This trip we have been fortunate to have a wonderful Cypriot tour guide named Georgia, who is very knowledgeable and passionate about history. The bus ride from our hotel in Limassol to the Famagusta area that encompasses the abandoned town of Varosi, where Georgia grew up, was around an hour and a half, so we had ample time to learn many interesting facts about the area of the island that we were driving on. One of these is that the beach we went to afterwards, called Fig Tree Bay, is named after a centuries old fig tree found in the inlet. Additionally we passed one of the British military bases because of the agreement with Cyprus and Great Britain when Cyprus gained independence. The base does not have any hotels or shops on it to make sure no one becomes attracted to that area of the island.

In Varosi we explored the abandoned town in the newly open to the public streets. The town looked post apocalyptic, like Seattle in the Last of Us series twenty years in the future. It stands as a time capsule for 1974, the year the Turkish invaded. It was extremely disheartening to learn about what all of the abandoned buildings used to be when Georgia lived there, but also very interesting to hear her stories. For instance one story of the fur store was especially interesting because a Greek Cypriot pregnant woman discovered her fiancée was really a Turkish double agent after he went into the Turkish occupied Venetian Fort, Othello Castle, on purpose and did not return to her. We had time to walk around the inside of the Fort and saw the churches built by the Knights Templar and Hospitaller, as well as the large cathedral later converted into a Mosque. One of the best parts was seeing the live music within the narrow streets at a a lively restaurant since now there are many shops and homes within the fort.