February 5, 2007
Heraklion, Crete, Greece.
Today was a free day, so not much happened. We read a bunch and took an exam on Cyprus, which ended occupying the larger part of the day. However, after taking the test, on the advice of Stuart, I went on a run down by the harbour. The wind was blowing and there were huge waves, the sun sat low in the sky and the clouds sat heavy along the shore. It felt really good to run down the streets, passing cars and shops and people along the way. I got down to the water and it crashed around me, the first time I passed the dividing wall it and the wind nearly bowled me over. Soaking wet and fearful that my iPod would be destroyed, I returned to the hotel, put it back, and went out again. Although the experience was ultimately kind of physically uncomfortable between the blisters and the cold, the views and the feeling of being absolutely at mercy to the elements was exhilarating.
But, as far as the past few days have gone….
On Saturday we woke up early as usual and went to the site of the Palace of Knossos. This is the largest of the palaces on Crete, and has a sprawling plan that cannot be immediately determined by roundabout entrances that you take to get there. The day was blustery and absolutely cold and although I enjoyed exploring the vast expanse of ruins that are partially reconstructed by Sir Arthur Evans I felt that the reconstruction did not contain the same amount of majesty as the tumbled down ruins that one finds at the unexcavated sites of Salamis. The place felt like something out of Disney world…. But I guess I said this yesterday.
The other two sites we visited that day were Arkanes, which contained a museum with the remains of some grave goods nearby, and diagrams of nearby excavations that are taking place in the basements of the town that is located on top of the millennium old ruins. There was also a section on the shrine of Anemospilia, a site where the Minoans were believed to have practiced human sacrifice, a subject that causes much controversy in the world of archaeology even today.
Kylissos, unfortunately, was closed. This last site for the day contained the ruins of 3 major Minoan houses, which were expanded and added on to in a pell-mell fashion and contained some valuable finds. However, looking upon the site from over a wire and metal fence was somewhat less than exhiliarating—I wanted more than anything to be able to explore the area, and being able to see only part of a floor plan makes things very difficult to enjoy and experience. However, the severe wind and cold did a little bit to curb my desire to see the sight—stepping onto the bus for the ride home felt really good after fighting against the biting wind and cold.
Dinner took place in one of the small giro shops close to our hotel. We went to this place called Pinnochio’s that had the best pitas ever. Like the night before, all of the meat was wrapped up on a huge rotating pole that the servers just carved with a knife and stuffed into pitas together with the most wonderful tomatoes and cucumbers. After that, it was some talking and chatting with what has become the Late Night Crew—that is, myself Brad, Chris and Katie. The four of us often just stay up talking well into the night, and since the people at this hotel seem intent on kicking people out of the lobby at midnight, it wasn’t long until we said our goodnights and went to sleep.
The following day started entirely too early. I had not gotten much sleep the night before, and woke up in a terrible terrible mood, so I curled up on the seat of the bus with my best brooding music and tried to sleep a little bit, which was ultimately unsuccessful, which only served to make my mood worse. I guess that’s what happens when you decide to stay up way too late the night before.
In any event, our first stop that day was the sight of Gortyna, the site of a Roman odeion which contains the inscription of a law code that is written in a very unusual manner—the lines alternate the reading from left to right and from right to left, which seems completely strange to me. Perhaps you can do it in Greek—Toumazou made a comment on the site, something about a boustrophedon, to which all of the classics language majors chucked. Ambrice and I looked at each other and laughed; Spanish is the only language either of us knows on the trip. The Odeon is a semi circular series of pillars in what looks like red brick, set in the characteristic roman arch. Although some of the arches had fallen out, behind htem was set the law code, on a wall and the whole appearance was rather mysterious—perhaps because I have no knowledge of Greek. But because we had so many sites to see that day we did not spend much time at Gortyna and instead loaded the bus again to head to Agia Triada.
Agia Triada brightened my mood a bit. The small Minoan palace- like structure is set into the side of a hill that overlooks a harbour . The day was clear and blue and we could see over mountains and hills all of the way until the water met the sky far in the distance. Here, we could and did wander around—the site was even more complicated than Knossos because it had been added to in a number of different stages. You could see the difference in the types of stone used and the manner of construction throughout—no attempts at consistency here. None of the place looked significantly reconstructed, and I felt like I was walking along the bleached bones of some gigantic sprawling carcass, laid bare for the sky. The walls were thick and we walked along some of them, peering into the shallow remains of rooms. At the top of the little hill that the place was located was a small church dedicated to St George. It was really only the size of a tool shed, and contained a quaint air about it that made me want to make it a weekend retreat or something. It was not overwhelming or sprawling in any way, it just sat surveying the magnificent countryside in its quiet meek way.
The next stop was the site of Kamilari. At the end of a long trek we reached another hilltop with an amazing view, and the remains of some small tholos (round) tombs, set into the ground. This was not the most impressive architectural site by any means. However, the walk to get there was positively invigorating. We walked through a grove of olive trees under the blue skies, and the grass was full of delicate little yellow flowers, that lined the side of the road. All traces of my bad mood vanished as I took in the mountains and the rolling plains that were dotted with crops. I could not help but be in a good mood, and the day grew warmer as we climbed the small knoll up to the site, which appeared out of the olive fields. It was so wonderful. I could not believe, yet again, that I was actually in a foreign country, having class out on the grass in a land with a spectacular view. I have the feeling that the emotion will not go away. We scrambled down around the tomb areas, walking in the tall grass and the stones, and then took the pleasant walk home. Fabulous.
Hungry and ready for lunch, we stopped at a local town to get some food. Since Ambrice, Jess and I had already had our peanut butter and jelly sandwiches from the morning, I decided to forego the sitdown lunch and grabbing an orange made my way to the beach. The beach. Golden cliffs rising on two sides, one side of which is dotted with brightly colored low buildings, the other of which is riddled with small square holes. Naturally, after seeing the water we decided to go exploring. Chris, Sam and I climbed the fence and made our way to these small caves. There must have been about 30 of them dotted on the lower levels of the cliff. We scrambled around inside to find a number of funny words inscribed on the walls—freedom, peace signs, yin yang signs, and other evidence of hippie inhabitation. Dr Toumazou mentioned that some hippies had made their homes here, and this was evidently it. Moving higher, we scambled up the rocky cliff face and moved toward where the water met the sea, and stood stunned as the water surged up the cliffs below us, creating green blue and white foam motion upon the rock. In the distance, a hazy island stood—an invitation to mystery. We stood overawed for a few moments and then took our time scrambling back down. Reaching the water, we skipped stones in the surf—the beach was covered with many sizes of pebbles and sand and I spent a long time throwing the rocks and watching them bounce into the surf.
The last site we visited was located on the beach, it was a bronze age harbour site that was called Kommos, which was largely inaccessible to visitors. We peered over the fence at the tumbled down boulders that faced the sea and watched the waves crash again and again.
The last site we visited was Phaistos, another one of the Minoan palaces. Unfortunately we arrived at the site too late to see the inside, but we sat on a small ledge overlooking the ruins and talked about its construction. The only thing that was still largely evident was a large causeway of shallow steps that led up to the main courtyard. It was getting cooler by then, and as it always seems to be in this place, Phaistos was situated with a perfect view of rugged reddish cliffs, cloaked in olive green shrubbery. It’s a shame we didn’t get to see the inside of it.
I napped on the bus on the way home, and then we ventured out to a small part of Heraklion that we had seen on our way to the internet café the night before. Many of these places were open air bars, covered with vast awnings and low couches, and we had difficulty finding a place to actually eat dinner. At one spot the waiter informed us that the restaurant had just stopped serving its dinner menu a few days previous, but he pulled some strings in the kitchen to get us some food. I had a salad with the best tomatoes I have had in my life, and we returned to the hotel for a little bit of studying, some nice rose wine, and some conversation before bed.
Today was just studying and taking the test, with the exception of the fabulous run I went on this afternoon. All of my clothes are still sopping from being blasted with the waves.
Friday, February 9, 2007
Saturday, February 3, 2007
Welcome to Crete
February 3, 2007
Heraklion, Crete, Greece.
Yesterday we flew into Crete, which was relatively uneventful. The whole day was essentially spent traveling. We arrived in Crete in the later afternoon, which gave us enough time to walk around a bit in the daylight. A few of us went to the grocery store, a very tiny hole in the wall shop where all of the labels were in Greek. Trying to find bread was easy enough, but peanut butter was practically impossible to find and was really expensive, and it was very difficult to tell the difference between yogurt and cream cheese, etc. Nevertheless, the prospect of not eating out was enough to get me to make a few purchases—PB and J for lunch, as well as some snacks.
The grocery store is located in this little alleyway that is full of fruit stands and purse stores. All of the stores sell very cheap knockoffs of designer styles, and the stalls spill out into the narrow walkway, covered with brightly colored awnings. This was the same place where we went to eat dinner, the small alley opened into a larger street with clothing stores—Ambrice and I went into a few of them and tried on some clothes, which was a funny experience because the sizing here is completely different and the jeans have VERY low waists. I tried on one pair with the biggest flair leg I have ever seen. I looked like I had cones on my feet.
