Tree Lighting 12.4.08

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...Pafos had a tree lighting ceremony, so now the entire town is lit up at night.  Christmas is very important here, since the Greek Orthodox Church is in charge of most everything - it makes me so happy to see all the lights.  The town officials were here, the local high school band, a high school choir, and every television station in Pafos.  Mostly Cypriots attend, so we definitely stood out, and, course, I had my big ol' camera, which never fails to give me away as a tourist.  I love pictures.  Enjoy some of them below.

In front of the big Christmas tree.

They have been setting this up ever since I arrived.  

It reminds me of Disneyland!

How I do love that place.

City Hall.  

As you can see, everyone is watching the big tree.

The Library.

There were so many people. 

It was great to be a part of a local Cypriot tradition.

Tree-lined walkway.

We all wore scarves.

We thought it would be cold...nope - it actually put us more in the mood for Christmas, though. 

The Mattox Girls.

 (Tim is in Germany for the Calvary Chapel Men's Conference, visiting 2 pastors, Pastor Dave Guzik & Pastor Rob McCoy.  Then, he will fly to France to visit his Dad.)

Library again.

Taming Rudolph.

WOAH!!!

Winston Churchill said this when Greece said "No" to the Nazis.

"Hence we will not say that Greeks fight like heroes, 

but we will say that heroes fight like Greeks."

Greek Pillar, anyone?

We are in no shortages of columns here in Pafos =).

Round-about.

This is in the middle of one of the round-abouts...isn't it beautiful?

More lit trees.

STARS!!!

Just for fun.

I threw this one in as a little good-bye picture to this blog entry.  Abby taught me how to knit, and here, Emma and I practice our skills on the balcony.  Kony is precious.  He will appear in MANY of my pictures, for sure.  He slept on my bed with me last night, and it made me think about my doggies back home, Bandit & Bailey.  Thanks for reading!  Love Linz