After a very long travel day, I am so excited to have finally arrived in Cyprus! It is just as beautiful as I expected, especially the very blue ocean. Today we got to tour both Kourion and the Kolossi Castle. Kourion is an archaeological site that we learned a little bit about in our pre-departure lessons. Besides the beautiful view, my favorite thing we saw was the marble art that was once part of the bath houses. The bath houses were where people could come and enjoy a “spa day” in the baths filled with cold, warm, and hot water. The photo I included is of the theater that has been restored and is used to this day!

Next, we went to the Kolossi Castle. My favorite spot was the roof where you could get a beautiful view of the landscape surrounding the Castle. Something interesting we learned was that if people were trying to attack the castle, they would pour hot oil on them from the roof to make sure that the attackers could not enter.

During our lunch in the Limassol Marina and Old City area, our guide showed us a plant that had a little olive growing. This was interesting to me because in our pre-departure sessions my group did a presentation on olives and olive oil and how important they are to Cyprus culture and economy. It was cool to see get to see them growing in person!

Overall such an incredible first day and it has made me even more excited for the next two weeks!