For dinner, we went to a small shop that sold Souvlaki. The edge of the shop had a huge wheel of meat that the owners would carve using a very long knife, and place into a pita. We approached but realized quickly that the entire menu was in Greek. Luckily, we spoke to the man working at the store and he said “OK no problem, I fix you food,” and told us to sit down. Less than ten mintues later Ambrice, Jess, Anne, and I each had a heaping plate of pita stuffed with that meat, veggies and fries. It was possibly the best meal we had ever had, and none of us even knew what it was. We also ordered this strange drink in lieu of wine, which tasted like an odd mixture of the two.
The rest of the night was spent walking among the shops, watching a movie, and completing our reading. I had gotten so caught up with things in Cyprus that I had neglected much of my work, which came all crashing down. And then bed.
This morning I woke up a little sleepy and headed downstairs for breakfast, after which we hit the road to see Knossos. Knossos is one of the palaces constructed by the Minoans in the 1700s BC and is a sprawling complex of pillars, walls, and pits. This is the place where the labyrinth myths began, and the ground plan of the building supports it. Everything is subsumed into a series of twists and turns, still evident in the reconstructed areas that remain. Certain parts of the palace look like scenes from a theme park—created by Arthur Evans in the early 1900s, it gives you a good picture of what a Minoan palace would have looked like but had lost the romance of the tumbled boulders of a place like Salamis. There is nothing here that begs to be recognized—it is all there for your eyes to see.
The day was really really cold walking around Knossos. All of us were bundled up as much as we could, heads buried into hoods and shoulders hunched against the wind. The only form of relief we got was a retreat into the reconstructed walls of the palace, or in the attentions of the many lab-looking dogs that wandered with us through the ruins. There are a lot of dogs here, just in the streets. It makes me sad to think that so many of them only have the temporary presence of tourists to keep them company. But who knows, maybe their owners are simply more lax in keeping tabs on their whereabouts than those in the United States. You just never know.
We later went to a small museum, most of which is dedicated to the finds in some small grave sites in Heraklion. There were also some finds displayed that showed scenes from a potential human sacrifice. Many Greek historians rejected this interpretation initially—the Minoans were believed to be a peaceful people, but the earthquakes had brought them to such a state of desperation that they believed it was necessary to save their people. Ironically, however, the people were crushed by the rock falls from the middle of the earthquake, leaving the remains we have today.
Return to the hotel, shower, read… that’s been the story so far.
Heraklion, Crete, Greece.
Yesterday we flew into Crete, which was relatively uneventful. The whole day was essentially spent traveling. We arrived in Crete in the later afternoon, which gave us enough time to walk around a bit in the daylight. A few of us went to the grocery store, a very tiny hole in the wall shop where all of the labels were in Greek. Trying to find bread was easy enough, but peanut butter was practically impossible to find and was really expensive, and it was very difficult to tell the difference between yogurt and cream cheese, etc. Nevertheless, the prospect of not eating out was enough to get me to make a few purchases—PB and J for lunch, as well as some snacks.
The grocery store is located in this little alleyway that is full of fruit stands and purse stores. All of the stores sell very cheap knockoffs of designer styles, and the stalls spill out into the narrow walkway, covered with brightly colored awnings. This was the same place where we went to eat dinner, the small alley opened into a larger street with clothing stores—Ambrice and I went into a few of them and tried on some clothes, which was a funny experience because the sizing here is completely different and the jeans have VERY low waists. I tried on one pair with the biggest flair leg I have ever seen. I looked like I had cones on my feet.
For dinner, we went to a small shop that sold Souvlaki. The edge of the shop had a huge wheel of meat that the owners would carve using a very long knife, and place into a pita. We approached but realized quickly that the entire menu was in Greek. Luckily, we spoke to the man working at the store and he said “OK no problem, I fix you food,” and told us to sit down. Less than ten mintues later Ambrice, Jess, Anne, and I each had a heaping plate of pita stuffed with that meat, veggies and fries. It was possibly the best meal we had ever had, and none of us even knew what it was. We also ordered this strange drink in lieu of wine, which tasted like an odd mixture of the two.
The rest of the night was spent walking among the shops, watching a movie, and completing our reading. I had gotten so caught up with things in Cyprus that I had neglected much of my work, which came all crashing down. And then bed.
This morning I woke up a little sleepy and headed downstairs for breakfast, after which we hit the road to see Knossos. Knossos is one of the palaces constructed by the Minoans in the 1700s BC and is a sprawling complex of pillars, walls, and pits. This is the place where the labyrinth myths began, and the ground plan of the building supports it. Everything is subsumed into a series of twists and turns, still evident in the reconstructed areas that remain. Certain parts of the palace look like scenes from a theme park—created by Arthur Evans in the early 1900s, it gives you a good picture of what a Minoan palace would have looked like but had lost the romance of the tumbled boulders of a place like Salamis. There is nothing here that begs to be recognized—it is all there for your eyes to see.
The day was really really cold walking around Knossos. All of us were bundled up as much as we could, heads buried into hoods and shoulders hunched against the wind. The only form of relief we got was a retreat into the reconstructed walls of the palace, or in the attentions of the many lab-looking dogs that wandered with us through the ruins. There are a lot of dogs here, just in the streets. It makes me sad to think that so many of them only have the temporary presence of tourists to keep them company. But who knows, maybe their owners are simply more lax in keeping tabs on their whereabouts than those in the United States. You just never know.
We later went to a small museum, most of which is dedicated to the finds in some small grave sites in Heraklion. There were also some finds displayed that showed scenes from a potential human sacrifice. Many Greek historians rejected this interpretation initially—the Minoans were believed to be a peaceful people, but the earthquakes had brought them to such a state of desperation that they believed it was necessary to save their people. Ironically, however, the people were crushed by the rock falls from the middle of the earthquake, leaving the remains we have today.
Return to the hotel, shower, read… that’s been the story so far.
The Last Days of Cyprus
February 2, 2007
Heraklion, Crete, Greece.
I know that I have not written in a while. It seems like many of the activities we have done recently have been much harder to document, and I have been so involved in various other activities that I have not had enough time to write anything down. I guess it goes that way, sometimes.
Anyway, to continue the rest of my story from January 29… We stopped at the site of the city of Salamis. This ancient site has also been left largely unexcavated due to its location in the occupied region of Cyprus. We got to see the theater, which had been reconstructed to look much as it would have in Hellenistic times. There was also a gymnasium that had been reconstructed. Its interesting to note here that the word gymnasium is not used as strictly as we use it today. These places were as much places to talk and socialize as they were to maintain physical fitness. The day that we went the sun shot down through the grey clouds and traced beams in the sky. The columns stood bare to the world, and the place truly felt magical.
However, the best part of the day was walking to the site of the old Forum. This city has been left to decay through time, and as I walked I felt like I was stepping into a scene from the Chronicles of Narnia. Everything was overgrown with grass, and column drums lay scattered about like so many pieces of dominoes. The feeling was eerie, that a place that had once inspired so much discussion, and so much life was now whispering ghostly and silent. The day was overcast, and many of us felt the need to whisper. Because it has not been dug, the place feels like it has been made hallowed ground, not profaned by the new steps of researchers. Salamis still holds its secrets.
The next day we took a ride up into the mountains, and I had to pull on long underwear and a hood to combat the cold. The ride was beautiful as we climbed, winding along the landscape as we rose higher and higher into the mountains of Cyprus. We saw a very small church, which I believe is called the church of Aseinu, which is just nestled into the hillside with a spectacular view looking down the valley. Unlike some of the other places we have seen, this chuch does not give away its secrets until you step inside. The outside is unusually covered with a steep pictched and overgrown roof, but inside are magnificent paintings. The whole mountain was covered with a slight fog, which crawled all of the way up to the steps of the small place.
Continuing on our way, we went to Kykko Monastery, which is one of the richest monasteries in Cyprus. Which is quite evident both from the inside and the outside of the building. This monastery is also set high up into the mountains, but unlike the quaint charm of the Church, this monastery begs to be noticed. Pointed arches and terracotta roof tiles adorn the exterior, but once you step inside of the enclosure mosaics take up most of the wall space. Designed very recently, these mosaics have lost none of their awe, and the gold in some of them make them shine. Ironically, this monastery is also famous for making its own wine, which when we finished the tour we were very happy to sample. Some of us remarked at the irony—that a monastery would furnish us with the materials to commence our Party Larnaca. But the wine was inexpensive and quite good. Katie and I split a bottle of rose later that night.
The last part of our journey that day was to visit the very top of the mountain monastery. A little chapel sits at the very top of the mountain, a place that’s whistling blasts of crisp air, and affords spectacular views of the mountains and even the sea beyond, to two sides. Cyprus really seems like a land full of variation—cliffs and mountains and fog and beach all in the same place. I think I would like to go back.
That night we had our second party of the year—PARTY LARNACA! We had just as much attendance as the Party Cairo, although things did not get nearly as out of control. Mostly it was chatting and sipping and talking. Myself and a few friends went down to the beach for a while to watch the waves, before heading in for the night.
The next day was an off day, which meant time to sleep in!! AND DO LAUNDRY. You do not appreciate a clean set of clothes until you are reduced to doing your necessities in the sink and wearing everything else dirty. There is nothing we can do—usually we switch hotels too fast for our clothes to actually dry. I really enjoyed the opportunity to go to the beach during the day. We played Frisbee in the sand and I walked in the water, although it was too cold to swim. That evening Dr Toumazou took us to his archaeological site.
