Today we were heading to the area in Cyprus around Mount Olympos and a town nearby called Kakopetria. Driving up mountains to get to this town was stunning to say the least. I didn’t really expect that Cyprus would have such great mountains but seeing the vast areas of nature and beauty in Cyprus really opened my eyes to how diverse and unique this country really is. The mountains really reminded me of when I was in the alps in Switzerland and Austria, long winding roads right off the sides of cliffs with giant mountains completely surrounding the nearby area. When we arrived to Kakopetria it was like no other town I’ve ever seen before. Even though I mentioned I’ve been to Switzerland and the alps no town I’ve been to there had quite the leveling this town did. All of the roads were somewhat inclined and the layering of the town was something I was super intersted. I also really appreciated that the whole town had to stick to the same style buildings. There were no random modern outlier buildings unlike in other towns here in Cyprus. All of the nature in this town was really indescribable I’ve never seen such a variety in the amount of nature. When exploring around the town we saw a vast number of forests with hundreds of species of green trees and plants and just up the road on a hiking trail we went on had cactus’ galore. It’s crazy to me that such a variety of plant life can live in such a consolidated area. This town was definitely one of my favorite small towns I’ve ever visited I’ve seldom been to more beautiful places in my life and this was no doubt an experience I will never forget.

Earlier in that day we visited St. Nicolas of the Roof. A church on a mountain in the nearby area. This was a very small but popular church. There were many other groups from all over the world touring this church with us. When we were able to enter the church we learned about the specific way they painted the church to ensure the paint lasted. Despite the church being very old the paintings that lined the walls and roof of the church were still is in great shape for the most part. It’s probably the most beautiful depictions of catholic art I’ve seen in person. The entire way they were able to make such beautiful and intricate designs and depictions at such an early age. The church was really nice though, we learned a lot about specific murals and were even taught about the way they were able to generate such good acoustic in the small church. It was really nice to visit the church and I think it was a great part of our tour today and something I’m really glad I was able to see as it’s such a relic of its time.

Thanks for reading as always

Will