Sunday, January 29/2017

 

In the afternoon over to the British cemetery. We often pass it, but usually when carrying groceries, or at least rye bread from the bakery. It's a small graveyard and sunny. Some corner of a foreign field that is forever England? Not quite, but close. Some Scots and probably the occasional UK spouse. The oldest graves late 19th century - so far from the onetime home - and the most recent this month. A couple of excavations not yet filled. Even personal, as J spots the headstone of John, chief volunteer at the animal shelter charity shop we frequent, who died the summer before last. And there are a couple of graves belonging to men whose widows we know. Saddest, as always, are the small children, but there aren't many, as this is largely a cemetery of expats, though many died younger than they should have. It's moving, but not without charm. No regimented rows and many individual touches, like the tiny dinghy forming the outline of a grave or the small (often cheerfully painted) stones carrying names of survivors or beloved mourners. 

Saturday, January 28/2017

Ementine season ending, being replaced by mandarin oranges. Seedier and not as nice. Regular oranges still excellent though, and €0.50 ($0.70 CAD, £0.43) a kilo.

Through the night reports keep coming of those with green cards and other long term US visas stranded around the world or held incommunicado in American airports, as Trump's ill-conceived immigration ban plays out. Listen to the radio in bed at night to go back to sleep. This isn't doing it.

Friday, January 28/2017

Back to Famagusta, where Jane has her return dental visit, stopping en route at Cessac café next to the British army base, where the specialty is fish and chips. And excellent they are. Actually J and I could well have split an order - as I think we say each time we're there. 

Early for the dental appointment. Put down to the north/south time difference, but suspect the mistake was the dentist's. Anyway, gives us time for a pleasant cup of coffee (me) or hot chocolate (the others). Nice, on what has become a day that is wet as well as chilly. Restaurant warm inside, although in better weather can eat outside, where the sign advertises "sheperd lamb in iron plate" - the plate more intriguing than the lamb. Jane gets a pass - tooth not to be fixed until later. J's x-rays less than happy, but fingers crossed. We'll stay in Famagusta at the end of March.

Thursday, January 27/2017

Prime Minister May's official visit to The US, brought to us courtesy of BBC radio and, in part, Eoronews on TV. UK does have a problem re uncertainty post-Brexit, but it seems a bit embarrassingly over the top cngratulating DT on his "stunning" electoral victory. Considering the popular vote and the calibre of the candidate himself, the stunning element seems to have been the fact of his win, although presumably that was not the intended message.

Wednesday, January 25/2017

Government warning at 1 pm today about high levels of dust particles in the air, suggesting vulnerable and elderly people remain inside. Notice the warning about 8:30 pm. Fortunately we don't consider ourselves elderly or vulnerable. And, in the couldn't make it up department, the following story from the Cyprus Mail, in its entirety:

"The post office said on Wednesday that mail stolen by a worker over an 18-month period until October last year was now being delivered after police gave the go-ahead.

“We started sending the mail to recipients on Monday following permission being granted by the police,” superintendent Paris Vouniotis told the Cyprus Mail.

“We invite the public to call us if they have yet to receive something they may have been expecting since the middle of 2015.”

Vouniotis said that some of the several thousand pieces of mail, including photographs, personal documents and cheques had been taken out of their envelopes resulting in the postal services not knowing who they were addressed to.

Members of the public are urged to call 22805745 or 22805761 with any queries they may have concerning undelivered mail.

Author Colin Smith was among those who finally received mail on Monday when a letter from his publisher in the UK was finally delivered 18 months late. The postmark was dated June 26, 2015. Nicosa-based Smith described the delivery event as “some kind of record”.

The trial of the 37-year-old male postal office worker believed responsible for stealing the more than 200 mail sacks with undelivered letters and small packages, will begin on April 3, Larnaca court ruled on Wednesday.

The suspect, who was employed at the mail sorting office at the old airport in Larnaca, was investigated for offences including theft, illegal possession of property and abuse of power.

Police apprehended the man, who had been under surveillance following a tip off, after officers located a bag, three mail sacks with undelivered letters and five empty mail sacks during a search of his car.