Located in the town of Athienou, Toumazous site is situated on a gently rolling plane, and as it was nearing sunset the sky lit up with brilliant colors. I don’t think I have seen a single bad sunset yet while in Cyprus, and this one was no different. Toumazou walked us around to the tombs and to the sanctuaries and explained his processes of excavation, and maps and diagrams. I could tell that he was really excited about everything he had been working on. Hed say “OK we will talk really fast” and then something else, and another story…. It made me happy to think that he was truly excited about something he had devoted so much of his life to. However, with the sun quickly setting it was getting really cold so I was grateful to get on the bus.
We drove to the township after visiting the site. Toumazou is a big hero there, he showed us the museum which had been built mainly for his archaeological dig, and I was quite impressed. The building is a modern one—exposed concrete and steel and glass, but very clean and sparse and perfect for the sorting and display of archaeological finds. Finally we made it to a restaurant, where we literally ate the biggest meal of my life.
All 20 of us classics kids, Toumazou, our program assitant Jerret, Eleni, and some of Toumazous other friends, plus the mayor and the entire city council it seemed like of Athienou gathered around several large tables. The courses were endless. First bread, then an egg and spinach mixture, salad, sausages and kebabs, hummus, couscous, and the main course of lamb and more food after that, followed by a dessert of fresh fruit. We ate until we were absolutely stuffed. After eating small meals everywhere else and being used to walking on snacks alone I was completely overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of food we had placed before us. The whole meal probably took about 3 hours. And it was all we could do to stay awake for the bus ride home before collapsing into our beds.
The last day in Cyprus we first visited the Archbishop. Apparently this is something that Toumazou had never done before, and he admitted to all of us that he was actually getting nervous about the prospect. We dressed up for the occasion (which meant essentially not-tennis-shoes—we have nothing else!!) And went to Nicosia, where we pulled up in front of a large stately palace, to offer flowers and be received into a heavily curtained and golden ornate chamber. The archbishop himself is very stately, and spoke to us in Greek which I could completely not understand, but was translated by someone who did. I was very impressed that the Archbishop would want to see us, a bunch of college kids on a trip. But he seemed to indicate that he was glad we were taking the time to get to know Cyprus and its long and complicated history.
After meeting the archbishop, we went to some museums and the archaeology library. There, we got to meet some colleagues of Dr Toumazous that showed us the resources available for archaeological research. They also mentioned that there is a fullbright scholarship available for undergrads—something I had been unaware of—for archaeological research in Cyprus. Not that that is something I am trained for, but my childhood obsessions with Egyptology started to stir when he began talking. Digging up old stuff! Cool!
We stopped in Nicosia for lunch, the region close to the hotel that we had stayed in only a few days previously. The shopping in this area is amazing—just a bunch of little shops in an open air mall area. I really liked getting the opportunity to witness European fashion. All of the colors are either muted earth tones or bright shades of fluorescence, and all of the women wear boots that come up to mid calf, with their jeans tucked into them. Everyone looks so sophisticated in a way that made us sneaker and tee shirt wearing Americans stand out like hicks in a big city. I myself saw a lovely pair of brown boots, which I promptly purchased for a very cheap price. They have become the perfect shoes for walking around big cities without screaming “foreigner” and they protect from the weather. Not bad.
We went to the Cyprus Museum, a huge rambling house with tons of rooms to display mostly statuary. Dr Toumazou led us on a kind of guided tour of the museum, and explained the significance behind various pieces of sculpture. I enjoyed walking around, but the museum was at times really really cold, and there was so much to see that we had to pass by that I was ultimately happy to return to the bus for the ride home. I watched myself walk in my new boots the whole time.
We returned to the hotel fairly early, which left time to go to the internet café and spend the last of the money on drinks and food. I FINALLY uploaded pictures to the facebook (pictures on this blog coming soon!) And generally indulged myself. The next day was after all only a travel day and it would be a better deal to simply spend the money as opposed to changing what we had back to euros. Katie Brad and Chris and I spend some time on the beach late at night, carousing around. This kind of casual hanging out is so nice to have, and I hope it continues during the course of the trip.
Heraklion, Crete, Greece.
I know that I have not written in a while. It seems like many of the activities we have done recently have been much harder to document, and I have been so involved in various other activities that I have not had enough time to write anything down. I guess it goes that way, sometimes.
Anyway, to continue the rest of my story from January 29… We stopped at the site of the city of Salamis. This ancient site has also been left largely unexcavated due to its location in the occupied region of Cyprus. We got to see the theater, which had been reconstructed to look much as it would have in Hellenistic times. There was also a gymnasium that had been reconstructed. Its interesting to note here that the word gymnasium is not used as strictly as we use it today. These places were as much places to talk and socialize as they were to maintain physical fitness. The day that we went the sun shot down through the grey clouds and traced beams in the sky. The columns stood bare to the world, and the place truly felt magical.
However, the best part of the day was walking to the site of the old Forum. This city has been left to decay through time, and as I walked I felt like I was stepping into a scene from the Chronicles of Narnia. Everything was overgrown with grass, and column drums lay scattered about like so many pieces of dominoes. The feeling was eerie, that a place that had once inspired so much discussion, and so much life was now whispering ghostly and silent. The day was overcast, and many of us felt the need to whisper. Because it has not been dug, the place feels like it has been made hallowed ground, not profaned by the new steps of researchers. Salamis still holds its secrets.
The next day we took a ride up into the mountains, and I had to pull on long underwear and a hood to combat the cold. The ride was beautiful as we climbed, winding along the landscape as we rose higher and higher into the mountains of Cyprus. We saw a very small church, which I believe is called the church of Aseinu, which is just nestled into the hillside with a spectacular view looking down the valley. Unlike some of the other places we have seen, this chuch does not give away its secrets until you step inside. The outside is unusually covered with a steep pictched and overgrown roof, but inside are magnificent paintings. The whole mountain was covered with a slight fog, which crawled all of the way up to the steps of the small place.
Continuing on our way, we went to Kykko Monastery, which is one of the richest monasteries in Cyprus. Which is quite evident both from the inside and the outside of the building. This monastery is also set high up into the mountains, but unlike the quaint charm of the Church, this monastery begs to be noticed. Pointed arches and terracotta roof tiles adorn the exterior, but once you step inside of the enclosure mosaics take up most of the wall space. Designed very recently, these mosaics have lost none of their awe, and the gold in some of them make them shine. Ironically, this monastery is also famous for making its own wine, which when we finished the tour we were very happy to sample. Some of us remarked at the irony—that a monastery would furnish us with the materials to commence our Party Larnaca. But the wine was inexpensive and quite good. Katie and I split a bottle of rose later that night.
The last part of our journey that day was to visit the very top of the mountain monastery. A little chapel sits at the very top of the mountain, a place that’s whistling blasts of crisp air, and affords spectacular views of the mountains and even the sea beyond, to two sides. Cyprus really seems like a land full of variation—cliffs and mountains and fog and beach all in the same place. I think I would like to go back.
That night we had our second party of the year—PARTY LARNACA! We had just as much attendance as the Party Cairo, although things did not get nearly as out of control. Mostly it was chatting and sipping and talking. Myself and a few friends went down to the beach for a while to watch the waves, before heading in for the night.
The next day was an off day, which meant time to sleep in!! AND DO LAUNDRY. You do not appreciate a clean set of clothes until you are reduced to doing your necessities in the sink and wearing everything else dirty. There is nothing we can do—usually we switch hotels too fast for our clothes to actually dry. I really enjoyed the opportunity to go to the beach during the day. We played Frisbee in the sand and I walked in the water, although it was too cold to swim. That evening Dr Toumazou took us to his archaeological site.
Located in the town of Athienou, Toumazous site is situated on a gently rolling plane, and as it was nearing sunset the sky lit up with brilliant colors. I don’t think I have seen a single bad sunset yet while in Cyprus, and this one was no different. Toumazou walked us around to the tombs and to the sanctuaries and explained his processes of excavation, and maps and diagrams. I could tell that he was really excited about everything he had been working on. Hed say “OK we will talk really fast” and then something else, and another story…. It made me happy to think that he was truly excited about something he had devoted so much of his life to. However, with the sun quickly setting it was getting really cold so I was grateful to get on the bus.
We drove to the township after visiting the site. Toumazou is a big hero there, he showed us the museum which had been built mainly for his archaeological dig, and I was quite impressed. The building is a modern one—exposed concrete and steel and glass, but very clean and sparse and perfect for the sorting and display of archaeological finds. Finally we made it to a restaurant, where we literally ate the biggest meal of my life.
All 20 of us classics kids, Toumazou, our program assitant Jerret, Eleni, and some of Toumazous other friends, plus the mayor and the entire city council it seemed like of Athienou gathered around several large tables. The courses were endless. First bread, then an egg and spinach mixture, salad, sausages and kebabs, hummus, couscous, and the main course of lamb and more food after that, followed by a dessert of fresh fruit. We ate until we were absolutely stuffed. After eating small meals everywhere else and being used to walking on snacks alone I was completely overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of food we had placed before us. The whole meal probably took about 3 hours. And it was all we could do to stay awake for the bus ride home before collapsing into our beds.
