Traffic Jam on the Trail....

So a couple weekends ago Matt and I went on an adventure. We went to the Akamas Peninsula to walk around the Baths of Aphrodite and the "wilderness." The peninsula is the furthermost western point of the island, so we're knocking out some of the "most points" of where we live; Akrotiri is the southernmost point, Akamas is the western point. It was a lovely drive through Paphos and some villages through the hills of Troodos. Our guide books says that this area and the villages near by are becoming some of the best beach spots on the island so we're going to have to plan some beach days once the weather heats up.
The Baths of Aphrodite is where Aphrodite was bathing and had met her lover Adonis. Once upon a time people used to bath here to restore their youth but you can't do that any longer-bummer, I need to look younger ;) It was an easy little stroll to the grotto-there were lots of people out that day. Than we walked in the hillside and almost got lost and had to turn around because the sun was getting ready to set-we will have to return to finish the hike and really explore more.
After the hike we went into the village near by called Polis for dinner. We had a great meal at this pub-Matt had a small grill with the best sheftalia we've had yet! Yum! I had a grilled fish stuffed with spinach and feta cheese-super yum!! We drove home in the dark but thoroughly enjoyed the time together.

It's like the sign is saying "Aphrodite could help you get beautiful but we won't let you"

Matt's thinking about going for a dip-he's pretty enough and gets plenty of love ;)

Aphrodite picked a good spot to bath! Looks so refreshing!

Beautiful view of the shore and villages

An even better view with this handsome man!

Rednecks aren't just in Southern Maryland

So this was the traffic on the trail!! There were goats everywhere!! They had bells around their necks so we could hear the tinkle of the bells all around us as we hiked.

Just an FYI in case you didn't know about things blowing up

Cool old boat in the village of Polis. I wonder how long it's been there.

Fast Update

So life is getting a little wild for me here. It's been a couple weeks since the last post and that is mainly because my time and life is being consumed with one thing.....HORSES! Yes, I spend all day every day (except Wednesdays) at the "yard", as those crazy Brits call it. We haven't even really adventured around the island much lately. I think this weekend we need to go somewhere new. Here are the major updates as of right...now!
1. Christmas and New Year were fun and quiet spent at home doing not too much and skyping with family and friends
2. It feels like a bunch of my friends from CO are getting engaged/married this year. This year I will have had 3 previous roommates getting married-and I'm missing all those weddings :(
3. I'm planning a members only show next month at the barn and I'm SUPER excited about it. I am also being forced into competing (my instructor has given me no other options).
4. I've been taking lessons with a really tall, crazy, and awesome Brit who makes me laugh all the time with the exception of when she's trying to get me to fall off during a lesson. But I feel as though I am improving in leaps and bounds which is something that hasn't happened in years!
5. The big update is I'm coming home to get my dog in March! I'll be staying for 3 weeks, visiting friends in AZ and CO while I'm there. Also, my mom is having a BIG b-day (not saying what number) so we're having a big party for her which I am so happy to get to be part of!
And as always, we are looking forward to the loads of people who are coming to visit us in the very near future!

Holiday Season

So this year we didn't get to spend it with you, our beloved family and friends. We had a wonderful time with some coworker/friends eating a low key meal and playing some board games. We definitely missed spending the holidays with our family, especially after last year's fun time with my family for all three events. However, we are extremely grateful for this opportunity to live here and experience new things. 2011 has lots of promise for new and great things and adventures for not only us but our family and friends. We look forward to friends getting married, having babies, moving, and most of all, visiting us! As for life here on the island we look forward to taking an intro to Greek conversation class together (good thing I'm taking it with Matt, he's not the best at languages ;) ), traveling around the island more and finding new and fun places to visit, going to Paris in June to see our parents at the airshow and traveling with my parents after the show, having friends and family visit us, and most importantly, me going home to get Joey! It's been a very quiet and lonely house with out our boy! It will only really become our home when he gets here!
We are so blessed and thankful for your love and support, even though it comes from so far away. We love you all so dearly and want to hear from you! Have a very Happy New Year and we pray for only amazing and wonderful things in your lives this coming year!

