After two long days at the beach, Elise and I thought it might be time to take a little break from the sun.
Thanks to a giant billboard directly outside the airport and a conveniently-located pamphlet at the Hertz Rental Car counter, the kids had been begging us to go to the zoo in Paphos since the moment we got off the airplane.
In all fairness, we hadn't been to a zoo since leaving D.C. and it was unlikely we were going to go to a zoo for the foreseeable future. I like the zoo. So, we decided to give it a try.
We loaded up the car and set off...and made it about 2 km down the road. The car wouldn't accelerate. I had noticed the 'check engine' light the day before driving back from Ayia Napa, but took it as more of an advisement than actual warning. After consulting the Opel owner's manual however, it quickly became evident there was a genuine problem with the engine that would require real checking.
We started up the steep hill from Pissouri Bay to the A6 highway, but it felt as though the car was stuck in low; it kept revving and revving, but would not pick up speed. There was no way we we're going to get up the hill at this rate, much less be able to merge into highway traffic, so we turned around and called the rental car company. A few hours later, we were in a new 7-seater Peugeot and on our way to the zoo...
...on the hottest day of our stay in Cyprus.
We arrived around noon to the Paphos Bird Park and Zoo. In retrospect, I think the zoo part was a late addition. This was heavy on the bird park. They had all the birds covered, eagles, owls, peacocks, flamingos, storks, parrots, even a North American cardinal (in a cage, no less). There were elephants, giraffes, zebras, lions, and tigers, a pretty impressive array of wildlife when they weren't napping in the shade.
While Elise and I were melting into the sidewalk, the kids ran from exhibit to exhibit. We finally made our way to the reptile house, after a what ended up being a pretty depressing visit to the penguin house.
On such a hot day, we were really looking forward to the visiting the penguin house, because we expected it to be cold. I mean, last time I checked, penguins do live in the Arctic. This was, however, the first penguin house I ever visited that was hot. I mean, actually stifling.
In every other penguin house I have ever been in there are dozens of penguins jumping into the water, diving, swimming back and forth like black and white torpedoes darting through the water, or waddling back and forth across the fake, plastic ice floes. But in this penguin house, there were only four penguins, standing perfectly still in a straight line, facing us, as though in a line-up of criminal suspects. All that was missing was the chart showing their heights. They stared at us. We stared back at them. No one moved. The water was cloudy and brown and the entire house reeked of dying fish. We didn't last long.
The kids skipped up to the door of the reptile. Peter had his back to the door as Sam opened it. Not a foot from the front door of the reptile house, was a stack of glass aquariums. In each, was a giant, hairy tarantula. Pete backed toward them, and -- so as not to startle him -- Elise said, "Watch out behind you, Peter. There are spiders."
To which Peter absolutely. freaked. the. eff. out.
He jumped out of his skin, crying hysterically, and ran from the reptile house directly into his mother's arms.
It took him awhile to come back down. Peter had a similar episode during one of our leaves in Seattle. We were at the flagship Starbucks Roastery in Capitol Hill, having a late cup of coffee when Peter told us he was seeing spiders under the bar. Elise and I were understandably concerned and chalked it up to stress.
Peter has always been the most sensitive of our three children. As a baby, Elise couldn't run the blender or the vacuum without him bursting into a full-blown panic. I think the trip to Seattle was a case of one movement too many: we had traveled from India to visit Elise's parents in Spokane, then traveled from Spokane to visit Elise's brother in Everett, then traveled from Everett to visit Starbucks in Seattle, then...anyway, you get the picture. He was three "once-removed"s from his happy place.
The trip to Cyprus in all its sun-and-surf-filled wonder, may have been one "once-removed" too many, as well. We can hardly get on a plane anymore without one of the kids wondering if we're just going on vacation or if we're moving.
Peter did eventually calm down. We found some fluffy yellow baby chicks roaming freely through the bird park and that seemed to do the trick. The bright-red bloated ass of an African baboon also might have helped.
Needless to say, after an hour or two of the zoo, we were ready to leave. We stopped at a Cypriot supermarket on the way back to Pissouri, much to Elise's delight. She seems to have inherited her father's desire to visit the grocery store in the foreign lands we travel to. The trip was worth it if only for the swordfish head we found on ice in the fishmonger's display case. We stocked up on breads and cheeses and headed down the highway to our next stop, Artemis' Birthplace.
