After a long first two flights, we had finally made it to Germany, and our last flight was about to ensue. This last 4 hour flight felt like it was 20 minutes long, as we all could not keep our eyes open after the long second flight. After our long nap we had finally arrived! In a haze of sleepiness and adrenaline for finally arriving, the bus ride to the hotel felt like a blur.
What stood out to me about from the bus ride was the comparing the architecture and landscape to that in the US. I noticed that in Cyprus there is a lot more green space on their major roads, as in there are less clutter of businesses and housing and more open space. The businesses and housing there are have more interesting architecture than that in the US and a more distinct style than you would see in most average US neighborhoods. Another thing that stood out to me was the presence of more solar panels and turbines seen on the street. There seems to be a stronger presence if sustainable energy seen in most homes and business than there are in the US. Overall, just from the drive over, I noticed major differences in their culture and architecture.
After we arrived at the hotel and got settled in, we got to finally explore Limassol and where we will be staying for the next 2 weeks. After walking around we finally settled on a place for dinner. It was called Il Castello and had a huge menu, with both dishes more familiar to home and also unique to Cyprus. I ended up getting the Halloumi Chicken, because I wanted to try Halloumi after it has been mentioned so often before coming to Cyprus as a must-try. It was delicious! I would recommend it to anyone who is here.
As well as an amazing meal, another thing that stood out to me while eating outside was seeing all the kids running around outside and feeling comfortable to just run around and be a kid. This really struck me since in the US this kind of behavior would be frowned upon with notions of “Stranger Danger” and the world overall being a very unsafe place being the cultural norm. It just made me really happy to see kids being able to simply be kids and feel safe being in their own environment.
We ended our night now, writing our blogs altogether on the deck of the rooftop pool, and I am so excited to see what comes next!