Police say he admitted stealing the items found in his car from his workplace.

Another 217 mail sacks with undelivered letters and packages were located in his house, along with a number of empty ones.

During his remand hearing, police told Larnaca court that the suspect said stealing was a vice of his and that he knew it was wrong.

Police transported the stolen items, estimated at tens of thousands of letters and several hundred parcels and small packages, to their Larnaca headquarters to be recorded.

The man admitted to stealing mail sacks from his workplace over a one-and-a-half-year period. He told officers that after the first theft went unnoticed he continued stealing.

The suspect told police that sometimes he found money in various currencies, amounting in total to around €1,000. The 37-year-old, who appeared before court without a lawyer, admitted that from that point on he became addicted to stealing the sacks.

The theft concerned mail sacks to and from Cyprus.

The completion of the investigation has allowed the postal service to take measures to cover blind spots as regards the surveillance system and the procedures followed."

Tuesday, January 24/2017

Unhappy fallout from the problems of Erdogan and the Turkish government is the drop in the value of the Turkish lira, for which the somewhat ironic abbreviation is TRY. In the past six months the dollar has increased 31% against the lira and the euro 26%. In the past year electricity has gone up 21% and petrol 20%. Small business owners are desperate. Rents and vehicles are priced in foreign currency but people are paid in lira. We did notice yesterday that there was a significant difference at the restaurant in paying in lira versus euros, the latter making the meal quite a bit more expensive, and presumably giving the restaurateurs a fair profit on the currency exchange if not on the meal. Fortunately for us, if not them, we had Turkish lira.

Monday, January 23/2017

Jane has a dental appointment in Famagusta, so we tag along. Looking at maybe spending a few days there before we leave Cyprus, enjoying living in the old city and J getting some dental work done. Dentist sends J for x-ray and blocks him some time in late March. X-ray at local clinic. Charge 60: Turkish lira (€15, $20.55 CAD). And done with no appointment and no wait. We do a bit of looking for a place to stay. The old problem in North Cyprus. Most costs are lower, but not accommodation. Visit a lovely guest house; clean, pretty, and very welcoming. We're given coffee and pastry in the garden. Also look at a hotel, which is not as sparkly but would be fine. J bargains to have breakfast included. So there are possibilities. Lunch outside at a restaurant we've been to before. This time, as I'm not visiting the dentist, I have the very nice curry and a local beer without fear of exhaling same in the dental chair. Super weather.

"Police booked 3,220 drivers for speeding in one week between January 9 and 15, it was announced on Monday," says the Cyprus Mail. Hard to believe that they found that many non-residents to charge and harder to believe that they would have charged that many residents. Ah, but were they charged or only warned?

Sunday, January 22/2017

Sunday lunch at Cambanella's. Sun through the windows. Sunday roasts. Wine. Lovely. And a walk afterward along the walkway that follows the bay behind the hotels and condos. There's a bit of walled pool that should join up with the sea but doesn't quite. Fish and rushes and moorhens. 

Saturday, January 21/2017

And in the only in Cyprus department: "The Department of Agriculture was trying to investigate the possibility of exports to Korea, but a letter addressed by mistake to North Korea last month raised doubts over the competence of government officials.

It turns out the letter was never actually delivered to Pyongyang, according to media sources, after a diligent official in China realised it was addressed to North Korea, instead of South Korea." [Cyprus Weekly]

Friday, January 20/2017

J and I to Mario the tailor. My new jacket has a couple of stitches missing on the pocket. And we had hopes that he'd make J a pair of trousers. Turns out he doesn't do men's tailoring. But long and interesting political discussion ranging from Libya to Brexit. And it turns out that Mario is intrigued by the romance of the wilderness, so give him a standing invitation. Watch inauguration in the evening, despite not wishing to contribute to DT's bigly audience.

Thursday, January 19/2017

The news carries an article on the catastrophic rise in the price of medicine in the north due to the fall in value of the Turkish lira. True, the currency is dropping, but the price of drugs remains much lower than on the Greek side, where it is one of the highest in the EU.

