Christmas Day. Still very wet on the walkways round the pool and over to the inn. And not dry in the inn, either. At 8:30 there are five Asian employees moving furniture and busy with brooms and mops clearing water off the floor in reception. But how did it get there? No signs of leaking ceilings. Under the doors? Breakfast buffet and a waiter taking orders for omelettes and bacon.
Our outing for the day is meant to be a visit to the museum commemorating the landing of Turkish troops in 1974. A landing known to Greek Cypriots as the invasion and to Turkish Cypriots as the intervention, as it occurred in reaction to Enosis, the plan to overthrow the Cypriot government and make Cyprus a part of Greece. The museum turns out to be closed, which is not entirely surprising, but as the country is primarily Moslem it was hard to predict whether Christmas would be a holiday. So we have coffee at a little place on the grounds and then check out the surrounding tanks and trucks, Russian made military vehicles captured in battle.
In to Kyrenia for lunch and a walk through the old city. Park next to an old bush covered with dozens of snails. Must have delicious leaves. Walk down past the round tower. Some parts of the old city walls remain intact, and there are also buildings with very old hand crafted wooden doors and stone work. As we return to the car park, we notice a wall with a variety of shoes and handbags attached to it. Also, bizarrely, two wooden arms reach out. Did the stone work once include a head? Clearly there is some sort of symbolic meaning, and not only historic - the shoes and handbags are hardly ancient.
Christmas dinner in the evening. The floor is dryer, though not yet completely dry. Four choices for dinner, and quite nice starters. We choose the smoked salmon and shrimp. And dinner followed by music and dancing. We're struck by a couple jiving - must be in their eighties and they're very good! And followed by the belly dancer. She's not bad herself, though suspect there aren't really enough of us here to make it worth her while. Nice evening.