ENGLAND!

So, we went to England! It was SOOO FUN! We met up with some friends (Peter and Kristi Kingsley) and had a fabulous time with them! We visited 4 areas; Peter's mum lives in Southport, Liverpool, Skipton, and of course London. Skipton has one of the best preserved castles in all of England so that was really cool to see. We saw the Cavern where the Beatles played. And the main touristy stuff in London. We are looking forward to going back when it's not so cold and there isn't some great "blizzard" to disrupt things. The weather really wasn't as bad as they made it out to be-they're just big sissies! Here is a small portion of the thousand or so pics we took while there. Remember to go to http://thecypruslife.shutterfly.com to view all the pictures!

Buckingham Palace for Changing of the Guard

So excited!

No tourist was going to get by him!

I don't blame this little one for being asleep already!

Matt's Christmas preset to me!!

Millennium Bridge connecting to St Paul's Cathedral

In front of Parliament

In front of Big Ben

London Eye at night

Peter and Kristi-that's true love there...

Beatles started out here

On England's second longest pier in Southport. It was REALLY REALLY COLD!

Sun setting by the pier

The wild "blizzard" of England. Worst December they've had in 100 years!

Skipton town and hillside view from the castle

Inside the castle

On the medieval potty!

Skipton had these sheep all over the town and the placards said "flock to Skipton"

On the train from Manchester to Southport

Sender BEWARE!!

So I thought I'd post these too-they are pics of the box Matt's mom sent to us! Seriously, this is how it looked when it arrived here! Hopefully nothing was lost in the shuffle ;)

Do I spy Bisquick??

Doesn't look so bad from here....

I'm sure little woodland critters weren't knawing at it!

Good thing the postal guy is honest!

Just thought you all would get a laugh at how badly this thing was beat up! Thankfully all did arrive and NOTHING was damaged, unless you count the corners of the stuffing and Bisquick boxes being smashed in....

"A Most Authentic Experience"

So I am well aware that it has been a little while since my last post. Sorry about that. Things have gotten a little wild around here. We moved into our new place and are getting settled nicely. It's the perfect size for just the 2 of us, and Joey when he FINALLY gets here! Matt is motoring around beautifully now on his bike! And I have started to ride out at the barn and am spending lots of time there. So needless to say, life is happening!
A few weeks ago, some of the boys down at work wanted to go to the Cyprus Ralley (cars!!) and I was not interested in the slightest. Thankfully, some of the other wives were not to thrilled about it either sowe decided to go to a little town called Lefkara. This town is famous for it's lace and sliver-wares. They even have a pattern that is recognized by UNESCO and Leonardo da Vinci came here to request a pattern that is now on display in Milan! Cool huh? This town was very lovely and as we left, Jamie, who has lived here for 3 years and has traveled extensively said "this is the most authentic experience with Cypriot people I've had while living here!" How wild is that!! Let me explain why....


This is Marina from Marguerit! She works at a co-op with something like 9 other ladies who live in the village. They hand make the lace into table cloths, runners, hankies, little bags, tiny potpourri pillows, you name it! As we wandered by her shop she told us to come in and she'd show us how they made the lace; she even said " you don't have to buy in order for me to show you." We talked with her for over an hour while she showed us the different patterns and explained how they made each one. She also explained the differences in the threads and linen used and how to tell the difference. And also why the prices are so steep-we're not paying for the end product really, we pay for the time invested. Some pieces can take months to complete and that is with several different ladies working on it at different stages. Technically there are 5 different patterns that are created here. She even told us that if we came back she would teach us how to make the lace! Of course we'd start out at the 8 year old level ;) She said that the women in the village are taught how to make the lace by their mothers and grandmothers-it's a family enterprise! Each generation teaches the next which I can only imagine requires tons of patience! She also gave us a restaurant suggestion and she did not lead us astray! Oh man was that food amazing!! I will definitely be going back to it again!

Here Marina is hard at work making a table cloth!

She's proud of her work!

