It’s second nature. Now I’m able to explore the island on my own and with friends, driving from the capital to the coast to the mountains in just a couple of hours. What could be better?
Imagine you are walking down the sidewalk, and you feel the sweat drip from your damp neck, trickle through your hair, and slide slowly down your back. It is 102° degrees Farenheit (or as the Cypriots would say using the metric system, about 39° degrees Celsius). You are going to an important event in 20 minutes, and although you aren’t nervous, you already look flushed, red in the face from the heat. Wouldn’t you rather be in your mom’s nice air-conditioned car instead?
Cars in Cyprus can get you wherever you need to go in Cyprus quickly and comfortably (complete with air conditioning in summer and protection from sudden storms in winter!). I believe cars are so much more popular than walking because of how much Cypriots like to avoid broiling in the extreme summer heat or getting caught in the winter downpours. And cars are more popular than public transportation because public transportation in Cyprus is not as well developed as it is in big cities like New York or others around the world. To show you the challenges of public transportation in Cyprus, here’s an example: by car, it would have taken me about 20 minutes per day to get to and from an apartment I was once considering renting to the school where I am now working; by bus, it would have taken me about four hours per day because my journey would require waiting for and transferring on multiple buses.