Wednesday, January 18/2017

With Jane and Bill to To Kozane, a little restaurant in the outskirts of Larnaca. Probably technically in Aridipou, the next village over, as they run together. Charming little place, family run. It takes some finding in the tiny dark lanes that run like a maze.

 Warm welcome and physically warm too, thanks to the little woodstove that we're seated near. Meze a little different here, with caper leaves (beware the thorns) and brawn as well as the more usual offerings. Jane and I have chicken, Bill and J enormous pork chops. Greek pastries and coffee at the end. Not busy as it's a week night, but very cosy.

Tuesday, January 17/2017

Make a small jar of lemon curd in the morning with one of Bill's enormous fresh lemons. Involves translating UK recipe from grams to cups (for the sugar and butter) and from ml to TB (for the lemon juice. Then, assuming our dessert spoons to be approximately 2 teaspoons and knowing there to be 12 teaspoons to a quarter cup....Not finished yet - I only want to make a third of the recipe. Write down the final calculations before beginning. Fortunately - for this purpose at least - an egg is an egg is an egg. Results thoroughly justify efforts.

In today's Cyprus Mail: The number of visitors [specifically tourists] rose 20 per cent last year, to a record 3,186,53, with arrivals from all major markets rising at a double-digit rate, the statistical. Our question always is how do they know. Not everyone carrying a non-Cypriot passport is a visitor. Many are permanent residents, such as the British ex-pats. Others may be business people residing on a temporary basis. Even those here for short term business are not technically tourists. Suspect most Cypriot statistics of being opportunistic.

Monday, January 16/2017

J and I meet for coffee. Quite a few people sunning themselves on the beach and a couple of them bravely swimming. J has been walking laps on the beach before I arrive and has had a chat with a British Airway employee on a week's holiday. Cuts in personnel and salary and major demoralisation there. He's surprised when J tells him that I always had a fondness for BA. I did. Despite ageing planes, the crew were always super, the food ok and the drink good - and they were neither mean nor Puritanical about it. But now, with no free food or drink and prices £100 more than the competition ONE WAY on the London Cyprus run - well, there's not much left to like.

Sunday, January 15/2017

Sun day. Living room full of sun. Jazz CDs playing. Scrambled eggs and bacon so lean we have to add olive oil to the pan. No fat remaining at the end. Fresh coffee. Newspaper. Well, international papers online and Cyprus Sunday Mail physically present. It's pretty skinny, and if you were to remove advertising, pseudo-advertising, and (inaccurate) television listings it would be even skinnier. Some interesting opinion pieces, though, including one today on the inordinate control of the Orthodox archbishop over the ministry of education, source of a great deal of ethnic bias in the system.

Saturday, January 14/2017

Geneva talks on reunification of Cyprus have broken (though presumably not broken down) for the weekend. Difficult to imagine a positive result, though. International commentators talk cheerfully about remaining details to be filled in but fail to really see the bone deep hostility in much of the Greek Cypriot community, much of it based on a deeply flawed knowledge of history. What to an outsider is a question of land exchanges and boundaries is to many Greek Cypriots my father's stolen house. They probably don't know and certainly wouldn't care that many, many other Europeans have had to rise above the traumatic aftermath of war and occupation, and that no justice is ever precise. Meanwhile sanctions continue to cripple the future of the north. If and when there is an agreement, it is to be followed by referenda on each side. Not much cause for optimism.

Friday, January 13/2017

J and Bill transplant a mulberry tree from its large pot to the hole Bill has dug for it in the adjoining park. A male tree, Bill says, so that it won't cover the ground with an endless mess of berries. Then a lunch barbecue with skewers of marinated pork fillet and veg. Cypriot barbecues are normally fitted with grooves for several skewers and a small motor so that they turn as the meat is cooking. Dessert is oranges picked fresh from the tree after we've finished eating the kabobs. Lovely. As soon as the sun goes down B takes out his telescope and we take turns looking at Venus, bright in the sky but much larger and more complex through the lens. They drive us home and stop in for a bowl of soup, which J fortunately made yesterday.

