Cyprus was the last country that I visited during my semester in Aberdeen. 3:00 AM in Vienna, Alyssa and I said goodbye to Lauren and hopped in our Uber to go to the airport. Upon arrival to the airport, I asked a help desk where I could get my Visa Check. She said that since Cyprus is in the Schengen Zone, I should not need a Visa check. I then asked at the Gate and the lady told me that they would be coming around to do them before boarding commenced. I was proud that I did all my communication in the airport in German. They perfectly understood me and I understood them. Maybe my German did not get worse while living in Scotland. Well fast forward and I never got a Visa Check. She scanned my boarding pass when getting on the plane, asked how many days I was staying in Cyprus and then let me go. The flight to Larnaca was three hours and the plane landed right near the water which was so cool to see. We took a taxi from the airport to the hotel. We were unable to check into the hotel but were able to drop off our bags. Our hotel was only a five minute walk from the beach so we went down to the marina to explore the beach and the stores.

There seemed to be some sort of haze in the sky. The sky was not clear and not as blue as I had expected it would be. Also, the water was just average, not too blue, not too dirty. I wanted to get a closer look further out on the shoreline so I decided to climb these large rocks. This was a big mistake, as I almost fell quite a few times. After almost killing myself, we headed to the Larnaca Castle. There was not much to see but it was still cool. Probably the highlight of my day was eating lunch at Pizza Hut. This is a favorite of Alyssa and I. This Pizza Hut had a really cheap buffet deal so our hunger was quickly satisfied. After lunch, we went back to the hotel to check in. The hotel is super nice, the beds were very comfy, and the bathroom and shower were heavenly. As we had a 3 AM start, we were exhausted so we took a nap. We woke up around 6:00 and went to a local store to get some dinner. To end our first day in Cyprus, we watched Eurovision.

The next morning, we had a very nice breakfast at our hotel and then began our walk to the salt lake. This walk was about an hour from our hotel. It was a bit of off-roading to get around the lake. I found the lake prettier than the ocean. However, I was disappointed that there were no flamingos. Apparently the flamingos only come in the winter months. About half way around the lake is the Hala Sultan Tekke Mosque. We could not go in the mosque but its placement on the edge of the lake sure makes a beautiful scene. We then headed back to the hotel and stopped at Mackenzie Beach along the way. Here, we got waffles at Milk and Honey and went into some tourist shops. We went off the path to visit Saint Lazarus church which was quite an interesting sight to see. The rest of the day consisted of laying at the hotel pool and relaxing. We did not really have an agenda for our stay in Cyprus and we had already seen what we wanted.

The last day of Spring Break Part 2 consisted of three flights. We first flew from Larnaca to Athens which was a full flight. The lady sitting next to me was from California and we talked a little about our travels within Cyrpus. As we arrived in Athens, we only had 25 minutes to transfer to our flight to London. We made it in time, thankfully. The flight to London was four hours but was quite nice because no one was sitting next to me and we got fed. I really like Aegean air and would highly recommend them. We arrived in London airport and this is where we would need to reapply for our Visas again since we are entering the UK. We went through boarder control and the guys did not even stamp our passports or look at our documents. We found this extremely strange. After walking away, the guys yelled for us and told us to come back. They said that there was some new system that they weren't used to and then they gave us the proper stamps. We still did not need to show our documents. I feel like these guys may have been new workers. The flight from London to Aberdeen was fine. We had no issues the whole day. That was quite a miracle considering we had three flights. It was lovely being back in Aberdeen. The city greeted us with beautiful grey skies and a heavy rainfall. I did enjoy being back in my bed.

I enjoyed my time in Cyprus, however I do not think I got any taste of culture and did not really learn much. I guess this trip was for pure relaxation which is ok to have sometimes. I would love to go back to some other cities in Cyprus to experience more natural scenery and learn more about the history and culture of Cyprus.