The last day in Cyprus we first visited the Archbishop. Apparently this is something that Toumazou had never done before, and he admitted to all of us that he was actually getting nervous about the prospect. We dressed up for the occasion (which meant essentially not-tennis-shoes—we have nothing else!!) And went to Nicosia, where we pulled up in front of a large stately palace, to offer flowers and be received into a heavily curtained and golden ornate chamber. The archbishop himself is very stately, and spoke to us in Greek which I could completely not understand, but was translated by someone who did. I was very impressed that the Archbishop would want to see us, a bunch of college kids on a trip. But he seemed to indicate that he was glad we were taking the time to get to know Cyprus and its long and complicated history.
After meeting the archbishop, we went to some museums and the archaeology library. There, we got to meet some colleagues of Dr Toumazous that showed us the resources available for archaeological research. They also mentioned that there is a fullbright scholarship available for undergrads—something I had been unaware of—for archaeological research in Cyprus. Not that that is something I am trained for, but my childhood obsessions with Egyptology started to stir when he began talking. Digging up old stuff! Cool!
We stopped in Nicosia for lunch, the region close to the hotel that we had stayed in only a few days previously. The shopping in this area is amazing—just a bunch of little shops in an open air mall area. I really liked getting the opportunity to witness European fashion. All of the colors are either muted earth tones or bright shades of fluorescence, and all of the women wear boots that come up to mid calf, with their jeans tucked into them. Everyone looks so sophisticated in a way that made us sneaker and tee shirt wearing Americans stand out like hicks in a big city. I myself saw a lovely pair of brown boots, which I promptly purchased for a very cheap price. They have become the perfect shoes for walking around big cities without screaming “foreigner” and they protect from the weather. Not bad.
We went to the Cyprus Museum, a huge rambling house with tons of rooms to display mostly statuary. Dr Toumazou led us on a kind of guided tour of the museum, and explained the significance behind various pieces of sculpture. I enjoyed walking around, but the museum was at times really really cold, and there was so much to see that we had to pass by that I was ultimately happy to return to the bus for the ride home. I watched myself walk in my new boots the whole time.
We returned to the hotel fairly early, which left time to go to the internet café and spend the last of the money on drinks and food. I FINALLY uploaded pictures to the facebook (pictures on this blog coming soon!) And generally indulged myself. The next day was after all only a travel day and it would be a better deal to simply spend the money as opposed to changing what we had back to euros. Katie Brad and Chris and I spend some time on the beach late at night, carousing around. This kind of casual hanging out is so nice to have, and I hope it continues during the course of the trip.
Monday, January 29, 2007
More Cyprus
January 29, 2007
Nicosia, Cyprus.
The past two days have been incredibly exciting and exhilarating, not only because of the wonderful places that I have seen, but in the fact that after two weeks of casual joking friendships that are the only ones possible when you do not know your fellow travelers very well, real friendships are being formed. I love getting to know new people and I have the feeling that by the end of the trip the 20 of us are going to be very close. Of course, it dosen’t hurt the situation that we are all simultaneously awed by the same magnificent scenery and draw together underneath its majesty. Every day I feel more grateful that I decided to undertake this grand adventure.
Yesterday began with an early morning walk by the water. My roomie Anna Marie and I woke up very early and went down to the water, where that magnificent early morning sunlight eliminated the rocky shoreline. After breakfast, we drove to a region called the Tombs of the Kings, which is a necropolis, or city of the dead. Curiously, many of these buildings for the dead are better preserved than the houses for life, and it is often through these that we get an impression about how these early people might have lived. These tombs resemble houses cut down into the bedrock of the land, with open air courtyards that reach up to ground level. It is here that on the anniversary of a loved one’s death that the family converged to pay their respects. The sky was grey and it was windy but the tombs were fun to go inside and explore—the deeper passages are downright spooky but the rest feels like a house that has been pushed underground.
The next stop was my favorite stop of the day. At the top of a winding road in the rocky sand-colored mountains in Cyprus, a monastery nestles into the cliffs. Started by this recluse saint named Neofytos, the grounds contain courtyards of pointed arches in a stuccoed color, with beautiful flowers and trees and mosaics. However, the most impressive part of this building is the part of the monastery devoted to Neofytos himself, which is carved directly into the hillside. Upon ascending a series of rocky steps, we entered into some small irregularly carved rooms. The walls were completely covered with gorgeous Byzantine type paintings, dating to the 12th century AD. Although we have visited a number of these Greek orthodox or eastern style churches with beautiful gold glittering ornamentation, the simplicity and directness of these paintings were quite moving. The scenes in the major room are split into panels, and illustrate scenes from the life of Jesus. Moving deeper into the cliff, we encountered smaller and more cramped rooms, finally entering into the room of the saint himself. This room was by far the smallest of all, and contained a little bed carved into the rock, a desk, and a small window. If I could pick a place to escape from the world, I think it would be at this little monastery.
The next few places we went to were chock full of mosaics. The House of Dionysus contained numerous beautiful works in the floor, which was the only part of the building still standing. One interesting thing that I had not learned about the mosaics used in the Roman period was that they are not original compositions. In a floor panel illustrating the story of Pyramus and Thisbe, the mosaicist clearly mistook a Pyramus from mythology with a river god, because there is a river god that exists with the same name. Oops! While the Romans are notorious for being very showy with their wealth, the amount of attention they paid to the floors sure seems to confirm the sensuousness of the Roman lifestyle. However, the mosaics can be appreciated for their beauty as well as their function as a status symbol. The rest of the day was spent visiting these houses with mosaics—my favorite of which was a round medallion that illustrated the slaying of the Minataur by Theseus, in which both images are enveloped in a labyrinthine threadlike pattern indicative of the scene of the story. Absolutely breathtaking.
After a short lunch complemented by a lovely bottle of white wine, while watching the waves break on the rocks outside, we visited the Church of St. Paul, which is mostly in ruins. Finally, we journeyed to a ruined city.
The city of Pelle Paphos is no more than a few feet high now. The ruins of rock and clay lie almost unseen in a huge field of grass which rippled and moved with the wind. One of the most important parts about this site is the tremendous attention paid to fortification; the main gate has many many twists and turns to surprise the intruder. The most interesting part of this fortification is that in order to counter the sieges by the Persians, the Cypriots built tunnels under the fortifications that were supported by wooden beams, which they then proceeded to burn and collapse the siege engines. Not a bad war strategy. Some of the tunnels that the Cypriots built are still in existence today, and we were able to crawl through the fortifications in these tiny tunnels and come out on the other side.
That was our last stop. Afterward my roommate Katie and I went out to dinner at this lovely little Italian place in Nicosia, and told stories and laughed and bonded. It was not all fun and games, we came back and took the test that we had on Egypt.
Later on in the night, Katie and I and some of the others on the trip relaxed over a bottle of wine and talked long into the night. Such experiences, I think, are necessary for the full experience of the trip. In addition to the magical sites, those spur of the moment times are invaluable. I certainly did not mind the opportunity to get to know my classmates better.
After (not enough) sleep, this morning we got up and had breakfast before driving to the Arab occupied part of Cyprus. This is the story: at some point the Turks decided that they would declare part of Cyprus a Turkish province, and in the resulting aftermath, all of those people that were Greek Cypriot were forced to evacuate the eastern part of the island. Turns out, our professor Dr Toumazou was one of them; he has not seen his hometown since he was kicked out in the 19somethings. I feel for him—not to be able to return to Gainesville would kill me. Eleni, his sister (I think) drove us to the occupied part of the island in order to see more sites.
It is strange entering a place that is an object of such contention. These Turkish Cypriots have their own flag and their own currency, but are not recognized by any countries except Turkey itself. We had to get a visa to enter, and were forbidden to take pictures of any military buildings in our stay. A foreign flag flew over the territory; on part of the bus ride we could see it embedded in the mountainside.
Among the sites we saw today was a fantastic gothic cathedral (St Nicholas) that had been converted into a mosque. The top portions of the cathedral melted into the sky, where a minaret occupied one of the former towers. All of the sculptural decoration on the façade is missing, and only the stained glass and rose windows attest to the former function of the cathedral. All of the paintings on the inside have been whitewashed in order to accommodate for the provisions of the Islamic faith.
After sampling some Turkish Delight, we visited the town of Enkomi, a bronze age city. We walked along raised walkways between the raised walls, and crunched pottery under our feet. It still amazes me that the pottery is just lying there for anyone to pick up, but I get the feeling that the Turkish occupation of the island has put kind of a damper on any archaeological work. We also visited the monastery of St Barnabas, and a variety of Royal Tombs belonging to Enkomi. And the beach… Before the Turkish occupation of Cyprus the beaches here were a huge tourist destination. Now, only shattered relics remain on the beaches, but the water is spectacular. It is blue green and crashes over the rocks in a cacophony of foam. I took my shoes off and walked in the very cold water, feeling the sand between my toes and the wind and the sun on my face. I could have stayed there all afternoon but we had other things to see.
The scene that captured my attention the most was the exploration of the ancient city of Salamis. I am tired now so I will enter this portion in my next blog posting
Nicosia, Cyprus.
The past two days have been incredibly exciting and exhilarating, not only because of the wonderful places that I have seen, but in the fact that after two weeks of casual joking friendships that are the only ones possible when you do not know your fellow travelers very well, real friendships are being formed. I love getting to know new people and I have the feeling that by the end of the trip the 20 of us are going to be very close. Of course, it dosen’t hurt the situation that we are all simultaneously awed by the same magnificent scenery and draw together underneath its majesty. Every day I feel more grateful that I decided to undertake this grand adventure.
