Paphos Catacombs
No Statues
Unfortunately, the art exhibition that was showing in the park has now been packed up and shipped away. I can fully understand why, as some of the exhibits were rather fragile. However, I hope they don't do the same with the other statues that were erected for Pafos2017. I would hate it if they removed Pant Man, for instance.
The Other Catacombs
Anyway, we now arrive at the other shelter. Beyond that, to the left, is a Police Station. This will soon become relevent.
Regular Photo
This looks pretty similar to the other catacomb, though there is no pink balloon. Actually, down the steps and in a left chamber there is a yellow balloon, but that isn't relevant to this story. What happened next is rather funny though.
Having assembled my camera on its pole, which is about 3 metres long, I proceeded to dangle it over the edge taking pictures. Soon, I could hear somebody calling to me. I looked up, and the policeman at the entrance was waving to me. I went over to see him, and he asked me what I was doing. I explained that my rather long pole had a camera on the end of it and that I was taking pictures. He said to wait by the shelter, as he had phoned the museum and they were sending somebody down to let me in.
Side View
Well, for the next 10 minutes I stood here like an excited schoolboy. I was thrilled at the prospect of being allowed to have a wander through the catacombs. While I was waiting, I decided to take some 360s of the Town Hall, so my wife, Alex, who was also nearby taking photos, waited for me. No sooner had I crossed the road to take my pictures though, Alex waved to me to come back. The museum people had arrived!
A man and a woman approached me, and the man took out a key, opening the glass door that is on the far right of this picture. Looking at it, I am guessing the lock is at the base of the glass. He walked in, and jumped to the floor. He started picking up litter, which was nice, but I didn't want him to go to any effort on my account. Anyway, he then turns to his colleague, and says something in Greek. She turns to me and says something like
"What did you drop in there?".
This threw me for a second, and then the penny dropped. The policeman had assumed, completely reasonably, that I had dropped something in the catacombs and was trying to fish it out with my big pole. Being helpful, he had phoned the museum to come and help me and they had stopped whatever they were doing and come to my aid.
Fortunately, they all saw the funny side, and had a good laugh. I did ask if I could just pop in and take some more photos, but unfortunately that wasn't an option. As I had wasted their time I didn't think I should pursue that particular avenue!
Another 360
Had I been more proficient at Greek, I could have explained to the policeman in Greek what I was doing. This mix-up wouldn't have happened then. So I really do need to work on my language skills.
Anyway, here's a still from the 360 I took in the other catacombs. It shows several chambers that certainly look like tombs. If anybody at the museum reads this, I would love to be able to enter these and photograph them. Pretty Please.