It’s hard to pick just twelve.
I enjoyed photography in 2023 and decided to share my pick of favorites. It was not easy! 12 photos for 12 months – not one per month, but just the twelve that I felt were especially beautiful or interesting. See the full gallery – where I recommend clicking the “play” button to see them as a slideshow – and read on for some commentary about each one.
A few final thoughts.
Well, today we wrap up a fine week in Cyprus. We’re beginning our long journey home – 12 hours of flying, 5 hours of ground transportation, two 2-hour layovers and one overnight layover. Before we go, a few more observations about Paphos, about food, and other random thoughts… and of course, a gallery with a few photos and videos.
An eight-hour tour across three-thousand years of history.
For our final day in Cyprus we signed up for a bus tour to the east, along the coastline, to the city of Limassol. Along the way we were able to visit the legendary birthplace of the goddess Aphrodite, the ancient Greek acropolis of Kourion, the medieval Kolossi Castle, and the medieval Limassol Castle. We enjoyed our lunch in a breezy café beside the old harbor of Limassol city. Read on, and check out the gallery of photos.
Cats are *everywhere* in Cyprus.
One of the first things we noticed on arrival in Cyprus: cats. Cats everywhere. Under the tables of every restaurant and café, along the walls of city streets, beside the resort pool, in the rocks along the shoreline, in the shadows of ancient ruins… at every single location I’ve noticed one or more cats. They are clearly stray cats, yet friendly and apparently welcomed by the proprietor and customers alike. The cats make themselves at home wherever they go… as if they own the place! What’s up with the cats? read on.
Over 3,000 years ago.
From the patios in front of our hotel we look out across the bay – ahead is the Mediterranean Sea; to the right is Karst Point, which I explored on my first morning here; to the left is a steep-shored peninsula housing the grounds of the Mycenaean colonization of Cyprus, or so says the map. Today we strolled over there, paid a small entrance fee to the sleepy gate clerk – I suspect we may have been his only visitors this week – and explored the small museum.
It is truly remarkable to be walking among the foundations of homes built over 3,000 years ago, still evident – and marking the location of the first Mycenaean Greek colonists on the island of Cyprus, around 1,200 BC.
Continue reading “Cyprus – Mycenaean colonization”The conference organizers kindly organized an afternoon tour of two local archaeological sites, now UNESCO World Heritage sites, on the outskirts of the ancient (and still thriving) city of Paphos. Read on and see the gallery!
Highlights on the western tip of Cyprus.
We hired a driver and asked to head to the northwestern shore of Cyprus, to visit the legendary Baths of Aphrodite. According to Greek legend, Aphrodite would bath in the spring of this small grotto and, one day, met her lover Adonis when he stopped here while out hunting. Read on!
An island at the crossroads of history.
We’re off again, this time to the island nation of Cyprus in the Mediterranean. I needed to attend a computer-science conference (DCOSS-IoT) for a few days, so we decided to extend the trip by two days and explore this island that has been at the crossroads of history for millennia. We are staying at an oceanside hotel in Coral Bay, outside Paphos; on our first morning, I took a walk along the shore to a point (“Karst point”) that provided a lovely view back across the bay to the hotel. My first gallery of photos shares views of the hotel, the bay, and some of the lovely flowers blooming this time of year.
David Kotz 