Thursday, January 12/2017

Dinner with Harry and Ailsa, Jane and Bill, for the first time since Christmas. Harry has suggested Lysia, next door to Cambanella's. We start by inquiring about moussaka and find there is none, but things look up from there - there is klefyiko, tavas, beef stifado, roast chicken are all in good supply. They're good, and it's easy to talk round the table, which is not always the case in Cypriot restaurants. Without wishing to stereotype, Greek diners seem to engage in pretty high volume conversation. Or maybe it's  lack of insulation and high ceilings. Have to suspect that part of the good accoustics is down to the fact that the restaurant isn't very full. Maybe just because it's a week night, as the food is quite good, although not the same over the top number of meze starter dishes as at Vlachos. Not that either J or I require massive amounts of food, but there is that sense of overwhelming Cypriot hospitality. Harry and Ailsa kindly take us home.

Wednesday, January 11/2017

Moved basin catching ceiling drip last night and adjusted the position of J's bed to its original under-drip spot, as problem seemed to be over. Possibly roof has been repaired, although. That would seem to suggest undue haste. And indeed, we observe this morning that drip has resumed on duvet. Emergency measures in place again.

Book four day trip to Crete. Essentially a visa run, as we get 90 days here. Since it's not a Schengen country, any absence lets us start our 90 days over again. And we're lucky, as there is, for the first time in our memory, a direct flight from Larnaca to Heraklion - with Cobalt, Cyprus's new(ish) Cobalt Air. A pretty affordable €70 return). J has been before but I haven't, although we both spent a week in Chania at the other end of Crete a couple of years back.

Tuesday, January 10/2017

As always in Cyprus, what feels like excess rain is highly valuable. Reports are that the first nine days of January saw "8,245 million cubic metres" of water accumulating in the reservoirs, noting that the situation remains critical. Hard to have any idea how much is needed, but it is further noted that the accumulation of the first nine days of January is half of the total accumulation since October.

Monday, January 9/2016

Watch battery dies, so decision made on where to have coffee, as Harry's Café immediately opposite our regular watchmaker. He has a minute shop- guessing about ten feet by eight - for which he pays an astonishing €10 a month. Less, he tells J than he pays for garbage collection. European of some sort, but he's lived in Cyprus for forty years. Coffee in the sun, along with the treat of the day, a small slice of chocolate cake each. Totally unnecessary post-Christmas, and my telling myself that the kind owner would be hurt if we refused almost certainly simple self-deception. Then a new battery as well as an adjustment to J's old watch.

Sunday, January 8/2016

J wakes up in the early hours to find that the rain has worked its way through the ceiling, this being the top floor, and is dripping slowly but relentlessly on the foot of his bed. Not soaked, so bed moved, tub placed under drip, and we double up in my single bed - cosy but adequate. Mr Andreas apologises profusely in the morning- but he can't do anything until it's dry. Of the four hotels that we've stayed in for a season or more in Larnaca, three have developed ceiling leaks. Elsewhere, in the whole of my life, I've experienced one ceiling leak. Rains all day, so the when it's dry bit won't be soon. Our wettest winter? 

Saturday, January 7/2016

New York Times now connected on all four tablets. Wifi remains a bit reluctant, which means that we do have access to world news, but sl-ow-ly. Mostly go through to the bedroom and download several articles to read offline. Have to say, though, that our connectedness was undreamt of when we retired in 2000. Thought then that we were very lucky to have started our travels in the days of internet cafés - grubby keyboards and teenage boys playing online games, often loudly. Sometimes strange keyboards - Turkey, Tunisia - that only approximated intended words. Backpacker haven in Earl's Court, London for £1 an hour. Pay telephones available for long distance calls. Can't remember the price in Larnaca except that it was less "for girls" and I always paid them the "girls" rate, knowing that I was not the female client type they were hoping for and that they wouldn't be able to bring themselves to explain that I would never lure in teenage boys. 

