Today was the perfect end to this wonderful experience. We set off at 9 am to St. Minas Monastery right before heading to a gorgeous village called Lefkara. St. Minas was a very peaceful experience that left room for reflection, which I really enjoyed. The outside was serene and filled with gorgeous plants and flowers, while the inside was, of course, as lavish as the rest of the Byzantine-era churches we have seen. Georgia explained to us that it closed down as a monastery, and then in 1965, was re-opened by three women who turned it into a nunnery, and it has been that way ever since. Another fact that we heard was that in the Orthodox faith, priests are allowed to have wives and families, as long as they came before their consecration. This is different from the Roman Catholic practice. We then headed to Lefkara, which is at the top of my list for favorite places on the trip. It was lively, with kind locals and tourists alike. Lefkara is famous for their hand embroidered lace, and in fact, it inspired the tablecloth in Da Vinci’s “The Last Supper,” since he visited prior to painting it. They are also known for their silver, so of course, I had to purchase some! I could observe just from the short time I was there that it is a tight-knit community filled with friendly faces. It was the most welcomed I’ve felt thus far, although, the hospitality all around has been A1… the US could never. I’m certainly excited to go home and share all of the things I’ve learned and experienced about this lovely place.