Hello! After leaving bright and early this morning from the hotel in Nicosia, we kicked off the second part of our trip with a trip to Kourion, the ancient ruins of a city. It was right by the sea, officially making it our first viewing of the Mediterranean! The coolest part was definitely the amphitheater, which was originally Greek but later modified by the Romans to be more enclosed and better suited for performances by changing its shape. The acoustics were very impressive—standing in the center and hearing your voice bounce off the stones felt surreal. I had always seen pictures of ancient classical amphitheaters, but seeing it in person made the scale of it so much greater.

After the ruins, we drove down to Limassol and headed straight for the marina. The city felt super lively, with way more people and modern buildings than anything we saw in Nicosia. Jordan and I split a pasta dish and a pork chop for lunch—both were incredible, but the pork really stole the show. After eating, we visited the Limassol Castle, which now holds the Cyprus Medieval Museum. Inside, we got to see the only remaining section of the original Byzantine wall, still standing after all these centuries. It was wild to think about how much this city has been through, from empires to earthquakes, and yet that wall is still holding up. It was a full day, but one of the best so far. I made sure to hit a 3-hour nap as soon as I got back to the hotel.