This morning Bill and I took care of a few loose ends around Larnaka – packing, finding Brandon a hotel room, etc. Then came the biggest challenge we have faced so far. We had to get our stuff (2 suitcases, 1 Leica case, 1 hard shell golf bad with the tripods, 2 knapsacks, 1 small travel bag, and some assorted groceries) into the back of our rental Kia Picanto. For those not familiar with the Kia Picanto, it is a great car to rent because it is inexpensive and good on gas mileage. The 
downside is it hardly has any trunk (it is a hatchback) and even with the seats down the space is constricted – according to its website 605 litres, which is about 21 cubic feet. Now, while 21 cubic feet sounds like a lot, it really isn’t. So, we spent some time playing around with configurations and eventually figured out that the golf bag would just fit across the car if it sat on the doors’ arm rests, and that then allowed everything else to fit, barely.
Since today was a day off in a sense, we took our time driving to Polis from Larnaka. We stopped at Zygi and ate at my favorite fish taverna. It was a pleasant day sitting on the water and enjoying a nice lunch of octopus and calamari. We eventually made it to Polis and moved into our new hotel room and then took a walk around the town to see if anything had changed – and not much had. The difference between Larnaka and Polis is significant. It is much cooler and less crowded in Polis. We did do a little work by visiting the site and checking to see how overgrown the basilica is. It has a bit of tall grass and weeds and I am wondering if we need to get it cleared before we use the ScanStaion to laser scan the site. We have a few days before we need to make a decision on this.
We finished our day by having dinner at one of my favorite restaurants down on the coast which has great pizza. I am always worried that when I write about days like these that my colleagues think I am in the Mediterranean lying around on the beach and visiting restaurants instead of doing real research.
Ancient History Ramblings 