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