I was still learning lots of stuff on my trip:

Did you know that the 4th most important place in the Religion of Islam is in Cyprus?

	Larnaka
	Hala Sultan Tekke - Salt Lake
	Dromolaxia, 5 km (3 miles) west of Larnaka town Daily: 07:30-19:30 (June-August) 09:00-18:00 (April-May & Sept-Oct) 09:00-17:00 (November-March) Entrance free
	Built in 1816 over the tomb of Umm Haram, allegedly a relative of Prophet Mohhamed who died on this spot in 649 during the first Arab raids. The mosque is an important place of Moslem pilgrimage ranking immediately after the shrines of Mecca, Medina and Al Aqsha in Jerusalem.

The Aunt of the Prophet Mohhamed was buried here. She died when she fell off of a horse and broke her neck.

The Great Grandmother of King Abdullah of Jordan is also buried here. She exiled to Cyprus by the British Government (Exile means that the government where you live won't let you live in your own country any more, and they make you go live in a different country - away from all your friends and family)

Since it is a Mosque, we were sure to take off our shoes when we went inside

We also went to Kavo Gkreko, a very beautiful, very rocky beach.

Kavo Gkreko

A National Forest Park at the southeastern end of the island between Agia Napa and Paralimni. The uniqueness of the area is not only due to its natural beauty but also to the fact that it offers a wide range of interests such as swimming, diving, towed parachute, fishing, rowing, cycling, riding, climbing, airsports, and hiking.
The vegetation is dominated by coastal shrubs of which the most frequent observed species is Juniperus Phoenicea and plants such as chrysanthemums, wild onions, poppies, anemones, mainly in spring time.
There are about 300 plant species in the area, 11 of which are endemic. The fauna includes species such as partridge, wood pigeon, crow, owl, as well as a large number of migratory birds, which stop on the island chiefly to rest. These include blackbirds, thrushes etc. Also observed in the area are foxes, hares and various species of bats, reptiles and butterflies. To date, 9 trails have been constructed in Kavo Gkreko - Paralimni area.

We went to see a war memorial too.

America fought a war of independence against the British in 1776 - back in the time of George Washington.

Cyprus fought a war of independence against the British in 1955 - probably about when your grandparents were little kids.

Here are 4 brave men who died in that war.

The brother of one of these men, who is now old enough to be a grandpa himself, came and talked to Tasos in Greek and told him all about his brother's sacrifice for his country. He was proud of his brother, but sad, too, because he died.

I think the stories weren't all okay for kids (because wars are violent and sad) because the story was really long in Greek, and when Tasos told it to me, it was pretty short.

Oh, and Maria got back her picture with Santa Claus!

In Greek, Santa's name is "Agios Vasilios"

I have often wondered how Santa could visit all of the kids on earth in one night - that's a lot of houses!

Well, I learned on this trip that Santa goes to Cyprus and Greece and Russia on New Years! And, Anna told me that her Mom went to Spain once, and the kids there get their presents on January 6, (Epiphany or Theophany) - So it's not as hard as I thought - he can space it out over a few days instead of doing it all in one night.

You might wonder what kind of presents the kids in Cyprus like? Well, since we were only days away from New Years, there was a lot of excitement about what Agios Vasilios might bring. The kids there like the same things as kids here (of course, older kids and younger kids like different things) - video games, dvd's, cd's, Barbie dolls, My Little Pony, stuff to play house or school with, jewelry and nice lotions or perfumes, sports stuff, clothes - just everything you can think of that kids like here, they like there, too!

Well, time to go!

See you soon!

-Stanley