A Weekend Away, the Ayia Napa Way

The last weekend in June (and our second to last weekend in Cyprus) was spent in Ayia Napa.  Ayia Napa is a beach town that, before the Turkish occupation of Northern Cyprus (including the major port city of Famagusta) in 1974, was just a small fishing village and nothing more.  After Famagusta was evacuated and was no longer utilized as a port, Ayia Napa rapidly became a bustling city.

My professor refers to it as "the Myrtle Beach of Cyprus."

And that's an extremely accurate summation.  And we were in the heart of the Ocean Boulevard equivalent.

It was strange to go from an area of Cyprus where people spoke broken English (at best) to a location where the majority of society was not only English speaking, but actually from England. And Ireland. And Scotland.  Ayia Napa is a popular vacation destination for the British Isles because it is a much more affordable trip than, say, flying to the States.

Friday afternoon, however, before we got to Ayia Napa, we stopped in Larnaca to visit the Church of St. Lazarus and Hala Sultan Tekke (a very important Mosque in Islam).

Perhaps the single most important aspect of this Mosque is the fact that it is the burial site of the prophet Mohammed's Great Aunt.  I think, in American culture, we would tend to think "his Great Aunt? Why's that significant?"  But in Islam, her relationship to Mohammed elevates her to a status not unlike that of the Virgin Mary in Christianity.

I'm not sure if it's because she is buried at this site or not, but this Mosque was almost a complete 180 from the Mosque I visited on the Turkish side of Nicosia.  While both Mosques had minimal wall decor, the Mosque in Larnaca had many brilliantly colored rugs on the floor and stacked on windowsills.  There was a hat-tree overflowing with scarves for women to wear.  Even the tomb of Mohammed's Great Aunt was lavishly covered in rich materials.

This Mosque appeared to be a place of reverence, not just of ritual (which was the feeling I received while inside the Mosque in Nicosia).

The Church of St. Lazarus was also a place of reverence.  But, for me personally, it was a deeper sort of reverence than I have ever felt in any church to date.  Knowing that this church was named for the man that Jesus resurrected from the dead was dumbfounding and almost incomprehensible.  Knowing the significant role Lazarus played in bringing Christianity to Cyprus was overwhelming and awe-inspiring.

Seeing the skull of Lazarus and being that close to the remains of someone who knew Jesus personally still leaves me speechless.

In the catacombs of the church you are able to see Lazarus' tomb (from his second death, of course).  In the chapel, right in the middle, is a reliquary that displays Lazarus' skull.  While we were there, we saw individuals be blessed by a priest over the skull.

I think that this blessing was to heal some part of the individual that ails them.  The priest took a cotton ball, dipped it in an ointment, rubbed the soaked cotton swab on the glass covering the skull and then ran the cotton on the appropriate part of the individual's body while saying a prayer.  The cotton was then dropped into a plastic bag and handed to the individual, who kissed the priest's hand and departed.


After the church, a few of us wandered to a castle on the beach and then had lunch along the beachfront before boarding to bus to Ayia Napa.

Once we were settled into our.... inexpensive ... "hotel" (which was called The Green Bungalows but had no actual bungalows...), we walked to the beach.  The sand on this particular beach was excessively coarse and the rocks alternated between being jagged and slippery, making it difficult to reach a decent depth because you had to move so slowly.  After getting sun on the beach for a couple of hours, we headed back to the hotel to wash the salt off in the pool.


For dinner, several people wanted to try a restaurant called Valentino's, which is run by a Top Chef finalist.  Keeping with my English history obsession, I ordered the Richard the Lion-hearted, which was king prawns over pasta with a tomato sauce.  Allegedly a similar dish was served at the King's wedding in Cyprus and it was absolutely delicious.


Saturday a small group of us decided to eat lunch at the Bedrock Cafe.  Yep, that's right, I said Bedrock. As in The Flinstones.  It was utterly bizarre to see the life-sized statues of Fred, Barney, Betty, Wilma, Pebbles and Bam-Bam.  The menus had a Flinstones cartoon on every other page and the dishes had names to match the theme.  Why this restaurant is in Cyprus and not in America baffles me.  But one should definitely be opened State-side.


After lunch, Kendra, Emma, Chelsey, Rachel and I went to the Sea Caves and Cavo Greco with Dr. Legg.  The Sea Caves are a popular cliff jumping spot for Cypriots and the cliff stands between 35-40 feet high.

I jumped.

Four times.

It was the most exhilarating, adrenaline-rushing sensation I've ever had!  I would do it again in a heartbeat.  But I don't think I could cliff jump anywhere other than the Mediterranean.  I was only able to jump here because the water was so clear and I knew exactly what I was jumping into.  Not to mention the fact that I watched a dozen people jump ahead of me.

So, I'm sorry Mom, but I guess if all my friends decided to jump off a cliff I can no longer say that I wouldn't follow them.  And, to be completely honest, I was the instigator for our group.  I jumped first, alone. Then I convinced Rachel to jump with me, holding my hand because she was scared.  Then I got Chelsey to jump, twice. And, finally, Emma caved in and jumped as well.


After my appetite for adrenaline was somewhat satiated, we headed over to Cavo Greco which is a really high cliff overlooking a wide span of Cyprus.  Not to worry, there was no cliff jumping here because the only thing you would land on would be the jagged rocks at the bottom.

When we left Cavo Greco, we thought we were heading back to the hotel, but Dr. Legg had a few surprise stops in store for us.

After a short drive, we found ourselves at a rock bridge that we all wanted to have our picture taken on.  Unfortunately, there was a sign that prohibited crossing the bridge.  We tried to tell Dr. Legg that we wouldn't cross it, we would just go halfway, have our picture taken and then leave the way we got on.  But he wouldn't go for it.  Sad day.

Then we went to a small cove that Dr. Legg said he has taken past groups snorkeling in.  The area seemed perfect for, what else? Cliff jumping!!  So I jumped again!  This cliff was much, much shorter than the cliff at the Sea Caves, but tore my feet up three times as much because the rocks were ridiculously sharp.  And the water, which thoroughly shocked me, was frigid.  It probably has something to do with the fact that sunlight only reaches the water in the cove for a small portion of the day, despite it being sunny for so long during the days in Cyprus.

Surprisingly exhausted from all the adrenaline I used up, I wanted a nap when I got back to the hotel.  Instead, we headed back to the Bedrock Cafe for supper!  This time there was live music.  The Bedrock Cafe is truly an enigma.  Not only is it themed from an American cartoon from the 1980s, but they only play American country music.  Even the live musician specialized in country songs.  I just don't get it.... On the Greek side of Cyprus in a town populated by people from the British Isles, they love American country music.  Who knew???

For dessert we headed across the street to an ice cream parlor where I discovered that they had cafe ice cream!!  My elation over this discovery must not be underestimated.  I have looked for this ice cream since I visited Monaco in 1999.  Cafe ice cream is coffee flavored ice cream that actually has coffee beans in it.  It is, hands down, my favorite ice cream (even more than bluebell's banana pudding ice cream or cookie dough) and I have never  found it anywhere other than the one time I had it in Monaco. Yet I've never forgotten it.  And here it was in Ayia Napa, Cyprus.

We had to check out of our rooms by noon on Sunday but the bus wasn't heading back to Nicosia until 4 PM.  The idea was that this would give students more time to enjoy the beach or the pool or go sight seeing if they wanted.  To me it just seemed excessive and a bit of a nuisance.  Fortunately, Dr. Legg had driven his own car and offered a few of us a ride back to Nicosia at noon.  So I was happily napping before the rest of the group had even left Ayia Napa.

And that was fine by me :)