Today we visited Paphos. Along the way we stopped at Aphrodite’s Rock on the western coast of the island. Myths of Aphrodite’s birth say that she was born from the sea foam hitting the rock. This beach became a popular pilgrimage for the believers of Greek Mythology. After taking some photos and admiring the rocks we headed to an archeological site called the Tomb of the Kings. Here there were several underground mausoleums that were rich in classic Greek architecture. Our next stop was lunch at the Paphos harbor. After lunch, before meeting back up with the class, our group stumbled upon the cutest little art market, and each bought some handmade jewelry. Our last tour of the day was The House of Dionysus in Old Paphos. This home contains dozens of beautiful mosaics, each with their own story or symbolism. It was fascinating hearing Georgia share these stories and explain the symbolism as we saw each mosaic. One fact I found particularly interesting was the symbolism behind the depiction of cupid. From the positioning of cupid and the object in his hand you can determine the nature of the relationship depicted. Furthermore, if the object, such as a parasol or torch, was pointed upward the story had a happy ending, but if it was pointing downward the story ends in tragedy. Another fun fact from this tour is that Shakespeare’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’ was inspired by a Greek myth. After the mosaics tour, we explored the harbor area and found some amazing sorbet before reloading the bus and heading back to Limassol. Tonight, we are headed to a local Italian restaurant and are up early in the morning for a visit to the port.
