....as a long delicious sigh of absolute contentment whooshes from my lungs.
Three months is almost up! Three more sleeps until we pack our bathers, and leave our sun drenched stoney village apartment and its 13 steep steps (quite sure my bum muscles have reaped some benefit from that daily ascent) are eloquently squashed into a flying sardine can and off back to our lovely family and friends (and of course our cat, Sherlock) in Melbourne. Melbourne with her lucky-dip-weather. Ha! Still, the cooler days will be a little relief after such a long hot summer here.
We have totally made the most of our last bits of time in the mediterranean.
Flying to Venice, Italy, for a magical weekend traipsing cobbled streets where the likes of Marco Polo, Vivaldi and Casa Nova were born. Eating the obligatory un piatto di spaghetti al pomodoro and gelato (like that was hard work) a magical boat ride around some of the 118 islands that make up Venice, and of course the famous Piazza San Marco...We navigated some cold rainy bits and different transport systems and had fun using the language and the Italians were warm and friendly and incredibly welcoming. One of my favourite bits was the one hour bus ride through the countryside to Treviso airport. Trundling through picturesque villages, with glimpses of gorgeous villas peeping from behind lush greenery, so romantic and just so pretty.
Also I have sold several works at Lefkara Courtyard Art gallery, and I've been working up with Pete at Layia Village crafts to complete another commission (photo booth) mural for the Rotary Cyprus Pollinator Project (for a butterfly sanctuary). I spent an afternoon with a darling new friend imparting some art play techniques to light up and heal her soul.
And we have caught up with new friends and old and had our last beach swims....
So, am I ready to be going home, YES! (I don't think I was yelling that but um maybe)
I am excited. I am excited for new home grown projects, and studio time, loads of long meaningful catch-up dinners with loved ones, meeting a new grand-bubba and jumping back into my garden. I am keen for the green-ness again and to run around our park in the cool mornings.
We feel we have given and received to our best ability here, each working on our own projects and adventuring together through the rest of it and we are richer and more alight because of it. And content.
Thank you for coming along with me on this wildly magical adventure, writing it down in this form has made me extra grateful for all of it and all of you who commented or sent me playful messages to chat about art and travel...
It's very easy as life throws things at us (like Covid and restrictive lockdowns etc) to wither a little and constrict, but I am here to remind you it is so worth stretching out again, taking the call to new adventures small or grand. Grabbing life by the bootstraps, with all it's unknown corners and mysteries and diving in...or even just dipping your pinky in! It will be worth it, I am quite sure.
Photos of Venezia after the rain, a wonderful walking tour and a boat ride. Pocket shrines everywhere in Venice and a weeny pocket of a shrine/worship space buried in a hill in Oroklini, Cyprus. "How hot is it today, little tree" ah yep that melted look says it all..., the workings of the mural for Rotary/Butterfly Sanctuary and champion Pete's design and construction of the board plus face holes of course, and Sherls, Sherlock, Fluffy bum waiting on the couch to welcome us home in a few days.
My three favouritist things about Cyprus are
1) Swimming in the silky salty sea, warm and floaty delicious. It's just YUM.
2) The traditional villages and their wonky mysterious ways. We have spent alot of time exploring ours and neighbouring villages, and sampling the delights...I never tire of the cobbled street meanderings, and the cornflour blue shutters.
3) We have met so many warm wonderful people. We chose to stay in a traditional village to get a more thorough taste for Cyprus and by doing so we have met lovely jovial locals like Andreas, Harry and Theo the Gnome, who offered us a drink, welcomed us into their homes, or offered us fresh fruit from their trees. We have met and befriended expats from around the world, and travellers alike. Small and large exchanges of laughter, love and experience. Some fleeting moments and some deep friendships we will treasure from this magical Island of Cyprus.
Comments