New year, new country. We fly EgyptAir from Sharm el Sheikh to Cairo to Larnaca in Cyprus.
It’s a relief to be in a non-Muslim country for the first time in months. There’s a palpable sense of freedom to do, be, or say absolutely anything you can imagine. In other places, there is always the oppressive sense of having to rein yourself in.
Larnaca is the perfect place to arrive. It’s a small city, easy to get around. We undergo culture shock at the cleanness and orderliness of the place, the absence of trash and crumbling infrastructure. Every alleyway in the area we stay in seems to lead to the sea.
We find a street with an auspicious name.
Larnaca started life as Kition in the 13th century BC. These are the first of many ruins we see.
Here’s the Church of Saint Lazarus in Larnaca. Apparently, Lazarus ended up in Cyprus after being raised from the dead by Jesus. He eventually died here.
In town, we visit the small but excellent Pierides Museum. We learn that the replica historic ceramics in their shop are made locally. We drop in at the Studio Ceramics gallery.
On the way to Limassol, we stop by the sea in several places. These white rocks are near a place called Governor’s Beach.
I would name them the ‘Moby Dick Rocks’.
Sight or Insight of the Day
We plan on driving ourselves around Cyprus. To that end, we acquire our latest rental car, a peppy Ford Fiesta.
He’s named after one of Cyprus’s eminent citizens, the Stoic philosopher Zeno.