sunday was amazing. benjamin had the day off, and we slept in pretty late. when we woke up, we looked outside and it was gorgeous (it had been cloudy the day before). because it was already about noon and we hadn't even showered or had breakfast, we ruled out any big extravaganzas.
without any plan in mind, we hop in the car & head out for a coffee. we order our coffee "for here," and go find a seat. coffee shops in europe are much more restaurant-like than they are in the states. there are tons of outdoor seating areas with couches and coffee tables around, some in the shade, some in the sun. if you order your coffee "for here," you are served with big mugs just like you'd snuggle up with at home, and when you're done, you leave your dishes on the table and the waitress comes to clear them for you after you've gone.
we must have been sitting there for an hour, enjoying the warmth of the sun and the briskness of the chilled breeze; much longer than it took us to finish our drinks. the two of us were so baffled, though, as for what to do next! it was a gorgeous day, but there wasn't enough time to do any real exploring, and we had just been to old nicosia yesterday.
we wind up heading down there again for another wander, regardless of the fact that we've done this a million times now. i'm livid with myself for not bringing passports with us so we could have a wander around the turkish side, as i'd promised myself i would not forget them the next time we headed that way (in my defense, we didn't know that was the plan).
we start off on a stroll through old nicosia, and decide to explore the streets less traveled, if you will. what began as a right turn where we normally would have continued straight or turned around led us into all kinds of desolate back street areas where people live high above the street in old buildings very much in need of renovation, or at least a paint job. it was like time stopped somewhere between 1960-1970 and kind of was just at a stand still. it was both beautiful and devastating at the same time, and i couldn't decide if i would love to live there or hate it. one building would be adorable and quaint and show so much character, and then the next would be missing the windows and tagged with graffiti. so bizarre!
after a bit, we head home because i have to start cooking something to take over to eboni & kevin's for dinner. they had invited us all over, kyle too, which ended up being a really great night out of the house. we got there for about 7 and left after midnight, following dinner, chatting, and card games that turned into drinking games that turned into lots of laughs.
it was a lovely end to a great, completely unplanned day, and i wouldn't hesitate to do it all over again!
xox k
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