After a lot of layovers and many hours of travel, we have finally made it to Cyprus!! I got some great sleep last night and was able to adjust to the time difference. Today though, we left Limassol and went out to Kourion to see the old city. We learned that old city was one of the island’s most important city kingdoms. It was built on the hills that overlook the fertile valley. The Greco-Roman theatre that we saw was a center point of entertainment. It was built in the 2nd century. It was repurposed to host classic Greek theatre productions and music concerts in the summer. The city was destroyed by an earthquake in 365 AD. We also were able to see an old bathhouse. It was very cool to see and the tiling that was on the floors of this building was beautiful. The bathhouse also overlooked the ocean, making a beautiful view. 

After visiting Kourion, we drove over to the Kolossi Castle, I was able to research about the castle pre-departure and seeing it in person was amazing. We learned that the castle was taken over by crusaders and has been around since the 13th century. It was also conquered and destroyed in the 15th century. The castle itself has a draw bridge with the ability to close and open. Inside the castle there were 4 floors. The basement held all supplies such as food, water and weapons. The next two floors looked the same in my opinion, but the first floor runs north/south and the second floor runs east/west to cover all four sides in case of intruders. The roof had amazing views of the valley and a little of the ocean. Definitely a very cool historical site!

Something I found interesting that the tour guide showed us was about Carob, which is a substitute for chocolate. Our tour guide showed it to us outside of the Kolossi Castle. Even though they are not ripe this time of year, we tried one that was leftover. It tasted like dark chocolate and even though it was not ripe anymore, it still had a sweet taste to it. It is considered to be very healthy in comparison to chocolate, even being used in medicine. I’m so excited to keep exploring Cyprus!