happy third!

I gave a friend the link to this blog yesterday, and his first reaction was that wow, I've had this blog for three years already.

Yup. I've been blogging for that long. Wow indeed. It immediately inspired me to go back to some old entries. With every single entry I could almost feel the exact feeling I was feeling at that time...or at the very least, recall and have an impression of what it was.

Three years. I'm amazed that since I've started, I've been on four different work trips in two different continents, I've learned new things and re-learned them over and over again. I've dealt with recurring boredom and lack of inspiration, found the drive to be and held on to those that brought sparkle, lost them again when they proved to only be fleeting...

Three years. And some of my old entries still evoke something somehow...as if it were just the other week instead of two years ago.

I confess that since I've started I've become more and more restrained when posting. But I realized that it is only when I offer glimpses into my soul do I experience anything that significantly contributes to who I am and to the life I live. Almost every single memory that is of significance was during those times when I opted to go full on and face first. I may have crashed and I may have been burnt a couple of times...but that is exactly my recurring post-mortem credo...

crash and burn baby, its THE only way to go

resuscitate me.

and by the by...I've resurrected my pbase gallery.

photos from two weeks past are here and here.
from this week past, here and here.

another weekend gone by

The past weekend came and went faster than the anticipation for it. As before, we found ourselves on the road again...driving towards Paphos.

A Blessing or a Curse?

Allan must've done something to irk Aphrodite...while attempting to take photos of the foam surrounding her famed mythical birthplace, he was sprayed with splashes of water. Later on, when he stood near the shore (and for the life of me, I do not know why he came that close...must've been one of the Goddesses tricks..) he was faced head on with the knee-high waves of the Mediterrenean. Soaked from the knee down, all I could do at that instant was exclaim in surprise...I took a photo of him though, right before it hit. His blog shows all.

I know that people sometimes say that a bit of rainshower is a blessing from the Gods. A spray I can imagine can be that...but an attack of the waves? I think not. Aphrodite: 2, Allan: 0.

Mortals and Immortals

The Sanctuary of Aphrodite, if you ask me, does not pay enough tribute to such a famed immortal. It was smaller compared to Apollo Hylatis', and it made me wonder...do her followers then, pay tribute to the Goddess in some other way?

At Paphos, finally, our stop was the Tomb of the Kings. No, no king was ever buried there...there's an explanation somewhere...I wont point to it as I cant find it. Point is, they had underground burial tombs and caves...all preserved sans the bodies thank God. Funny though, how a place that once was the resting place for those that have passed on, can keep two living souls preoccupied. I was caught up with the view as always and with the pressure of taking photos that will capture everything I see, hear and feel....Allan, on the other hand, was literally shaking from the cold I think. He had, in a manner of speaking, cold feet (literally)...thanks fully to Aphrodite. Aphrodite: 3, Allan: 0.

But mortals that we are, we can only last the cold for so long...and such spots can only remain open for a certain period of time as well. So we went from the Tomb of the Kings to the Land of the Kings....the hotel right across the site. And the significance of the joke hit me way, way late. Relatively cheap accomodations, decent enough room and lots of space...it was good enough for the night. The following day meant driving to the Baths of Aphrodite. My companion had a feud to settle with her ladyship.

The perfect place to sit down

Up and late the following day, a caffeine-deprived me and a back-and-shoulder-pain suffering Allan found ourselves having breakfast close to noon just outside the Baths. Coffee was lovely and the view even more superb. The water was crystalline blue, pristinely clear, with soft winds making ripples of waves on the surface...it was enough to make me cry...but I didnt. I whined instead of why I was leaving soon...and plotted a scheme that can make me stay til Summer.

Before summer though, were the Baths. Such a small bath for such a popular goddess...waterfalls from cliff, with water that dont fall angrily nor trickle demurely...just a slow steady stream of several narrow water lines. Allan attempts to capture the water on photo and gets a bruise in the process. Aphrodite: 4, Allan: still 0.

I look around for a sign that said "Males are not allowed to take photos of Aphrodite's water" but found none. I suppose he really just didnt find favor in the goddess.

Near the entrance (or exit, depending on how you look at it) we find a small, man made stone house...and ponder about such things. Sitting on a pile of rocks, under the shade of a tree...with the mountain behind you, birds singing all around and the vast expanse of the sea, shore and surrounding hills just slightly below...it was hard to believe that it was time to head back to Nicosia. It was, along with the Kurion spot, the perfect place to sit down. It was "the shit".