Cyprus, April 2016

Appears that I never got around to actually publishing this post. Life went on and here we are, already seven months later.

Cyprus views

Well, we went to Cyprus! Last April, with Alex and Rachael and Danieal. The goal was to go somewhere close (4 hours direct on Qatar Airways) and somewhere inexpensive, and somewhere the five of us had never been. That was tricky...it is amazing how much of the world we've covered between the five of us, even just in the 3-4 years we've been working in Qatar. Vacation time is definitely a perk of this job!

Game nights (photo: Alex)

Overall, it was a relaxing trip. We stayed in two beautiful Airbnb's. They were both quite fancy, which was fun. We saw a good portion of the island, even going to Northern Cyprus, which many consider a separate country. They speak Turkish, have a border crossing, and use Turkish lira. It was informative for me, considering I knew nothing about Turkish control of Northern Cyprus. Traveling keeps us humble and learning, hopefully. It has taught me a lot of things as well, but mostly it reminds me how small I am and how much there is to learn.

Danieal and I at the top of the Castle (photo:Alex)

We did some hiking as well. Cyprus is a beautiful country, surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea, with Mount Olympus in the center. We climbed around in an old castle that overlooked the sea. And we drove up to Mount Olympus for a hike in the woods. It was so cold! We were freezing and not prepared for the significant temperature drop up in the mountains.

Hiking at Mount Olympus

I witnessed the largest hail storm I have ever seen in my life (by far!) in Cyrpus. Huge balls of hail poured down for about ten minutes or less. It was incredible!

Hiking at the castle (photo: Alex)

Top of the castle views

Overall I will remember Cyprus as having many similarities to Turkey. A beautiful island country, with mountains and sea, and plenty of good food. Rachael did a great job as always, in finding us all the best eats. There was a definite hipster vibe going on in Nicosia. Great trip. Great friends. Photos and memories for life.

Bachelor pad (photo:Alex)

With Rachael and Danieal

Love these two

Amazing restaurant Rachael found

Sunset

Comments

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