There’s nothing to remind one how spoiled/privileged/entitled your life has gotten than, after several weeks of having a mix of private tours and our own agenda, getting on a bus with no more than 50 other people for a full day big group tour*.
But that’s exactly how we choose to spend today, liking the anonymity of sitting in the back of the bus, and getting to another part of the island to do the Blue Lagoon, among other sights. The water, you will not be shocked, was startling blue and clear. It was also cold, with the morning temperature flirting with 60. (I know, it looks like it should be as sweltering as the Mediterranean is rumored to be. But people who spread such rumors vacation in summer, not late March.)
However, Kyla and I are pros. We Polar Bear on New Years and this was certainly warmer than a Pacific Northwest January. So after some posturing and pondering, we took the plunge. I have a strong memory of holding hands while we jumped, but Photo #2 begs to differ.
It was chilly, but I decided whenever I land in a place with a blue lagoon, I should skip the thinking and just jump. As Kyla points out, you won’t remember tomorrow how cold you were today. She is my favorite let’s-do-something-stupid adventure buddy.
Aphrodite, who rarely likes to wear arms, began her goddess of love career in Cyprus. If Aphrodite may have been born, bathed, or bred somewhere on this island, it is now a tourist sight. After we got off the boat, we got to see where Aphrodite bathed, where swear-to-gosh, splashing the water on my face would have given me eternal youth and beauty. But I was wearing make-up and didn’t want to ruin it. What I most appreciated about this spectacle is that it got me talking as if Aphrodite were real.
I like how the pool behind the kids is heart-shaped, an appropriate symbol of the goddess of love & lust. It is especially artistic how Dwayne took this picture in such a way to hide the fact that he had just bought them all heaps of gelato and the interest they are showing is in trying each other’s flavors, not giving homage to Aphrodite.
Our lunch on the beach included a full fish, which is clearly begging me to kiss it.
Our poor children had to endure a stop at the winery on our way back to Pathos. This is when the herd-tour idea comes apart. First, for 50 people, one must stop at a large winery. Second, this winery put out 40 bottles and told us to try a few. Luckily, Kindle came with me off the bus, so I found a sunny corner and read until we could move on. I believe the youngers just slept on the bus. France is next on our itinerary, so I’m not feeling too cheated by this wine-tasting fail.
Just to wrap up Cyprus, Dwayne and I did one more Cyprusty activity of note. Leaving the kids at home again, we drove out to a tavern that was known for its traditional dance and food. Mezzos is a multi-plate meal that comes with about 20 little plates, mostly of meat, plus heaps of dips and breads and olives. It’s a great way to make sure you can keep that bloated feeling for many days and ensure that your body has no room for veggies for at least that long. The traditional dancing was as much costume as talent, and the highlight was the balancing of 3, 4, 5, and eventually 8 glasses on top of the head and dance-marching around the stage. When we were only the second group in this large restaurant at 7pm, we were sure that it was too early in the season for the dancing. But nope. We are in Mediterranean Europe where the dinner hour is the rest of the world’s bedtime, so when the dancers came out after 9pm, all the tables were full and ready to party.
See you next in France!
*To wit, next time we do some semi-serious traveling without kids, we will book a private tour for ourselves and 2-3 other couples, so we can have the same small-group breathing space that we’ve had this year with some of our favorite people. (Warning: almost everyone we know is our favorite people.) Please, travel with us in 7-10 years! South Africa is high on my list, as are South Asia and Oceana.
Needopedia 