CYPRUS

Well lets just start off by saying I no longer have any complaints about the weather...at least not in the same form. We were in the beautiful Island of Cyprus for 8 days and 7 nights in which the weather was beautiful but hot! We were lucky if the temperature ever dipped below 80 in the middle of the night. But its okay it was a nice change to the constant rain we WERE having in Greece. (now we are back into the 90s and sunny)

Let me start off from the beginning...we hopped on a plane in Thessaloniki flying with Cyprus Airways to Larnaca. It was an hour and a half flight and we were served not only drinks, but a sandwich and a chocolate bar. That would never happen with any American airline, so we knew we were on vaca. Cyprus was everything I expected it to be since I've already been there once before...our hotel was okay but in a great location as it was only a 10 minute walk into the main strip and to the beach. There is a pebble beach right infront of the hotel which we went to the first day but our feets hurted too much. We stayed at Protaras, just north of Ayia Napa...the water is absolutely amazing there...so warm and clear! Xri and I went parasailing and the view 500 feet in the air was great. I'm glad I did that for it was an experience I'll never forget. Overall a very nice vacation with great beaches and friendly people (even though I saw more Brits than I needed too).

Okay let me get a little more descriptive into a couple incidents that happened while in Cyprus:

1. The OMG- It was B's birthday week and we decided to go out to dinner at a restaurant of her choice. Well the night we went, was a special night for the restaurant had live greek dancing and because it was special, the menu changed. (menus of every place were listed right outside so you can see if you liked it before going in) We lets just say that the cheapest thing on this menu was for 15 Euros per person for things like stuffed peppers! So we got up and left but on the way out, the owner caught us and asked us why we were leaving.(before walking out we decided to say that the menu didn't offer anything we liked) K took charge and answered with an THE PRICES...OMG, OMG. And this was not a quiet OMG, it turned a lot of heads. Let's just say that it sent Xri, B, and me running.(and believe it or not, we are not the running type) Unsuprisingly, we were not able to walk past that place again so when we would have to pass it, we'd cross the street. Well apparently that was not enough protection since the next day, the owner saw us across the street and chased us. I got the whole thing on video but it was not nearly as funny as what happened the night before. Needless to say, I was quite suprised he continued talking to my mom about his prices for about 5 minutes even though I was clearly videotaping his ridiculousness.

2. The Honeybee turned Wasp/Hornet- Not too much to write about here besides that B has officially extended her crying streak on her birthday to approximately 5 years now. Happy Birthday B!

3. The Flight From Hell- The return flight from Larnaca to Cyprus was beyond unsettling. Firstly, upon boarding the flight, the AC on the plane was "smokey". The heat had caused water to condense on the ceiling and was dripping on Xri and the AC coming out of the ducts were smoking. That was going to be the least of our problems. I've flown plenty of times and have endured some pretty strong turbulance but nothing like this. In fact the plane's rocking back and forth did not even feel like turbulance movement but rather as if the plane's autopilot had been disengaged for the entire flight and the pilot was unable to keep the plane still. Then, the plane did not land as expected but rather passed the airport, which is not a big deal since that happens often due to air traffic. But the shakiness of the decent combined with the route it took made me worry. It didn't help that the lady in front of me kept breathing into a brown paper bag in order to keep calm. Anyways, although I lived in Thessaloniki for 5 months and have landed at that airport plenty of times, I have never seen a plane fly right over the city and at such a low altitude. Usually they would fly over the Aegean, but I could actually see the streets I use to walk down. Unusual but now that we landed safely I'm a bit disappointed I didn't record the landing for I would have gotten amazing footage!

But I have to say the best times in Cyprus was just our random silliness that kept all of us laughing...even K.