Cyprus, both sides

      It has been a long time, it feels like, since I've written.  Travel seems to be non-stop, and I keep waiting for our itinerary to slow down.  We attempted to slow things down by heading to Cyprus for a week of biking.  We booked a self-guided bike tour of Northern Cyprus before we knew anything about the North vs. the South of this small island.  After a few days in Athens, gazing at the Acropolis and more Greek and Roman ruins, we flew into Larnaca, Cyprus (south).
      It was such an interesting week in many ways!  Southern Cyprus is part of the EU, but not a Schengen zone country, which was very important for us. (We only get 90 days in the EU, so we had to leave, thus going to Cyprus.)  Northern Cyprus, or the Northern Turkish Republic of Cyprus, is not a recognized country by anyone else except Turkey.  We spent two days relaxing by the beautiful sea in Southern Cyprus, which is Greek.  The beaches and weather were superb!  Then, since no buses go across "The Green Line" (the border between these countries), we took a bus to the edge of the Greek side in the city of Nicosia, and walked through "no man's land" to the Turkish side of the city, Leftkosa...same city, different countries, different names.  We stood by military posted with automatic weapons as we got our passports stamped.  We biked to the ancient walled city of Salamis, and also saw Verusha (google it), which is the largest abandoned city (other than Chernobyl) in the world in the middle of Farmagusta.  The Greeks and Turks can't decide who gets it, so a city 17 km squared, full of high rises by a beautiful seaside, is fenced off and guarded.  So strange! (no pictures allowed, but we snuck one anyway)
      By luck, we got to share our bike ride with a couple from Germany (who spoke english of course).  We had so much fun getting to know them, and hearing their stories of post-war (WWII) Berlin, and stories of all their travels.  We biked all day together, and shared meals.  It was perfect!  We biked in the Karpas Peninsula, which is a protected area, home to turtles and wild donkeys.  We found the Cypriots so friendly and welcoming and glad to have people take the time to see their country.  It was great to be active every day and not have a list of tourist sights to see.  The man who organized our trip, Mahmet, was a wonderful representative of his country!  We felt blessed to make connections to the people and this place.