Yesterday was a very full day and after another amazing traditional dinner I fell sound asleep!
We started off going to the foothills of the Troodos Mts and painting there midafternoon. We then headed to the coast for a refreshment and then headed to an incredible Byzantine church from 15th century--Panagi Choreteni. It was beautiful! We did some studies and will return next week.
Today we went along the highlands to another village--Pano Arodes. It is an amazing place that must sit on a fault since it has tremors on a regular basis. The villagers have been rebuilding for centuries. As you wander around you can see cracks and ruin from previous quakes. I went down one small dirt alleyway and found and wonderful old ruin. But it had tremendous living energy as if the quake was yesterday. One of the locals wandered out to talk and told me the quake was from the 1920's that did that major damage. It was very hot and he would bring me water and gave me copy of a painting he did! The village people were so sweet! These villages are off the tourist path so you meet the real Cypriot people.
A wonderful day and the incredible Mike Chaplin mange to get a photo of me painting. Tomorrow we are heading to the coast and up a valley-- another wonderful day in the making!
Life is always full of amazing experiences, if you just let your eyes see them.
The church in the town square.
The Clay ovens that they use not only for bread but slow roasting marinated meats in clay containers. They slowly cook over 2-3 days. The results melts in your mouth!
We went to the north side of Cyprus today. The coast is VERY hot and humid and we weren't very far from the Turkish border- which prompted lots of jokes. One of the oddest thing things I have seen is this pole with a single dried palm frond stuck in the top. Really was quite curious! At some point it deserves a painting! Open to ideas... it didn't provide any shade, wasn't really decorative... ?
Another beautiful day on the NW coast and I wandered along to Slipper Rock. This unusual stack resembles a slipper (or boot). The tid was very high so I had a distant view. With a pair of Bald Eagles watching, I did a couple a quick paintings. One celebrating Slipper Rock, and the other the silhouette of the hillside beyond the stack.
A glorious afternoon!
