it's 6:45 in the a.m. at the time i start this post and i am up why? to make paris a frappe before he goes to work. yup, it's what i'm doing in exchanging for him trying to quit smoking his cigs. eww... yup, all that for amour and a cleaner, healthier existence together.

it's not so bad though- being up this early that is. i get to see the sun rise and the whole house is up this morning- usually it's just the people who have to go to work, but today, his middle brother chris and ma fer are up too to go pick figs in the perivoli (which i learned today and means plot of land w/fruit). apparently they go at this hour because the fruit is still cold from being chilled overnight and it's still nice and cool out, and therefore tolerable. remember, it's usually a thousand degrees here during the day.

these are the figs everyone loves so dearly and which are free!:

so yeah, it's an early morning here at chez papachristodoulou and i'm actually thankful for catching the first hours of the day.

yesterday i felt like i'd been run over by a MAC truck, so it's good stuff to be feeling healthy again!

umm... so yeah, i'm up, early and wanted to blog.

we went camping this weekend, as you know if you read my last post, and dontcha know it, wound up with a flat tire right before we were to take off and were consequently delayed 2 hrs before getting the F outta dodge. sucked, but as always, 'twas an experience.

here's the whole thing in bits:

paris learns how to change a flat tire and actually changes the tire (with help from several calls to his bro who's a mechanic) all at once.

meanwhile (for added effect) it's the only day it decides to rain in cyprus and the clouds are looking heavy:


and there's me looking doubtful:




















yeah, it ain't the most flattering pic...

so yeah, that was our not so hopeful start, but after all was said and done, and we arrived at our destination just as the sun was about to go down, and we rapidly set up camp, it was... it was just marvelous!

here's a glimpse:

















you can't see us, but we're there... in the middle and slightly left...that blue blob w/the red dot. that's our tent and the umbrella we set up for shade. i'll post more pics in a separate blog after i'm done here.

stunning views...virgin territory... near complete privacy, save passing boats from time to time. it was so freeing that the 2 of us went nude for a good portion of the day. viva la vida desnuda!!!

mmm... and there were sea urchins that we dug up and ate right there. well, you don't really dig them up, but you loosen them from the tiny holes in which they hide among the rocks.

oh, and aphrodite's baths which we visited... a lil' ways outside our camping area.

ugh... and the treacherous road to get there...to the camp site that is. yeah, that was an experience. windy dirt roads, littered w/rocks sharp enough to slash your tires, and danger signs going all the way up the mountain saying "do not enter"...followed by views of the drop that goes straight down to the water just an arm's length from the car. yup, fun stuff!

here's a bit about akamas peninsula, which is where we camped... part of the paphos region.

http://home.clara.net/heureka/cyprus/akamas.htm

and i'll wrap up here and show you the rest in pics.

xoxo,
p.