Yesterday began with an early morning walk by the water. My roomie Anna Marie and I woke up very early and went down to the water, where that magnificent early morning sunlight eliminated the rocky shoreline. After breakfast, we drove to a region called the Tombs of the Kings, which is a necropolis, or city of the dead. Curiously, many of these buildings for the dead are better preserved than the houses for life, and it is often through these that we get an impression about how these early people might have lived. These tombs resemble houses cut down into the bedrock of the land, with open air courtyards that reach up to ground level. It is here that on the anniversary of a loved one’s death that the family converged to pay their respects. The sky was grey and it was windy but the tombs were fun to go inside and explore—the deeper passages are downright spooky but the rest feels like a house that has been pushed underground.
The next stop was my favorite stop of the day. At the top of a winding road in the rocky sand-colored mountains in Cyprus, a monastery nestles into the cliffs. Started by this recluse saint named Neofytos, the grounds contain courtyards of pointed arches in a stuccoed color, with beautiful flowers and trees and mosaics. However, the most impressive part of this building is the part of the monastery devoted to Neofytos himself, which is carved directly into the hillside. Upon ascending a series of rocky steps, we entered into some small irregularly carved rooms. The walls were completely covered with gorgeous Byzantine type paintings, dating to the 12th century AD. Although we have visited a number of these Greek orthodox or eastern style churches with beautiful gold glittering ornamentation, the simplicity and directness of these paintings were quite moving. The scenes in the major room are split into panels, and illustrate scenes from the life of Jesus. Moving deeper into the cliff, we encountered smaller and more cramped rooms, finally entering into the room of the saint himself. This room was by far the smallest of all, and contained a little bed carved into the rock, a desk, and a small window. If I could pick a place to escape from the world, I think it would be at this little monastery.
The next few places we went to were chock full of mosaics. The House of Dionysus contained numerous beautiful works in the floor, which was the only part of the building still standing. One interesting thing that I had not learned about the mosaics used in the Roman period was that they are not original compositions. In a floor panel illustrating the story of Pyramus and Thisbe, the mosaicist clearly mistook a Pyramus from mythology with a river god, because there is a river god that exists with the same name. Oops! While the Romans are notorious for being very showy with their wealth, the amount of attention they paid to the floors sure seems to confirm the sensuousness of the Roman lifestyle. However, the mosaics can be appreciated for their beauty as well as their function as a status symbol. The rest of the day was spent visiting these houses with mosaics—my favorite of which was a round medallion that illustrated the slaying of the Minataur by Theseus, in which both images are enveloped in a labyrinthine threadlike pattern indicative of the scene of the story. Absolutely breathtaking.
After a short lunch complemented by a lovely bottle of white wine, while watching the waves break on the rocks outside, we visited the Church of St. Paul, which is mostly in ruins. Finally, we journeyed to a ruined city.
The city of Pelle Paphos is no more than a few feet high now. The ruins of rock and clay lie almost unseen in a huge field of grass which rippled and moved with the wind. One of the most important parts about this site is the tremendous attention paid to fortification; the main gate has many many twists and turns to surprise the intruder. The most interesting part of this fortification is that in order to counter the sieges by the Persians, the Cypriots built tunnels under the fortifications that were supported by wooden beams, which they then proceeded to burn and collapse the siege engines. Not a bad war strategy. Some of the tunnels that the Cypriots built are still in existence today, and we were able to crawl through the fortifications in these tiny tunnels and come out on the other side.
That was our last stop. Afterward my roommate Katie and I went out to dinner at this lovely little Italian place in Nicosia, and told stories and laughed and bonded. It was not all fun and games, we came back and took the test that we had on Egypt.
Later on in the night, Katie and I and some of the others on the trip relaxed over a bottle of wine and talked long into the night. Such experiences, I think, are necessary for the full experience of the trip. In addition to the magical sites, those spur of the moment times are invaluable. I certainly did not mind the opportunity to get to know my classmates better.
After (not enough) sleep, this morning we got up and had breakfast before driving to the Arab occupied part of Cyprus. This is the story: at some point the Turks decided that they would declare part of Cyprus a Turkish province, and in the resulting aftermath, all of those people that were Greek Cypriot were forced to evacuate the eastern part of the island. Turns out, our professor Dr Toumazou was one of them; he has not seen his hometown since he was kicked out in the 19somethings. I feel for him—not to be able to return to Gainesville would kill me. Eleni, his sister (I think) drove us to the occupied part of the island in order to see more sites.
It is strange entering a place that is an object of such contention. These Turkish Cypriots have their own flag and their own currency, but are not recognized by any countries except Turkey itself. We had to get a visa to enter, and were forbidden to take pictures of any military buildings in our stay. A foreign flag flew over the territory; on part of the bus ride we could see it embedded in the mountainside.
Among the sites we saw today was a fantastic gothic cathedral (St Nicholas) that had been converted into a mosque. The top portions of the cathedral melted into the sky, where a minaret occupied one of the former towers. All of the sculptural decoration on the façade is missing, and only the stained glass and rose windows attest to the former function of the cathedral. All of the paintings on the inside have been whitewashed in order to accommodate for the provisions of the Islamic faith.
After sampling some Turkish Delight, we visited the town of Enkomi, a bronze age city. We walked along raised walkways between the raised walls, and crunched pottery under our feet. It still amazes me that the pottery is just lying there for anyone to pick up, but I get the feeling that the Turkish occupation of the island has put kind of a damper on any archaeological work. We also visited the monastery of St Barnabas, and a variety of Royal Tombs belonging to Enkomi. And the beach… Before the Turkish occupation of Cyprus the beaches here were a huge tourist destination. Now, only shattered relics remain on the beaches, but the water is spectacular. It is blue green and crashes over the rocks in a cacophony of foam. I took my shoes off and walked in the very cold water, feeling the sand between my toes and the wind and the sun on my face. I could have stayed there all afternoon but we had other things to see.
The scene that captured my attention the most was the exploration of the ancient city of Salamis. I am tired now so I will enter this portion in my next blog posting
Welcome to Cyprus
January 27, 2007
Larnaca, Cyprus and Paphos, Cyprus
I have not written in a long time. It seems like there has been a lot going on but not enough to really tell about, except today. Our last real day in Egypt was at Saqqara, the site of the first pyramid in Egypt’s history. This is called the Step Pyramid of king Zozer, and was constructed in about 2700 BC as a series of stepped mastaba tombs. It was added onto multiple times and over time the complex was expanded to include a temple dedicated to Imhotep, which was the first to be built in stone instead of wood. Beccause of this, many of the elements in this building echo wooden forms. The columns look like a bunch of reeds tied together, and the ceiling looks like logs stacked across. I really liked the step pyramid, because there was such a sense of history there. You could see the evolution in the shapes; at certain points on the horizon you could also make out the Bent Pyramid and various other shapes. Pyramids were just emerging from the mist.
We also went and saw an enormous statue of Ramesses II. The statue has been broken off at the base and lying down we could not see each other over the top of it. This Ramesses guy built like crazy—he ruled for 60 some odd years when most people did not even live that many years, and had tons and tons of kids. His stuff is everywhere.
After getting back to the hotel, we were very excited to realize that the following day was an off day! We decided to go to this authentic Egyptian Restaurant called Abu-Sid, and the food was absolutely wonderful! The dished were mostly rice and some meat with pita bread. We stuffed our faces. There were eleven of us sitting in a room of low lying couches, surrounded by flavored tobacco smoke, laughing and talking about the trip so far. I was proud of my culinary adventure! I did not turn out to poorly. However, with the crazy Egyptian exchange rate we got our bill back and it was over 700 pounds, which is actually not bad for the amount of people that ate. But we all paid in cash, and piling that much paper money on the table felt a bit strange. Sam put himself in charge of the money, and Brad was shocked to find out that the mini bottle of wine he had ordered with dinner cost him 95 pounds! And that was definitely not the only expense of the night…
We went to a place called Drinkies to get some beverages and proceeded to Party Cairo. It was a good opportunity to bond with everone on the trip, and I think most people enjoyed themselves immensely. At one point we got a noise complaint from our neighbors—but no problem! We just changed rooms.
A good night indeed, and the next morning was spent lounging by the very excellent pool and hot tub that we had discovered earlier, and spending the remaining Egyptian pounds we had. Then it was a return flight, back to Larnaca, Cyprus. We had dinner at a Souvlaki café in the middle of Larnaca, and went to the internet café to check emails and such. However, my computer was being dumb and unable to post! Maybe the next time I find internet it will work, having to post multiple entries is kind of a drag.
Anyway, after the café I went down to the beach. I love the beaches in Florida and just knowing that you are on a beach an entire world away just makes it seem that much more special. Brad and I walked along the beaches of Cyprus. Doesn’t get much better than that.
The next morning (this morning), I woke up really early, and so inspired by the previous night, I got dressed as fast as possible and walked to the beach. IN the early morning on Cyprus, the golden light streams in at a horizontal angle, creating size and shadow and bathing everything in this wonderful fresh manner. I walked past a farmer’s market, where brightly colored crates held brightly colored fruit and all the locals went around their business. A window washer greeted me as I continued on my way. And then, the beach.
