To the Islands!

From Athens, we went to the island of Cyprus. For those playing along for country points at home, Cyprus is an island off the Turkish border that is half Greek, half Turkish, and somehow a little bit British and UN-neutral.* 

We mostly toured around the Turkish part of the island and learned about the island's history, but we did start with some signage on the beach. Dad is the ultimate sport** and was game for photos all over the beach. Did other people love watching it? Of course they did. 

Since we can't pose on a beach all the time,*** we went through the border crossing to Farmagusta. There are several places where you can cross the border and it is processed like leaving one country and going to another. Cyprus has had a lot of people claiming it- it was originally settled by the Greeks but many different folks invaded and tried to claim it because of it's proximity to Turkey and location in the Mediterranean. Cyprus was annexed by the United Kingdom**** in 1914 and divided between Greeks and Turks in the 1950s. At some point it was given independence but the UK still has military bases on island. The 1960s and 1970s brought violence between the Greeks and Turks that resulted in a four day Turkish invasion in 1974 and led to the divide they have now. Turkey claims the eastern part of the island and the Republic of Cyprus operates the Western part of the island and is part of the EU.

It is . . . . confusing. And has no likely end in sight.

So, we walked a bit through the walled town of Farmagusta that borders part of the UN-neutral zone.

We also visited the capital, Nicosia, that has the divide going through the middle of the town. From 1974 to 2003, people were not permitted to cross between the two sides. It is only since 2003 that people have been able to cross freely between the two areas. This courtyard is on the Turkish side and close to the border division.

Here you can see the border division that remains. There is still a no-mans-land between the two sides that is uninhabited today.

We traveled farther into the Turkish side to Bellapais Abbey in the Kyrenia Mountain Range.

From the Abbey we went into the local town on the harbor, Kyrenia. We were up to our usual sculpture-imitating shenanigans between visiting local stores for the perfect magnet.*****

From Cyrpus we went to Santorini!! When one of my students asked what I was doing for break, I said the family was going to Greece- specifically Athens, Cyprus, and Santorini. When I said Santorini, she perked up and exclaimed, "that's where all the instagrammers go!" And she is exactly right. The best things to do in Santorini are to look around at how beautiful it is, take pictures of the scenery, take pictures of yourself looking beautiful in the scenery, and then talk about how beautiful it is.

And that's what we did.

It's a living postcard everywhere.

And we obviously look out best, too, so . . .

This will all be yours one day, Dad.

They have a windmill!

And they even have sunsets there!

And with that sunset, our Grecian tour has come to an end. Hooray for Mr. 105!
-KT

*AKA, three TCC points. Dad will be at 105 by the end of the trip and it's not even hard anymore.
**Being a sport is the only acceptable sport.
***Apparently.
****What won't those Brits claim?
*****Oh, have I not mentioned Dad's intense magnet collection? Apologies!

And a few more glamour shots. Because why not? #HelenofJoy #VacationModel #HashtagsbyMillscraps

Dad Hits 100!!

That's right, Dad hit 100!! And yes, he does look amazing for his age, but we're talking about one hundred countries, silly! He is officially a member of the Traveler's Century Club* and one of the cool kids!**

We all rendezvoused in Greece, Dad's 100th country, to celebrate the occasion. In grand family tradition, there was a banner that we TRIED to photograph all over town.*** More on the trying part, soon.

Dad has been traveling for the past two weeks throughout Europe to get his last few countries in before Greece. Greece is a country he has always wanted to visit so it was the perfect meet-up spot. We all met up in Athens and headed for the Acropolis first.

Naturally, as every good celebration does, we began with a very formal ceremony in one of the Acropolis theaters. I officially welcomed Dad into the club and presented him with his 100 country pin.****

I then presented him with his banner and we were posing for pictures when an Acropolis guide came running over.

It turns out that there is a rule***** that there can be no signs or posters in the Acropolis. We had to delete all of our pictures with the sign****** in front of the guide before he would allow us to move on.*******

So, ah well. We continued upward and onward!

Once up top, the views were fantastic!

We attempted to take a sign picture up top******** and tried to be real quick about it.

Funnily enough, another guard found and informed us that there were no signs allowed and that we would have to delete the pictures. We apologized, said we had no idea, and dutifully deleted the above pictures. 

From then on, we kept it above board and just took dozens of pictures of ourselves sans signs.

Following the Parthenon and a visit to the Acropolis museum, we generally wandered the streets of the Plaka. Highlights included:

The next day we left the sign at home********* and headed for the Agora. We roamed what used to be the marketplace and stocked up on column pictures.

 Column like you see 'em.

 Editorial Column.

 Column Response.

 Column Mockery.

 Column Maybe.

 Column by your name.

We had a capitol time.

The rest of the day was spent eating. We opted for a light********** lunch of dozens of appetizers before a walking food tour of Athens.

The food tour included pastries like Koulouri, spanikopita, and bougatsa.

We had a delicious deli plate with less delicious ouzo.

There were olives, and more forms of alcoholic turpentine, and, of course, loukoumades.

And just when we couldn't possibly eat another bite, souvlaki.

Greece is delicious.

What else? The family stayed true to their usual shenanigans of posing with statues and plants.***********

We arrived today in Cyprus for our next stop and, SPOILER ALERT- no one is fighting the sign here!

More from Cyprus another day! Congratulations on your 100th, Dad!!

-KT

*You already know what it is, but just in case: https://travelerscenturyclub.org/

**

***https://teachersummer.blogspot.com/2016/04/century-club.html

****Yeah, there's a pin. Who wants to join now?!?!

*****Apparently unwritten rule because I have searched for it and not found it.

******And we obviously undeleted them later from the "Recently Deleted" folder.

*******Oh and after I demanded to see some official guide ID and we tried to slink off but he hunted us down and was yelling about deleting pictures while other tourists watched helplessly.

********We are rebels and we'll never ever be any good.

*********For safety. 

**********He's not heavy, he's my lunch.

***********And also AT tried on a hat and I'll save that for a future time. But know that the hat in these pictures is legit hers.