Cyprus - Rick and Kouklia

 After a long, 10 hour sleep, I picked Rick up at the Paphos airport. 

First stop, Hani Restaurant for lunch. Rick apologized for ordering a cheese burger. I had Moussaka. Then  we grocery shopped and headed back to the house to get acclimatized to time and space.

Rick got a good nights sleep and as the rain, that greeted him, had stopped, we drove to Kouklia. Nice and close and a small archeological site to get him started.

First we stopped at Church of Panagia Katholiki, A Byzantine church from the 12th/13th century.

The cloister (from the 16th century)on two sides no longer has its roof.

Mostly plain with occasional decoration. Unfortunately locked, so we couldn't see the inside.

Next to the church is the Sanctuary of Aphrodite archeological site. At the entrance gate we were asked our ages and told that pensioners got in for free. Bonus!

I visited this site a couple of times in 2020 so didn't take many pictures this time.

The sun was warm but the wind, sweeping up the hill from the sea, was cool.

The pathways were quite overgrown but luckily I knew my way around. They probably don't do a lot of maintenance in the off season.

The mosaics here are mostly geometric and just two or three colours but the one in the only excavated villa is quite ornate.

The museum area is a later build from when sugar was grown and produced here.

First stop, the washroom, where I was reminded not to wash my feet in the sink. Must be a story behind that.

It amazes me that pottery survives. This one, Minoan, was broken, but there were lots of undamaged ones from simple terra cotta coloured pitchers, through black glazed to brightly coloured glazed. Small and huge.

I found the Sarcophagus, in the centre of the room, particularly interesting

with it's carved sides depicting Ulysses escaping from the Cyclops, battles and animals.

We walked into the village and had lunch - cheese garlic pita, prawns and garlic cream mushrooms. I was able to speak to the proprietor, Gabriela, to make arrangements for the group to eat there after the walk I am leading in a couple of weeks.