus is the third largest island in the Mediterranean, and has been its own country since 1960. Sitting off the coast of Europe, Asia and Africa, Cyrpus represented a major strategic position throughout history. Guess what that means? It has almost been held by as many great powers as Jerusalem. I tell you, being centrally located is not always a good thing. Ask Poland.
Cyprus has been occupied by the Hittites, Assyrians, Egyptians, Persians, Rashidun and Umayyad Arab caliphates, Lusignans, Venetians, a long periods of Greek rule under the Ptolemaic Egyptians, the Byzantines, and then centuries under the Ottomans. The last three represent a problem, because they left Cyprus filled with two communities, Greek and Turkish. When you speak different languages and practice different religions, you have a good shot at being good neighbors. You also have a shot at war. More after another pic.
At the end of the Russo-Turkish War, one of the many wars in which the musicians of Europe were tuning up their instruments for the World War symphony that was to come, the British ended up in control of Cyprus. How? The war was between the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire over control of the Balkan states. (Russia wanted them "free" from the Ottomans, which would of course would make them Russian puppet states needing protection.) In order to bring about peace, the British got involved, sending a fleet of battleships to prevent Russian troops from advancing on Constantinople during the truce. It worked, and they signed a treaty giving independence to Romania, Serbia, Montenegro, and Bulgaria.
In order to stabilize the region and be near enough to protect the Suez Canal which connected them to their essential colony in India, the British set up a naval base on Cyprus. Does this sound familiar? As I type this, there are congressmen and senators in the USA arguing that we should be establishing permanent bases in Iraq and Afghanistan.
You sick of history? How about some sights? We can hit more history later.
We left the Sanctuary of Apollo Hylates and headed to... ah... Our guide, he wanted to take us to a wine tasting while everyone on our tour had singed up for a series of archeological sites. It got a little silly/ugly when the guide, a cocky Greek man, said, "I thought I had a bus of nice people but maybe I was wrong." Wrong? We are not nice because we do not be taken to something we did not pay for? Oh, he was a jerk. And it was obvious to us all that he was getting paid by the head to bring us to some wine tasting. The member of the ship's crew who was with us as chaperone went to work, showing the guide the description of the tour we had paid for, and he agreed to follow that itinerary. But it was a struggle, and the insulting thirty people at once was a nice touch.
Our next stop? Kourion. Kourion is an ancient Cypriot ruin dating from the Greek and Roman eras, but archeological evidence has found a human presence here dating back as far as 4500 BC. All that remains, of course, is the Hellenistic Greek and Roman structures.
Kourion is a vast and fascinating ruin. I suspect that you could spend half a day here. We spent a short time and then moved along. We lost a little chunk of time to our debate with the guide.
I believe that I left the history of Cyprus at the end of the Russo-Turkish War, with Britain setting up a base on Cyprus.
Along came World War I and the Ottomans logically lined up with the Central Powers, opposite the Russians who were with the Allied Powers, looking to regain territory they had recently lost in the Balkans.
Cyprus remained a British mandated island with mostly Greeks and a large Turkish minority through both wars, during which the Greek Cypriots fought alongside the British hoping that their reward would be enosis, or union with Greece. This did not make the Turkish Cypriots very happy. Between the World Wars the new Republic of Turkey that rose from the ashes of the Ottoman empire relinquished all claims to Cyprus. It was a wise political move at the time.
After the Second World War the British maintained control, and there were referendums proposed in the following decades for independence as well as unifying with Greece. In 1960 they brokered a deal creating the independent state The Republic of Cyprus. And... it took 3 years for violence between Greek and Turkish communities to break out, and of course both motherlands provided support. The UN sent in forces to attempt to enforce peace.
Time to break away from the history for some pictures. Along the Southern coastline of Cyprus one fints the Petra Tou Romiou, ir Rock of the Greek, or Aphrodite's Rock,
Why is this called Aphrodite's Rock? Myth states that Gaia (the Earth) asked one of her sons, Cronus, to mutilate his father, Uranus (the Sky). Cronus cut off Uranus' genitals and threw them into the sea. A white foam appeared from which a maiden arose, the waves first taking her to Kythera and then bringing her to Cyprus. The maiden, named Aphrodite, went to the assembly of gods from Cyprus.
But I handed Barbie the iPhone and did my best to help her line up a shot of Uranus' remains matching mine.
Before we get to the next and last stop, shall we finish up Cyprus' recent history?
When we left off, the Greek and Turkish Cypriots factions were battling son after independence. In 1964 Turkey was about to directly intervene in the fight but a telegram from US President Lyndon Johnson caused them to pause, as the telegram basically stated that if Turkey invaded Cyprus then the USA and their allies would not be able to stand beside Turkey were the USSR to invade. These were real threats.
In 1974, the Greek military (Greece was run as a military dictatorship from 1967 to 1974) carried out a coup d'état in Cyprus, removing the constitutionally backed and democratically elected President and replacing him with their own President who would join their goal to unite the island with Greece. Five days later, the Turkish army invaded to protect Turkish Cypriots and to restore the President and the constitution of the Republic of Cyprus. By the time a cease-fire was negotiated, the land of Cyprus was divided 2/3 Greek and 1/3 Turkish with forced migrations of Greeks out of the North and Turks out of the South. Cyprus had become an island divided.
In 1983, the Turkish Cypriots proclaimed the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, a nation recognized by only one nation on Earth, Turkey. The capital of Cyprus, Nicosia, is divided in half between the Turkish North and Greek South. The city even had a Berlin-style wall dividing it in half, but after 32 years the wall was taken down on April 3, 2008, but the possibility of real unification may be years or decades away.
And, that, my friends is a Cypriot nutshell. I do love that the adjective for Cyprus is Cypriot.
Our last stop is...
Time to go home.
Time for dinner. Barbie is feeling sicker than ever. We walk into parts of the Crystal Serenity and the perfumed carpet cleaner smell is so strong that, if we cannot move quickly enough, she covers her face with a scarf. That is one of the nice things about the Waste and is that the pictures and words almost wipe from memory how sick and miserable we both are. But I am just well enough with a pseudoephedrine and Dayquil cocktail to go eat dinner.
Therefore I dine alone. Our lovely British table partners are all off doing their own thing, and the waiters look at me with great pity.
Not a bad way to finish the day. To sum up Cyprus, I would say it is an interesting visit but not a must visit. Perhaps with a better guide and tour, perhaps going solo in a rental car, you would love this island divided into two states.
And I believe that we learned that Cyprus was a late addition to this cruise. The people on board with us had purchased this cruise around the Eastern Mediterranean with a stop at Alexandria, Egypt. With the turmoil in Egypt, they switched away from there and added the first ever Crystal stop at Cyprus. Another time, Alexandria. That is one city I long to visit.
Until tomorrow.
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