And then the first hotels with internet in the lobby. Very quickly taken for granted. Not universal in our accommodation. And here there is some irony. Yes, expensive hotels usually have good wifi, but they often charge (and indeed overcharge) for it. Some probably think that no one minds a few extra dollars on the bill. Wrongly in our case, and we can't be the only people who are enraged by nickel and diming. Charges for wifi are as annoying as they would be for tv or soap. Other classy hotels assume that most guests are on expense accounts and don't care. Interestingly, the hostels usually have free wifi, knowing that for their demographic lack of internet is often a deal breaker.

Friday, January 6/2016

Feast of the Epiphany, which is in Cyprus an extremely important holiday. There will be a parade to the beach with a marching band and the usual disturbing mixture of icons and vestments with military display - both cadets in uniform and soldiers carrying what I take to be sub machine guns. The bishop (or, judging by vestments at least an archbishop) will then throw the cross from the pier into the water and several young men will dive in vying for the honour of retrieving it. The cross, having been attached to a string, is always duly salvaged, and the day at the waterfront continues with kiosks featurinf ice cream, nuts, helium filled balloons, games of chance, popcorn, etc. 

Usually we go down to see what's going on, but Jane has suggested we come to them for coffee, as she's pretty much confined to base with the lung infection that she had at Christmas, although now with doctor's attention, medication, nebuliser, etc. We're invited for coffee but arrive to find that Bill has made a pasta dish for lunch. Delicious with red wine, sitting out in the sun on their patio. Jane said that the temperature in the sun yesterday was 31 and it's probably similar today. Lots of free vitamin D and good company. 🍷

Thursday, January 5/2016

Have discovered new possible career, or at least minor source of pocket money. Many Cypriot signs, advertisements, menu items, etc are translated into English, sometimes helpfully, sometimes puzzlingly, often amusingly.  So bilingual take away menu from Zafiris Restaurant down the road (featuring such delicacies as 1/2 lamb's head for a modest €6 - £5.13, $8.38 CAD) lists ΠΑΓΙΔΑΚΙΑ XOIPINA . XOIPINA, I know, is pork, and indeed the menu translates the phrase as "pork cattle". Cattle? So what is ΠΑΓΙΔΑΚΙΑ? First task is transliteration, giving  PAGIDAKIA, but dictionaries not too helpful. Googling suggests cutlets. Yes, plausible. Most likely Cypriot term, as the Greek/English dictionaries claim no knowledge of it.

Some letters simply have no direct equivalent, so, for example, the Greek gamma is replaced somewhat randomly with G or K. Hence Carrefour's unhappily labelled hot gross buns. I put this down to the brother-in-law factor - supposing that spelling and translation errors are mostly down to the task being assigned to a friend or relative who purports to be fluent in English, and imagine advertisements for my new career, along the lines of "your brother-in-law is a great drinking mate, not a great translator. Don't let people laugh when you advertise your goods: professional proofreader will translate into perfect English." Of course I can't translate more than a few words of Greek, but usually the business knows roughly what should be said, the problem is that the "brother-in-law" doesn't get it right enough.

Wednesday, January 4/2017

The day of the newspapers. NY Times account now active. And then there's the Guardian Weekly. Back in September there was a widely advertised (well, popped up frequently on the ipad anyway) special offering a  six week trial subscription to the GW for varying amounts in the neighbourhood of €6, depending on the country at which the ad was aimed. Well under the cover price of £2.90/€5.50. (Yes, those are not close to being equivalent amounts). The real sweetener, though, was the bonus of a £25 gift card for John Lewis stores. Much correspondence followed in which various confused but extremely polite and quite willing employees eventually confirmed that the subscription could be paid with a Canadian credit card and delivered to a Cypriot address and that the gift card could be used either in the John Lewis department stores or with an online order from JL. The agreed starting date was with the December 2-8 issue. Credit card duly charged, confirmation received, and everything in place - except for the actual physical receipt of said newspaper and gift card as December 2, December 8, Christmas. new Year's Day came and went. And so I am, with the usual reluctance of the procrastinator, finally drafting a letter to the GW to explain the situation when Kiki arrives at the door with a plastic wrapped newspaper. Pleased, and at this point surprised to see it. Unfortunately the newspaper is indeed the one for December 2-8 and the news pretty elderly at this point. Entirely possible that the Cypriot postal service has played some - perhaps the major - part in the delay, but still not entirely satisfactory. And there is the small matter of the gift card - primary reason for the whole enterprise - to resolve. And back to enjoying the very current NY Times.

