On our second full day on this beautiful island, we traveled back to Larnaca which is where we flew in over 48 hours ago! The first site in this area that we visited was Hala Sultan Tekke. I unfortunately learned the hard way about how strict they are with the dress code when entering the Mosque. I was at first denied entry because my shoulder covering was too sheer. However, after getting my t-shirt I was able to enter for the second half of the tour. During this, I learned that the tomb which is located in the center of the building belongs to Umm Haram who was associated with prophet Muhammad. However, it was covered by curtains in order to protect its privacy.

After the mosque, we traveled to St. Lazarus Church. This is a church dedicated to St. Lazarus who, according to Christians, was resurrected by Jesus Christ. The thing that I found most interesting about the church was the variety of architecture. The first part of the church was built by the Byzantine Empire over the tomb of St. Lazarus. The next part was built during Venetian rule which is why some of the architecture is different than the original. The last addition was the bell tower which was constructed under Ottoman rule. The reason that this was added so late is because for a long time in History the ringing of church bells was prohibited.

After visiting these two historical sites, we ventured to the beach on the Promenade of Larnaca! As soon as we got here we were amazed to find out that renting chairs only cost 2.5 euros! In America they would have at least been $20 a piece. After finding an area big enough to house all 24 of us, we settled in and listened to music while lying in the sun. Then a lady came over to us and we were able to order food and water and have it delivered right to our chairs! I had a chicken kebab which I was surprised to find came on pita! I am so used to kebabs being on skewers but I guess it is different here. Either way it was delicious! After we got our sun in for the day, we went to souvenir shops to get a few things for our family members. A unique experience I had while checking out was that after talking to the cashier for a few minutes, I found out that she is from the states! She grew up in Cyprus, then moved to the states for around 15 years before coming back to Cyprus. It is so cool to talk to Cypriots because they are able to give me information that I would never learn in school!