Its Saturday at about 11:30am, and here its 9 hours ahead (9:30pm). We are currently in Cyprus [ http://www.mapquest.com/atlas/main.adp?region=cyprus ], an island nation in the Mediterranean Sea. This country is home to some of the most incredible landscape I know, and also some family!
Given that the island is not very big, it can be crossed in a matter of hours. The main industry here is tourism, which rings up about 1 Billion Cyprus Pounds in business a year (or about $2.7 Billion Canadian). Fortunately, we are here about 1-2 weeks ahead of the tourist high season, and therefore enjoy some lower prices, and less crowded areas.
We took a day tour that went to some archaeological sites, including buildings and ruins dating back to a few centuries BC, and tile mozaics, which are pretty impressive to think that these were home decorations way back when, only were hand made with coloured rocks. Also, we wandered around the capital city (Nicosia) for an afternoon just looking around and taking in the old city aura. The ‘old city’ is where Nicosia originated, and is surrounded by city walls (which I forget how old they are), that take on a circular-star shape. The intent was to keep invaders out way back when. And last but not least, we have been enjoying the scenery provided by the sandy beaches alondside the Mediterranean. The tones of blue in the water and sky are so vivid that photos and words cannot do it justice.