The beach was almost empty, the sun glittered over the water and at the faces of the shops. I walked past an ancient fort that looked to be made of limestone, and by my feet were small round sand dollars that I picked along the way. Although I couldn’t stay long, that experience motivates me to want to get up early as often as I can to try to see the water. Tonight we are staying at a hotel in Paphos where I hope to see everything tomorrow.
As for the rest of the day, after breakfast we packed up and hit the road. Our first stop was at Kolossi Castle….
Kolossi Castle was occupied when Richard the Lionheart took control of Cyprus. He gave this building to the knights Templar, who lived in the building for a little while and then it passed out of his hands to another European nation… Cyprus seems to have had a lot of owners, even to the Arabs that have occupied the eastern side of the island until today. The castle contains three floors, with an upper story that contains an amazing view of the whole of Cyprus, from the high hilly scrub land and the rolling green hills. Exploring this castle felt like a trip back through time, and I discovered that although living in a castle would afford wonderful views, it would be rather cold. Stone hearths long empty are not very comforting.
Following the castle, we went to the theatre at Kourion. We sat in the stone terraces overlooking the water of Cyprus, with the sun shining and the wind blowing our hair. Off to the right some hang gliders spun lazy circles against the barren cliffs. The whole complex has many different sites. One of which included a Hellenistic/Roman bath complete with mosaicked floors, some of which are remarkably intact. We saw inscriptions, the secret signs for the Christian faith, and tangled beautiful vines. We walked along the top of the mountains in the brilliant light of the afternoon, scrambled on the rocks and soaked in the sun. At a place called the “House of Achilles” we got to see an illustration of one of the lost stories in the Trojan cycle, which shows the discovery of Achilles. Legend has it that his mother Thetis knew that if Achilles went to Troy that he would not return alive. Wanting to prevent this occurrence, his mother sent him to live as a woman far away. However, Odysseus knew that they needed the great hero to fight in order for the Greeks to achieve victory, and he brought a chest full of dresses to show off to the women. However, among the pretty items he hid armour and weapons. Achilles picked them up and was immediately shipped off to fight in the Trojan war.
The whole day was fabulous. And it only got better.
After eating at an open air café with the best cucumbers ever, we continued on our way and stopped at an overlook that outlined massive cliffs dropping into the green-blue water. The surf rolled around the narrow strip of rocky beach. We had reached the birthplace of Aphrodite. Legend has it that she was born of the blood of her father Kronos, and sprang from the foam to land at this so called Rock of the Romans. WE approached the site closer by bus, and disembarked to approach the rock itself. I took off my shoes and carefully tread among the blue-grey and white stones that had been worn smooth by the constant motion of the sea. The water was cool but not cold, and swirled around my feet as I carefully picked my way along.
However, the most exciting part of the day was getting to climb atop the Rock. Several of us scrambled up the steep white rock face, which was punctuated here and there by scrubby brush. Reaching the top was the most spectacular view ever. WE were standing on top of this huge broken off portion of the land, surrounded by rocks and the sky, with the late evening sun casting its goldpurple light upon us all. The land behind us rose up in a fragmented wall of tan and green. I could believe that Aphrodite was born here; the place had a majestic feeling that is almost impossible to describe.
Following that, it was to the hotel… some Frisbee throwing and walking along the beach and land area, some studying for the Egypt test that we have to take tomorrow, and the longest and most frustrating dinner ever. These foreign countries love to be inefficient, and with an exam hanging over my head, I was not happy to wait for hours to get my food. Nevertheless, I ate and did some work, and slept.
Larnaca, Cyprus and Paphos, Cyprus
I have not written in a long time. It seems like there has been a lot going on but not enough to really tell about, except today. Our last real day in Egypt was at Saqqara, the site of the first pyramid in Egypt’s history. This is called the Step Pyramid of king Zozer, and was constructed in about 2700 BC as a series of stepped mastaba tombs. It was added onto multiple times and over time the complex was expanded to include a temple dedicated to Imhotep, which was the first to be built in stone instead of wood. Beccause of this, many of the elements in this building echo wooden forms. The columns look like a bunch of reeds tied together, and the ceiling looks like logs stacked across. I really liked the step pyramid, because there was such a sense of history there. You could see the evolution in the shapes; at certain points on the horizon you could also make out the Bent Pyramid and various other shapes. Pyramids were just emerging from the mist.
We also went and saw an enormous statue of Ramesses II. The statue has been broken off at the base and lying down we could not see each other over the top of it. This Ramesses guy built like crazy—he ruled for 60 some odd years when most people did not even live that many years, and had tons and tons of kids. His stuff is everywhere.
After getting back to the hotel, we were very excited to realize that the following day was an off day! We decided to go to this authentic Egyptian Restaurant called Abu-Sid, and the food was absolutely wonderful! The dished were mostly rice and some meat with pita bread. We stuffed our faces. There were eleven of us sitting in a room of low lying couches, surrounded by flavored tobacco smoke, laughing and talking about the trip so far. I was proud of my culinary adventure! I did not turn out to poorly. However, with the crazy Egyptian exchange rate we got our bill back and it was over 700 pounds, which is actually not bad for the amount of people that ate. But we all paid in cash, and piling that much paper money on the table felt a bit strange. Sam put himself in charge of the money, and Brad was shocked to find out that the mini bottle of wine he had ordered with dinner cost him 95 pounds! And that was definitely not the only expense of the night…
We went to a place called Drinkies to get some beverages and proceeded to Party Cairo. It was a good opportunity to bond with everone on the trip, and I think most people enjoyed themselves immensely. At one point we got a noise complaint from our neighbors—but no problem! We just changed rooms.
A good night indeed, and the next morning was spent lounging by the very excellent pool and hot tub that we had discovered earlier, and spending the remaining Egyptian pounds we had. Then it was a return flight, back to Larnaca, Cyprus. We had dinner at a Souvlaki café in the middle of Larnaca, and went to the internet café to check emails and such. However, my computer was being dumb and unable to post! Maybe the next time I find internet it will work, having to post multiple entries is kind of a drag.
Anyway, after the café I went down to the beach. I love the beaches in Florida and just knowing that you are on a beach an entire world away just makes it seem that much more special. Brad and I walked along the beaches of Cyprus. Doesn’t get much better than that.
The next morning (this morning), I woke up really early, and so inspired by the previous night, I got dressed as fast as possible and walked to the beach. IN the early morning on Cyprus, the golden light streams in at a horizontal angle, creating size and shadow and bathing everything in this wonderful fresh manner. I walked past a farmer’s market, where brightly colored crates held brightly colored fruit and all the locals went around their business. A window washer greeted me as I continued on my way. And then, the beach.
The beach was almost empty, the sun glittered over the water and at the faces of the shops. I walked past an ancient fort that looked to be made of limestone, and by my feet were small round sand dollars that I picked along the way. Although I couldn’t stay long, that experience motivates me to want to get up early as often as I can to try to see the water. Tonight we are staying at a hotel in Paphos where I hope to see everything tomorrow.
As for the rest of the day, after breakfast we packed up and hit the road. Our first stop was at Kolossi Castle….
Kolossi Castle was occupied when Richard the Lionheart took control of Cyprus. He gave this building to the knights Templar, who lived in the building for a little while and then it passed out of his hands to another European nation… Cyprus seems to have had a lot of owners, even to the Arabs that have occupied the eastern side of the island until today. The castle contains three floors, with an upper story that contains an amazing view of the whole of Cyprus, from the high hilly scrub land and the rolling green hills. Exploring this castle felt like a trip back through time, and I discovered that although living in a castle would afford wonderful views, it would be rather cold. Stone hearths long empty are not very comforting.
Following the castle, we went to the theatre at Kourion. We sat in the stone terraces overlooking the water of Cyprus, with the sun shining and the wind blowing our hair. Off to the right some hang gliders spun lazy circles against the barren cliffs. The whole complex has many different sites. One of which included a Hellenistic/Roman bath complete with mosaicked floors, some of which are remarkably intact. We saw inscriptions, the secret signs for the Christian faith, and tangled beautiful vines. We walked along the top of the mountains in the brilliant light of the afternoon, scrambled on the rocks and soaked in the sun. At a place called the “House of Achilles” we got to see an illustration of one of the lost stories in the Trojan cycle, which shows the discovery of Achilles. Legend has it that his mother Thetis knew that if Achilles went to Troy that he would not return alive. Wanting to prevent this occurrence, his mother sent him to live as a woman far away. However, Odysseus knew that they needed the great hero to fight in order for the Greeks to achieve victory, and he brought a chest full of dresses to show off to the women. However, among the pretty items he hid armour and weapons. Achilles picked them up and was immediately shipped off to fight in the Trojan war.
The whole day was fabulous. And it only got better.
After eating at an open air café with the best cucumbers ever, we continued on our way and stopped at an overlook that outlined massive cliffs dropping into the green-blue water. The surf rolled around the narrow strip of rocky beach. We had reached the birthplace of Aphrodite. Legend has it that she was born of the blood of her father Kronos, and sprang from the foam to land at this so called Rock of the Romans. WE approached the site closer by bus, and disembarked to approach the rock itself. I took off my shoes and carefully tread among the blue-grey and white stones that had been worn smooth by the constant motion of the sea. The water was cool but not cold, and swirled around my feet as I carefully picked my way along.
