In just a few days the Girls on the Go are off again on another adventure. However this time, we’re not traveling together. Ginger will be spending time in Florida with John, Cathy and the boys, and then Branson Missouri with Carolyn Toy, while I am off to Cyprus with George, Carol and Wendy. Tiffany and Pete were going to join us; however baby boy Prizio will be joining the family in early May, so it didn’t make sense for them to make the trip. And since I am the blog writer, you get to hear about Cyprus vs. Florida and Missouri.

Even though I’m excited about vacation, traveling to this beautiful island in the Mediterranean with my family, I am leaving with mixed emotions. Carol is bringing Iris’s ashes back home. There’s a memorial service planned for Thursday, March 28th. It feels right that either my mom or I be there for this. I remember growing up seeing Iris at family gatherings, laughing at her humor, and just loved hearing her talk about swimming in Cyprus. As I grew up, we’d measure ourselves against Iris to see how far off we were. And had so much fun when we finally surpassed her in height. I remember her fondly and look forward to meeting her family.

The timing of our trip, combined with the Cyprus banking crisis is just surreal. I understand as of today, Parliament in Cyprus has approved a “national solidarity fund” to ease the banking crisis, which has hit confidence across the eurozone. Over the last week, the banks have been closed. Cyprus had been haggling with Europe for months over a bailout deal to end its financial crisis. Last week, the plan to seize money from bank depositors sent swarms of panicked residents to automated teller machines to try to withdraw their money. I was unaware until recently that the Cyprus banking system is to Russian oligarchs what the Cayman Islands are to the American; a tax haven. Russian billionaires have long used Cyprus as their financial hub, avoiding various excise taxes imposed on international transactions.

Regardless of the crisis, we still plan on enjoying the beauty of the country and will be spending time in:

• Mountains and Kakopetria area
• Limassol
• North Cyprus – Kyrenia (shh don’t tell Carol’s relatives)
• Nicosia
• Paphos

Wooooooooooooooooooooooo Wooooooooooooooooooooo