We started off our day by heading back to Limassol. Our morning was dedicated to visiting the port. We first went to DP World and heard a very informative presentation. One thing that I found interesting was about the port’s history was how it was originally owned by the government, but in the past few years it has been privatized. These companies now have the space for 25 years, but they still must report to the government, and the Cyprus Port Authority still ensures that this area is secure. We then went on a driving tour of this area. I enjoyed getting to see the cruise ship that was docked there as well as the cars that they import.
The next part of the port tour was a visit to Eurogate. Here, we learned about the process that is used to unload the containers. I was impressed to hear how they have managed to shorten the process to only 15 minutes through their implementation of technology as well as their database of information. The people were all super friendly, and they even gave us some pastries after the meeting. We then got to go out to the port to see the operations in action. We got to see a container being moved from the ship into the yard and also some being loaded onto trucks.
We headed to a group lunch in Limassol’s old port. When we arrived, I was so amazed as this was the first time that I got to see the water up close, and it was so clear! I cannot wait until later in the week when we get to go swimming.
After we ate, we went to visit the Limassol castle. It was really cool to look through, especially because there is nothing that old in America. I enjoyed getting to look through some of the artwork that they had been able to preserve inside. Also, the view from the rooftop was breathtaking.
After that, we had some time to stroll around the area, and I spent most of that time around the water, taking lots of pictures and just admiring how pretty it was. We also went into a few souvenir shops to browse around.
We then returned to the hotel, and a few friends and I headed out for dinner. It was another super fun day!