However, the most exciting part of the day was getting to climb atop the Rock. Several of us scrambled up the steep white rock face, which was punctuated here and there by scrubby brush. Reaching the top was the most spectacular view ever. WE were standing on top of this huge broken off portion of the land, surrounded by rocks and the sky, with the late evening sun casting its goldpurple light upon us all. The land behind us rose up in a fragmented wall of tan and green. I could believe that Aphrodite was born here; the place had a majestic feeling that is almost impossible to describe.
Following that, it was to the hotel… some Frisbee throwing and walking along the beach and land area, some studying for the Egypt test that we have to take tomorrow, and the longest and most frustrating dinner ever. These foreign countries love to be inefficient, and with an exam hanging over my head, I was not happy to wait for hours to get my food. Nevertheless, I ate and did some work, and slept.
Cario Again
January 24, 2007
Cairo, Egypt
To continue with the story from yesterday, while Brad was busy making friends with his Egyptian pals on the beach, the rest of us, Ambrice, Jess, Ann, myself, Sam, and Chris all decided to order hamburgers. After 45 minutes they had not arrived and by that time we were all getting pretty antsy. Eventually the servers came out with plates of club and tunafish sandwiches, which of course we had not ordered. They looked annoyed at us for refusing the food, but it was not even close to the right order. After nearly going out of our minds with hunger, the hamburgers arrived. None of the burgers matched our specifications for condiments, etc, but by then we were so hungry that we scarfed them down anyway. Nothing remained on our plates afterwards. From 5:00 to 5:10, and that was it. All of our hamburgers had gone.
Soon after we had finished Brad entered the hotel and proceeded to tell us about his conversation with the Egyptians. Since they did not speak much English, most of what was said consisted of hand gesturing and broken fragments. What he did find out was that the Egyptians liked Americans, disliked Bush, loved soccer and WWE, and were VERY interested in American girls. On that topic, Brad wisely decided to play dumb, but he said it was a very enlightening experience.
After that, we went to the happy hour at the restaurant, where we ran into a British gentleman who was very nice and told us all about how much better Egypt was than the UK, where everything was “bloody expensive”. We couldn’t help but agree. He gave us drink recommendations (Dinah Washington) and told us that the next place he was moving to was Zambia, where he could live next door to elephants and his wife could teach at an English school. He was also a teacher, and taught everything, “before the schools got bad”, and said that living in Egypt was a wonderful experience.
After politely excusing ourselves, we went and sat with the group and sipped our cocktails and hung out until later, when we went to an internet café to (finally) send emails and post to the blog, went back to the hotel and listened to this awful Egpytian woman sing “No woman I cry”, upon which I went to the small gym and tried to work out using Kilos, a kind of trial and error experience, and went to bed
Today we were roused bright and early, grabbed a huge breakfast (this was the first appetite I had for breakfast since I had gotten sick) and headed back to Cairo. The bus ride was fun, getting to bond with the group and discussing the prospect of future adventures.
We arrived in Cairo and went straight to the Egyptian museum, which features the funerary mask of king Tut. I was amazed to be standing inches away from a likeness of the young king. And was equally amazed at the vast array of wealth in his tomb. All of his jewlrey seemed to feature bird feathers inlayed on small pieces of gold, and strung together in ever-larger arcs. The coffins were wonderfully designed and decorated, and there were three nesting coffins of gold in the museum. Everyone was so intricate. The whole body of one was comprised of this elaborate feather pattern, with wings extending over the body’s shoulders, and a huge necklace and hieroglyphics everywhere. Absolutely stunning. I cannot believe how much craftsmanship must have gone into everything, and Tut’s tomb was supposedly one of the most impoverished of them all. He had not lived for more than about 10-15 years as pharaoh.
We also got to see some sculptures from the reign of Akenaton, the grandfather? of Tut. This guy was kind of a maverick in Egyptian history. He tried to overthrow the power of the priests of Amun and start his own cult, based upon the energy of the Sun Disk, ATON. He moved the capital to Amarna, and allowed artisans an unprecedented amount of artistic freedom. As a result, portraits of him show him as a kind of potbellied, androgynous figure with a distended head. Not a very pretty picture. This Amarna style is extremely distinctive, and was immediately reversed when Akenaton was assassinated and the priests of Amun placed Tut and later the priest Ay on the throne. But it is interesting, considering so much of the rest of Egyptian art is uniform.
Our tour guide took us through the rest of the museum, pointing out some distinctive statues and telling stories. However, by then most of us were so tired and hungry that we simply wanted the trip to be over. We were in the museum about four hours, with very little time to look and formulate ideas for ourselves. I hope that we have more opportunities to view things SLOWLY during the rest of the trip.
Upon returning to the hotel in Cairo, we finally got to go to the pool! We could only feel a kind of pity for everyone else back home, who at about 5 pm Cairo time, were just entering their 10 am classes. Many of us spent a long time in the hot tubs, sauna, and steam rooms, not to mention a short swim for me in the pool. I was sore from lifting the previous day, however, and did not swim long. After that, it was a dinner at the pizza place we had been to before. We tried to go to a local Egyptian place—one of the ones that has booths that are really low and more couch-like, low lighting, and heavy amounts of flavored tobacco wafting in the air—but the restaurant was full, and instead we made reservations for the following night. TWO nights in one hotel. We haven’t done that in a while and I cannot wait to actually LEAVE my stuff in my room for once.
After dinner, we came back to the hotel and a group of us played music and talked and joked and hung out. I am glad that the group is bonding as well as it is, although I am anxious to get to know people better. I feel like I haven’t really opened up to anyone yet, and being able to let my guard down will be kind of a relief. Brad, it turns out, has quite a good chill music collection, and I am making a mental note to borrow some music from him at some point. Change from my collection would be nice. Anna Marie too, although hers seems more like eclectic old school stuff than chill music, to me.
That’s all for now, goodnight.
Cairo, Egypt
To continue with the story from yesterday, while Brad was busy making friends with his Egyptian pals on the beach, the rest of us, Ambrice, Jess, Ann, myself, Sam, and Chris all decided to order hamburgers. After 45 minutes they had not arrived and by that time we were all getting pretty antsy. Eventually the servers came out with plates of club and tunafish sandwiches, which of course we had not ordered. They looked annoyed at us for refusing the food, but it was not even close to the right order. After nearly going out of our minds with hunger, the hamburgers arrived. None of the burgers matched our specifications for condiments, etc, but by then we were so hungry that we scarfed them down anyway. Nothing remained on our plates afterwards. From 5:00 to 5:10, and that was it. All of our hamburgers had gone.
Soon after we had finished Brad entered the hotel and proceeded to tell us about his conversation with the Egyptians. Since they did not speak much English, most of what was said consisted of hand gesturing and broken fragments. What he did find out was that the Egyptians liked Americans, disliked Bush, loved soccer and WWE, and were VERY interested in American girls. On that topic, Brad wisely decided to play dumb, but he said it was a very enlightening experience.
After that, we went to the happy hour at the restaurant, where we ran into a British gentleman who was very nice and told us all about how much better Egypt was than the UK, where everything was “bloody expensive”. We couldn’t help but agree. He gave us drink recommendations (Dinah Washington) and told us that the next place he was moving to was Zambia, where he could live next door to elephants and his wife could teach at an English school. He was also a teacher, and taught everything, “before the schools got bad”, and said that living in Egypt was a wonderful experience.
After politely excusing ourselves, we went and sat with the group and sipped our cocktails and hung out until later, when we went to an internet café to (finally) send emails and post to the blog, went back to the hotel and listened to this awful Egpytian woman sing “No woman I cry”, upon which I went to the small gym and tried to work out using Kilos, a kind of trial and error experience, and went to bed
Today we were roused bright and early, grabbed a huge breakfast (this was the first appetite I had for breakfast since I had gotten sick) and headed back to Cairo. The bus ride was fun, getting to bond with the group and discussing the prospect of future adventures.
We arrived in Cairo and went straight to the Egyptian museum, which features the funerary mask of king Tut. I was amazed to be standing inches away from a likeness of the young king. And was equally amazed at the vast array of wealth in his tomb. All of his jewlrey seemed to feature bird feathers inlayed on small pieces of gold, and strung together in ever-larger arcs. The coffins were wonderfully designed and decorated, and there were three nesting coffins of gold in the museum. Everyone was so intricate. The whole body of one was comprised of this elaborate feather pattern, with wings extending over the body’s shoulders, and a huge necklace and hieroglyphics everywhere. Absolutely stunning. I cannot believe how much craftsmanship must have gone into everything, and Tut’s tomb was supposedly one of the most impoverished of them all. He had not lived for more than about 10-15 years as pharaoh.
We also got to see some sculptures from the reign of Akenaton, the grandfather? of Tut. This guy was kind of a maverick in Egyptian history. He tried to overthrow the power of the priests of Amun and start his own cult, based upon the energy of the Sun Disk, ATON. He moved the capital to Amarna, and allowed artisans an unprecedented amount of artistic freedom. As a result, portraits of him show him as a kind of potbellied, androgynous figure with a distended head. Not a very pretty picture. This Amarna style is extremely distinctive, and was immediately reversed when Akenaton was assassinated and the priests of Amun placed Tut and later the priest Ay on the throne. But it is interesting, considering so much of the rest of Egyptian art is uniform.
