Although we woke up very early we both went back to sleep until 8 a.m. We had decided to eat breakfast in the room this morning, so Mike heated the water for Nescafé and we had yogurt with honey. Once breakfast was over we walked to the Papas Cash and Carry to see if we could buy some spot remover (always handy to have) and some Mastic liquor (not available). Then we walked to Old Town to shop for souvenirs, etc. Our first stop in Old Town was Orphannides Leather Shop where Mike bought a new leather wallet. As we walked on down the street peering into the various shops we saw an interesting shoe shop, Mitsingas Trading Ltd. where they were touting men’s shoes on sale. Mike saw a pair he liked but they did not have his size, but they did have another pair that was made in Italy instead of Cyprus—they fit, so he bought them. On down the street we went but couldn’t find the icon store. 

By this time we were hot and thirsty so we walked to Diogene’s Lantern Taverna outside the Old Market to have something to drink. Since we were there we just decided to have lunch. Mike had a large Keo beer and the chicken souvlaki and I had a glass of white wine and the calamari. Both meals were accompanied by salad and “chips”. As we relaxed we chatted with a British couple at the table next to us and to our waitress, Emily and her mother, Barbara who owns the restaurant. Barbara was originally from Scotland.

After lunch we shopped our way up St. Andrews street stopping at the Collectibles and Curiosities shop. We chatted with the owner and bought a small St. Catherine icon. The icons were on sale for 1/2 price as he was no longer going to sell icons. Our next stop was Orphannides Luggage shop again where I decided to buy a small red roller bag I can use as a carry on. With our purchases in hand we walked to the bus stop to ride back to our hotel.

Once we were back in the hotel I got ready for class and for a meeting about the doctoral program the university is planning to offer. While I am in class Mike plans to do our laundry. Before class began, Spiros, one of our former students called and said he wanted us all to meet tonight for dinner. We agreed and as we were going out for dinner both Mike G. and I let our classes out early—8:30 p.m. Kristia, one of my special education masters students, wanted to take a photo of me with the class and then Mike G. with the class. 

Afterwards we walked back to the hotel to meet Emily and Mike and get ready for dinner. Spiros and his wife, Georgia, came and drove us to Drifter’s Restaurant which was out toward the area known as Amathus. To start the evening we had appetizers of garlic bread, cheese sticks, and cheese fries. Then each person ordered from the menu—I had spinach ravioli with two glasses of white wine and Mike had chicken fajitas and a Keo beer. It was Friday night and very noisy—apparently it was time to party! After dinner we all went to the Four Seasons hotel for after dinner drinks! Wow this was a flashy hotel. Mike had a brandy sour and I had a choco-freddo (iced Nescafé with chocolate-no liquor for me). We said this was a great celebration of the wonderful and successful visit we had had here in Cyprus.

We told Spiros we would take a taxi back so that he and Georgia wouldn’t have to drive us. The taxi driver wanted to take us the long way back but Spiros (in Greek) redirected him. He was not a very happy driver. The traffic on the main road or as he called it “the beach road” was very bad. When we arrived back at the hotel it was almost 1:30 a.m. Wow were we ever exhausted.