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RHIAN'S SOCCER JOURNALS:

AMY WALSH GUEST JOURNAL DAY OFF IN CYPRUS 8th March 2008

Today we had the whole day to do exactly what we wanted. The day was ours to relax, explore or soak in the Mediterranean blue... Well, I’m not being entirely truthful. We had the day planned to the minute for us: A Tour of Cyprus!

The prospect of this tour excited some of us, but it depressed others. You have to understand, dear reader, that while we are extremely fortunate to travel to places like Cyprus, the irony is that once we get some time off to actually see the sights, most of us are too exhausted to even contemplate leaving the hotel. This feeling is usually remedied by our team manager, Les Meszeros. The man has enough energy and infectious enthusiasm to get us going, and to plan these “off days.” He makes sure that we can soak up some history and get our brains off auto-pilot for at least a couple of hours.

Our day began at 9:00 am as we dutifully boarded the tour bus for what we had been warned was a “full day of touring”. As a result, copious amounts of water and snacks were packed; soccer players are known for their voracious appetites and complete inability to go more than 20 minutes without a nosh. D especially is renowned for her hollow leg syndrome. "Anyone need a snack?" Just pat Matheson down — she’ll have a granola bar or a handful of chocolate covered almonds in one of her pockets. I guarantee it.

In addition to our pleasant bus driver, Stavros, (clearly not his name, or even close to any derivation he’d ever heard from any Gringo on his tour bus, but given to him by Tank, out of sheer laziness), we were accompanied by Emily, our friendly team tour guide. Let me tell you, this lady liked to talk. Geysers spewing water, volcanoes gurgling hot lava—they had nothing on this lady in terms of pure output.

We did learn a few things, though, as a result of all this talking, but I will spare you the time it would take to recount all these interesting facts and insights. I will simply skip to the most interesting ones: Saint Helena, mother of Constantine, built a church at the apex of the highest mountain in Cyprus; As a young man, King Richard the Lionheart crowned his teenaged queen here, the first time a queen had been crowned outside England; and finally, in Cyprus, they eat seasonally. For example, right now we are enjoying an abundance of clementines, oranges, bananas, cucumbers and tomatoes, but if we were to return in the summer, we could not find any of the aforementioned foods here. In the warmer months, Cypriots consume grapes, almonds, honeydew melons, watermelons and strawberries. I wish we, as Canadians, were more committed to eating seasonal, local food, but I digress.

Traveling from Larnaca, where we are staying, we travelled to Limassol, We saw many signs of Carnival--literally translated as “Meat Hat” — that began on “Burnt Thursday,” 11 days before Greek Orthodox Lent and a day for gorging oneself on grilled meat. Sunday is the last day they can consume meat products, and then the on the following day, “Clean Monday”, only “pure” foods can be consumed, or food that does not involve any blood being let. As a result, we saw many vendors offering up fresh produce that the Cypriots were scooping up in anticipation of the end of Greek Mardi Gras and the beginning of a fast.

After milling around Limassol for a while, we hopped back on the bus and stopped in for a delicious lunch at a family owned restaurant up in the hills. We wandered around for a bit afterwards, our bellies full, but most of us were quite tired by then. Tank raised the energy level on the long bus ride back to Larnaca, doing her patented “Tour guide from Rio” bit, leaving us all in stitches — even the coaching staff. That gal has got a career in comedy waiting for her whenever she decides to hang up the old cleats.

The end.