Tuesday, January 3/2016

J for long walk. Then us to Lidl for bread. Very busy as others are out after the holiday as well. Still excellent price on good quality gin, but no immediate need. Liquor shelf remains in good state, and in fact wine has expanded to make inroads on cupboard floor. But this is not Canada - not going to be making own bread (or wine for that matter - couldn't match local prices or quality) and Lidl's multigrain bread quite nice. 🍷

Monday, January 2/2016

LEMONS!

Back to ordinary time. Though it's a holiday, New Year's Day having been on Sunday. Pretty much everything closed. Admiring the fruit we brought back from Bill's garden

Sunday, January 1/2016

New Year's Day. Jane well enough for breakfast, the room all sunshine and glass. Then back through the Pyla crossing to J&B's for coffee. Their orange and lemon trees in full fruit and we leave with a bag of fruit and fragrant garden herbs. Lovely. Sunday lunch at Cambanellas, where the lady of the house is, as usual, disappointed that we don't eat more. The archetypal Mama.

Saturday, December 31/2016

Can faintly hear the sound of the muezzin's call just before 6:30 AM. The country is mainly Muslim, and there are mosques in every village, but it's much more secular than Turkey. Hijabs are very rare and alcohol freely available, and not just in tourist spots. 

Our last day, and we decide to check out a historic site four km east of Girne (Kyrenia). But four km starting from where? We do spot the sign, with some difficulty as officialdom seems to be saving money by posting one sign exactly at the turning point rather than having signs before the turn off on each side of the road. The site appears at first to be inaccessible as there  is mud and major landscaping. In fact the uneven dirt track we take in is forbidding enough that in most countries the site would have been closed. Here we have the other half of yesterday's story, from the point of view of the Arabs whose ships the Byzantines on Saint Hilarion wished to prevent. The Byzantines won this round, and the historic building, a small mosque on the edge of the sea contains the coffins of Omer, companion of the prophet Mohammed and six of his companions, "martyred" here, and not much else. Will be a lovely spot when they finish the park, though. 

A short but winding drive up into the mountains in search of coffee brings us to a tiny village where we spot the outside tables of a tiny local café. Full of locals, plus two non-local blokes on motorcycles. Unfortunately, the tables are full when we arrive, leading all the old guys to give up their chairs simultaneously, leaving us enjoying good Cypriot coffee - but alone. 

It's New Year's Eve and special dinner, but Jane's bronchitis is worsening and, sadly, she and Bill give dinner a miss. We enjoy the meze table and choose the kleftiko. The belly dancer from Christmas Eve makes an appearance and there's a live singer. Very nice, but we don't stay until midnight. Back to the room, a glass or two of wine and the New Year on the television from points east.

Friday, December 30/2016

St Hilarion. Ruined castle in the mountains above our hotel. A lookout that oversees not only Kyrenia and the surrounding area but well out to sea. When the skies are clear you can see Turkey. And during the Arab raids of the 7th to 10th century the castle was a valuable lookout to spot approaching Arab ships. Byzantine, but there seems to be some confusion about actual construction date, although given the difficulties of hauling chisels and such up the rough stone mountainside (730 metres above sea level), the construction "date" is likely to have been a longish period. We turn off the Nicosia motorway and drive up the narrow mountainous road, much of it fenced off military land with signs instructing us not to stop the car or take photographs. There are spectacular views up to the castle and down to the port but the camera doesn't do them justice, as tends to be the case with the commercial photos as well. We stop for coffee at the parking lot but forgo the steep climb to the castle ruins themselves. Another time. We've timed this well - we leave and the clouds return to the mountain peaks.