Our tour guide took us through the rest of the museum, pointing out some distinctive statues and telling stories. However, by then most of us were so tired and hungry that we simply wanted the trip to be over. We were in the museum about four hours, with very little time to look and formulate ideas for ourselves. I hope that we have more opportunities to view things SLOWLY during the rest of the trip.
Upon returning to the hotel in Cairo, we finally got to go to the pool! We could only feel a kind of pity for everyone else back home, who at about 5 pm Cairo time, were just entering their 10 am classes. Many of us spent a long time in the hot tubs, sauna, and steam rooms, not to mention a short swim for me in the pool. I was sore from lifting the previous day, however, and did not swim long. After that, it was a dinner at the pizza place we had been to before. We tried to go to a local Egyptian place—one of the ones that has booths that are really low and more couch-like, low lighting, and heavy amounts of flavored tobacco wafting in the air—but the restaurant was full, and instead we made reservations for the following night. TWO nights in one hotel. We haven’t done that in a while and I cannot wait to actually LEAVE my stuff in my room for once.
After dinner, we came back to the hotel and a group of us played music and talked and joked and hung out. I am glad that the group is bonding as well as it is, although I am anxious to get to know people better. I feel like I haven’t really opened up to anyone yet, and being able to let my guard down will be kind of a relief. Brad, it turns out, has quite a good chill music collection, and I am making a mental note to borrow some music from him at some point. Change from my collection would be nice. Anna Marie too, although hers seems more like eclectic old school stuff than chill music, to me.
That’s all for now, goodnight.
Alexandria
January 23, 2007
Today was another day of grand adventure. We had a wake up call at 5:30 this morning so that we could get up and drive to Alexandria. We had an early early breakfast, during which I did not quite feel well enough to eat a lot, which I ended up regretting a LOT later in the day.
If I haven’t mentioned already, Dr. Toumazou is a crazy, eccentric man. He is incredibly brilliant and knows tons about ancient art and culture, but he is often impatient, paranoid, and a chain smoker. As a result, he is never hungry and wants to go go go! We hardly eat lunch until well after 2 pm, and with breakfast as early as 6 am, its difficult to keep going.
Here’s how the day went:
Drive to Alexandria, during which we watched the film Alexander, which I was able to follow since we had been required to read Plutarch earlier that day. We talked and tried to sleep and when we got to Alexandria we immediately went on to the next activity. First we visited a catacomb, which on the reliefs on the walls depicts scenes that mix ancient Egyptian and Greek symbols and artistic styles. Walking down the circular set of stairs into a deep dark limestone crypt. Niches along the side walls hold places where tombs used to be. We walked along these boards that hovered over the surface of the ground, because at the lowest level the niches are filled with seawater. It felt like a scene out of a horror movie, and the dim fluorescent lighting only added to the creepy feeling.
The second place that we went to was the Pompeii pillar. In actuality it was dedicated by Diocletian to the city, and is flanked by stolen Egyptian statues that came from elsewhere, one of which belonging to Ramesses II, probably originally belonged to someone else. Surprise, Surprise. We got to visit the remains of the temple there, where there was a cult statue of the sacred bull, Apis. This was another limestone shaft cut into the bedrock of the acropolis on which the pillar stood. The ground is completely made of these limestone rocks, and crawling around on the surface felt like walking on Mars. Everything was dusty and rocky, and there were no plants. However, this was just a spot of grey in the middle of the city of Alexandria; outside of the enclosure in which the pillar stood there was a market and shops and apartments. The juxtaposition of old and new here is very funny.
Finally, we went and visited the new library at Alexandria. This building consists of a large semicircular wall of a white stone, on which is inscribed words in various foreign languages; a library of Babel. The courtyard of the library had an open view to the ocean, and white sculptures and a round disk of a planetarium framed the scene of sparkling water. This is probably the nicest part of Alexandria. Going inside of the Library was incredible as well—walking through the inner foyer the space is fairly intimate, with wide windows along the entrance wall and slick clean surfaces along the inside. Then we walked along the passage to the main part of the library where the space took my breath away. The small intimate corridor opens up to a large domed space, punctuated by tall concrete pillars that flared at the top. The roof is patterned with a series of skylights reminiscent of airplane wings, and from the balcony we stood on we looked down to the shelves of books. Above us more balconies continued, rimmed in a smooth metal surface. I looked at this building and thought that this was the type of thing that I wanted to do. I only hope that it will be possible. The library is a stunning piece of contemporary architecture. The next time that I get internet access I want to do a little bit of snooping as to who designed it and how they decided upon the dome shape.
Although we were supposed to eat after the Library, Toumazou decided instead to press on so we went to an amphitheatre. We sat in the semi-circular steps and listened as Katie recited poetry. Mostly I just sat and absorbed the sun and looked at the bleached out ruins of the buildings, and tried to forget about my empty stomach.
We finally got to the hotel, a Marriot which opened directly onto the beach. The accommodations included a suite for Ambrice, Jess and I and for most of the other rooms. Because by now we were STARVING—it was 4:00 and we hadn’t eaten a real meal since breakfast at 6 am, we decided to go straight down to the lobby and order the nearest food we could find. Our whole table ended ordering hamburgers. Brad forwent the food and instead went down to the beach, and our table was situated with a view of him. We waited for our food and as we sat watching him we noticed he got approached by an Egyptian man who seemed to be gesturing widely, and who eventually crouched down to sit next to Brad on the beach. As we sat waiting for our food, 3 more Egyptian men joined him and they seemed to be enjoying conversation.
... TO BE CONTINUED
Today was another day of grand adventure. We had a wake up call at 5:30 this morning so that we could get up and drive to Alexandria. We had an early early breakfast, during which I did not quite feel well enough to eat a lot, which I ended up regretting a LOT later in the day.
If I haven’t mentioned already, Dr. Toumazou is a crazy, eccentric man. He is incredibly brilliant and knows tons about ancient art and culture, but he is often impatient, paranoid, and a chain smoker. As a result, he is never hungry and wants to go go go! We hardly eat lunch until well after 2 pm, and with breakfast as early as 6 am, its difficult to keep going.
Here’s how the day went:
Drive to Alexandria, during which we watched the film Alexander, which I was able to follow since we had been required to read Plutarch earlier that day. We talked and tried to sleep and when we got to Alexandria we immediately went on to the next activity. First we visited a catacomb, which on the reliefs on the walls depicts scenes that mix ancient Egyptian and Greek symbols and artistic styles. Walking down the circular set of stairs into a deep dark limestone crypt. Niches along the side walls hold places where tombs used to be. We walked along these boards that hovered over the surface of the ground, because at the lowest level the niches are filled with seawater. It felt like a scene out of a horror movie, and the dim fluorescent lighting only added to the creepy feeling.
The second place that we went to was the Pompeii pillar. In actuality it was dedicated by Diocletian to the city, and is flanked by stolen Egyptian statues that came from elsewhere, one of which belonging to Ramesses II, probably originally belonged to someone else. Surprise, Surprise. We got to visit the remains of the temple there, where there was a cult statue of the sacred bull, Apis. This was another limestone shaft cut into the bedrock of the acropolis on which the pillar stood. The ground is completely made of these limestone rocks, and crawling around on the surface felt like walking on Mars. Everything was dusty and rocky, and there were no plants. However, this was just a spot of grey in the middle of the city of Alexandria; outside of the enclosure in which the pillar stood there was a market and shops and apartments. The juxtaposition of old and new here is very funny.
Finally, we went and visited the new library at Alexandria. This building consists of a large semicircular wall of a white stone, on which is inscribed words in various foreign languages; a library of Babel. The courtyard of the library had an open view to the ocean, and white sculptures and a round disk of a planetarium framed the scene of sparkling water. This is probably the nicest part of Alexandria. Going inside of the Library was incredible as well—walking through the inner foyer the space is fairly intimate, with wide windows along the entrance wall and slick clean surfaces along the inside. Then we walked along the passage to the main part of the library where the space took my breath away. The small intimate corridor opens up to a large domed space, punctuated by tall concrete pillars that flared at the top. The roof is patterned with a series of skylights reminiscent of airplane wings, and from the balcony we stood on we looked down to the shelves of books. Above us more balconies continued, rimmed in a smooth metal surface. I looked at this building and thought that this was the type of thing that I wanted to do. I only hope that it will be possible. The library is a stunning piece of contemporary architecture. The next time that I get internet access I want to do a little bit of snooping as to who designed it and how they decided upon the dome shape.
Although we were supposed to eat after the Library, Toumazou decided instead to press on so we went to an amphitheatre. We sat in the semi-circular steps and listened as Katie recited poetry. Mostly I just sat and absorbed the sun and looked at the bleached out ruins of the buildings, and tried to forget about my empty stomach.
We finally got to the hotel, a Marriot which opened directly onto the beach. The accommodations included a suite for Ambrice, Jess and I and for most of the other rooms. Because by now we were STARVING—it was 4:00 and we hadn’t eaten a real meal since breakfast at 6 am, we decided to go straight down to the lobby and order the nearest food we could find. Our whole table ended ordering hamburgers. Brad forwent the food and instead went down to the beach, and our table was situated with a view of him. We waited for our food and as we sat watching him we noticed he got approached by an Egyptian man who seemed to be gesturing widely, and who eventually crouched down to sit next to Brad on the beach. As we sat waiting for our food, 3 more Egyptian men joined him and they seemed to be enjoying conversation.
... TO BE CONTINUED
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