Thursday was our ‘culture’ day. We didn’t have lots of time, so we stuck close to home. Paphos is the closest town to our little village of Kouklia, where we do all the regular stuff like banking, groceries, etc. It is 18km away, which takes about 15 minutes to get to. The airport is only 6km away; the one to use if possible. The Tombs of the Kings lies to the northwest of ancient Paphos; along the coast and literally surrounded by present day 
Paphos. The site was the cemetery with hundreds of underground rock-hewn tombs. Though there is no relation with kings, it is thought that Ptolemies, living in Cyprus, might have been buried in the tombs. They were also used as a refuge for the Christians in the early times. They date back to the 3rd century BC. They are accessible by steps and have open peristyle courts surrounded by burial chambers. We thought we would be done in an hour or two, but three hours later we staggered out of there, and they aren’t even all excavated yet. Definitely worth seeing.
Good thing we still had time to get home for a shower and change for dinner. We had tickets to see a Cypriot speaker, J. John, who is also a minister and a Canon. He had marvelous sense of humour and we were so pleased that we were not falling asleep after the huge buffet and our busy afternoon.
I will post this now, so I can get a few of the photos in, and will cover Friday next.
Love,
Laurel
http://ancienthistory.about.com/library/bl/blptolemies.htm
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