Thanks to a giant billboard directly outside the airport and a conveniently-located pamphlet at the Hertz Rental Car counter, the kids had been begging us to go to the zoo in Paphos since the moment we got off the airplane.
In all fairness, we hadn't been to a zoo since leaving D.C. and it was unlikely we were going to go to a zoo for the foreseeable future. I like the zoo. So, we decided to give it a try.
We loaded up the car and set off...and made it about 2 km down the road. The car wouldn't accelerate. I had noticed the 'check engine' light the day before driving back from Ayia Napa, but took it as more of an advisement than actual warning. After consulting the Opel owner's manual however, it quickly became evident there was a genuine problem with the engine that would require real checking.
We started up the steep hill from Pissouri Bay to the A6 highway, but it felt as though the car was stuck in low; it kept revving and revving, but would not pick up speed. There was no way we we're going to get up the hill at this rate, much less be able to merge into highway traffic, so we turned around and called the rental car company. A few hours later, we were in a new 7-seater Peugeot and on our way to the zoo...
...on the hottest day of our stay in Cyprus.
We arrived around noon to the Paphos Bird Park and Zoo. In retrospect, I think the zoo part was a late addition. This was heavy on the bird park. They had all the birds covered, eagles, owls, peacocks, flamingos, storks, parrots, even a North American cardinal (in a cage, no less). There were elephants, giraffes, zebras, lions, and tigers, a pretty impressive array of wildlife when they weren't napping in the shade.
While Elise and I were melting into the sidewalk, the kids ran from exhibit to exhibit. We finally made our way to the reptile house, after a what ended up being a pretty depressing visit to the penguin house.
On such a hot day, we were really looking forward to the visiting the penguin house, because we expected it to be cold. I mean, last time I checked, penguins do live in the Arctic. This was, however, the first penguin house I ever visited that was hot. I mean, actually stifling.
In every other penguin house I have ever been in there are dozens of penguins jumping into the water, diving, swimming back and forth like black and white torpedoes darting through the water, or waddling back and forth across the fake, plastic ice floes. But in this penguin house, there were only four penguins, standing perfectly still in a straight line, facing us, as though in a line-up of criminal suspects. All that was missing was the chart showing their heights. They stared at us. We stared back at them. No one moved. The water was cloudy and brown and the entire house reeked of dying fish. We didn't last long.
The kids skipped up to the door of the reptile. Peter had his back to the door as Sam opened it. Not a foot from the front door of the reptile house, was a stack of glass aquariums. In each, was a giant, hairy tarantula. Pete backed toward them, and -- so as not to startle him -- Elise said, "Watch out behind you, Peter. There are spiders."
To which Peter absolutely. freaked. the. eff. out.
He jumped out of his skin, crying hysterically, and ran from the reptile house directly into his mother's arms.
It took him awhile to come back down. Peter had a similar episode during one of our leaves in Seattle. We were at the flagship Starbucks Roastery in Capitol Hill, having a late cup of coffee when Peter told us he was seeing spiders under the bar. Elise and I were understandably concerned and chalked it up to stress.
Peter has always been the most sensitive of our three children. As a baby, Elise couldn't run the blender or the vacuum without him bursting into a full-blown panic. I think the trip to Seattle was a case of one movement too many: we had traveled from India to visit Elise's parents in Spokane, then traveled from Spokane to visit Elise's brother in Everett, then traveled from Everett to visit Starbucks in Seattle, then...anyway, you get the picture. He was three "once-removed"s from his happy place.
The trip to Cyprus in all its sun-and-surf-filled wonder, may have been one "once-removed" too many, as well. We can hardly get on a plane anymore without one of the kids wondering if we're just going on vacation or if we're moving.
Peter did eventually calm down. We found some fluffy yellow baby chicks roaming freely through the bird park and that seemed to do the trick. The bright-red bloated ass of an African baboon also might have helped.
Needless to say, after an hour or two of the zoo, we were ready to leave. We stopped at a Cypriot supermarket on the way back to Pissouri, much to Elise's delight. She seems to have inherited her father's desire to visit the grocery store in the foreign lands we travel to. The trip was worth it if only for the swordfish head we found on ice in the fishmonger's display case. We stocked up on breads and cheeses and headed down the highway to our next stop, Artemis' Birthplace.
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