For the last several days, I have been in Nicosia, the capital city of Cyprus. Since the reunification of Berlin, Nicosia is the only city in the world that is divided between two nations. (Istanbul is divided between two continents but, unlike Nicosia, it is one big happy family). I am staying on the Greek side but close enough to the Turkish side that I can hear the call to prayer from the Mosque on the other side of the “green line” while I am listening to the chanting from the local Greek Orthodox church.
Author: klmalcolm2014
Hagios Kepia
There is a tiny shop in Larnaca that, from the street, looks like a cross between conceptual art and a pottery studio. Once inside, you realize those brownish babies and body parts are candles.
Room 103
Cyprus wasn’t on my short list. Or any list. I flew here from Tel Aviv following an elaborate multi-variable calculus involving the several ways to get to Jordan via Safed, all of which are either expensive or complex. But Cyprus is a really good inadvertent!
Akko
Quick stop over in the very cool city of Akko, Israel, a UNESCO World Heritage Site near the Lebanese border. I am so happy to be on the coast again!
A Wonderful Last Day in Safed
All’s well that ends well and it did!
But first, did you know that if you don’t speak for three days, your voice sounds like you have laryngitis?
Shanah Tovah
Rosh Hashanah is over but that doesn’t mean I have access to food except what it stacked up on the bathroom sink, or transportation except my feet. It’s Shabbat.
The Power of Dashed Expectations
I am in Safed, a small Israeli city 3 hours north of Jerusalem. The picture in my mind of Safed was pretty different from reality so far. The picture above is where I am staying. As a center of Jewish mysticism with hippie-ish sensibilities, I expected a city that would feel loved and welcoming and in tune with the natural state of things. You know, like Berkeley before the iphone.
New Friends and Old Things
I decided to spend the day at the Israel Museum, which has a nice cross section of western art but is famous for the Dead Sea Scrolls and archaeological artifacts organized to unwind the 9,000 year history of the Levant. Steve Tobias reminded me of this word.