After lunch, we met this guy! His family was one of the first to export the Lefkara lace; he claimed his great great, great, grandmother was one the first to take the lace to Alexandria so sell to the wealthy Egyptians! But here we learned more about the silver-smithing. He explained about the different types of silver used and how it is made. When a piece has a lot of filigree, it is so similar to the delicate lace patterns used on the cloths. He was very nice and charming to talk with-we learned a lot too. His family traveled throughout Europe to sell their wares and their first shop that opened really was in Liverpool-I think Matt and I may need to find it while we're there ;) He spoke to us as though we were his friends-it was really nice.


Now this lady-she was going in for the sale! Jamie ended up getting a beautiful (Onyx I think) earring and necklace set and a ring for a bargain price! The lady would just keep telling her "Don't think! Yes or No! Money comes and goes! Yes or No!" It was funny to watch. However, this lady also gave us lots of history from her family-they owned the shop and produced the silver products there. She definitely was very chatty! She had some very beautiful and unique things in her shop which is a huge reason Jamie was drawn in. It will be interesting to see what else she has to offer when we go back again-hopefully new things in store!

Beautiful little hillside town-you can see the sea!!

So Jamie said it was so authentic because people actually talked to us and cared to hear what we had to say! Sadly, a lot of the Cypriots don't care to hear you or know you so it was nice to have a conversation with some who were just super friendly! The first two definitely did not try to push and sell their wares on us either-we bought because we knew the story and history behind them and what they do. All of us walked away from the town happy that we had such a lovely day and had learned so much!

Apollo's Temple

So last Sunday we decided we needed to do something so we went to a ruin close by. It was Apollo's Temple. It was fairly interesting, the actual temple part was reconstructed in 1980 so this really is a replica of what it would look like. Sadly there aren't many pictures because I forgot to charge the camera battery (yet again!) and it died right after we got there. I think it could be a good spot to take my sketch book later and just sit and practice drawing some. After we finished there we went for a drive and found this cool little beach area that had a million rocks! Instead of sand there were tons and tons of shiny, small rocks so of course the obvious thing to do was to practice skipping them into the water. I am very inept at this so it took some coaching on Matt's part. We continued to drive and ended up driving through the little town of Pissouri, which is actually no small feat. This town is so tiny and has one way streets all over the place and people just hanging out in the middle of the road-it was an adventure to say the least ;)
Also, I am looking into getting involved withe the saddle club on base! I'm really excited because they are in desperate need of help in general but they really need experienced riders to work the horses, enter me :) I went out to the barn (aka yard) yesterday to meet the people and take a look around. They only have 10 horses and ponies and they are all skinny, bug bitten, need love, and need exercise. There will be a meeting tonight with all the members that I'm going to attend so I can see where I really fit in and what others are thinking. They're really trying to revamp the whole club so it's perfect timing for me to enter. And it looks as though I may be the only American there which they are excited for. Everyone there is from the UK but that doesn't mean we speak the same language. The one lady (Jenny) and I joked that we will need to put up a phrases chart somewhere since I use different terminology and phrases than they're used to and visa versa. At least I can mostly understand what they are saying and what they want ;) They were also fascinated by "American" riding, known as western to us in the states. The one lady was somewhat snobbish about the concept of western riding and didn't really want to participate in the conversation but everyone else wanted to hear about it and how it really differs from British (English in the US) riding. It was fun to be able to talk about stuff from the states and have people interested and not look at you like you're a total loon. I warned Matt that he may have to watch out, if I end up by spending almost all my free time with these people from England and Scotland (the new manager and one other lady are from Scotland and can be confusing to understand!), I may start to pick up all sorts of funny phrases and ways of talking! I think the funniest so far has been them saying "half eight" instead of "eight thirty"-that confused poor Matt at first but I got it straight. The meeting tonight starts at 6 so I'll be leaving around "half five" to get there in time to get a good seat and chat with the ladies before stuff starts. Wish me luck!

Apollo's Reconstructed Temple (or partial that is)

Another View

The rest of the ruins

Of course columns! I love them!