Cyprus - east to Kolossi Castle and Lady's Mile Beach

 Saturday and we were supposed to go on a walk with the group but just as we were getting ready to leave, at 9am, the walk was called off due to rain and mud. So we relaxed for a bit and then, as the rain had stopped, decided to go for a drive and stop at places along the way, if the weather continued to co-operate. It did!

Just a brief stop so I could get pictures of the Minaret at the abandoned Mosque in Avdimou. The village was home to Turkish Cypriots prior to 1974.

It was right next door to a very welcoming looking Community Centre and Day Care. A new looking Christian Church was just a couple of doors down.

When we had told Ken, next door that we were headed in this direction he told us where to come off the road to see Griffon Vultures (they nest in these cliffs) and lent us a pair of binoculars.

Unfortunately we didn't see any. Upon looking it up I found that last year there were only 4 nesting pairs in the whole of Cyprus and each pair only produces one egg a year. It's going to take a while for them to bounce back from near extinction.

It's a very exposed and rocky location

but flowers still manage to survive. This looks like a thistle but was on a shrub that looked like lavender??

Next stop was the Sanctuary of Apollo, where Rick wandered and I took photos that I might later want to paint.

It was cool, we were in jackets

but the sun was out

and the ground had dried out

so it was perfectly comfortable for what we were doing.

 Another km or so down the road and we stopped at the Roman stadium. We walked along the path towards Kourion, past another small archaeological site, and stopped at the viewing spot, over looking Kourion Beach. A family was also there and the young girl asked if they could stop at "the strawberry lady". In conversation we found the location for the "best strawberries in Cyprus". We stopped at this recommended roadside stall and bought more than strawberries..reasonably priced, mostly local. The strawberries were heaven; sweet and juicy like ours in June but much larger.

Lunch at Kourion Beach. Too cool and windy to sit outside, but, right by the window, we had the same view.

This washing the feet in the sink must be a thing.

Temple ruins at the back of the beach, base of the Kourion cliffs. Fenced off so we couldn't explore it.

Kolossi Castle ..... free for seniors!

Quite an imposing tower, 3 floors, each with two huge empty rooms. Medieval and for a period of time occupied by the Hospitallers. I had never heard of them so looked it up.

They were formed at the time of the Crusades and ran a huge hospital in Jerusalem. Although they did not start out as a military organization, over time they became one and lasted longer than The Knights Templar. After Cyprus they occupied Malta for longer.

Just a short drive and we were at the Holy Monastery of St Nicholas of the Cats.

It had changed quite a bit since the last time I was here. Still a table of products for sale (made by the nuns)

and quite a few cats, though there seemed fewer then last time

even though, in the brand new parking lot, there was a place were you could buy food for the cats.

Back to the car and one had already staked out a spot in front of the rear tire

and another at the front. Rick made sure they didn't get run over as we drove away.

The rain had made the road to Lady's Mile Beach sloppy and bumpy

but it is a lovely long, sand beach.

 We actually didn't drive far from home but there is a lot to see in a small area. We left the Kourion site for another day. It will give us an excuse to come back for more strawberries.