Sunday, August 9/2020

Last entry of the travel season. 

Tube to Heathrow. Again, one stop and nearly empty carriages, so probably pretty well as safe as any transport and everybody masked. Only real bottleneck just outside Terminal 2. Appears to be a matter of staff trying to prevent too many people congregating inside with resultant difficulties in social distancing. So we’re asked what time our flight is and let in if it’s within two hours or so. Meanwhile the growing numbers between the entry lift and the doors has little hope of two metres distance. We’re lucky in the timing, though, and go straight in. 

Heathrow pretty unbusy. No difficulty at all finding seats and a lot of shops closed. Duty Free doing business again, with one way traffic and reminders not to touch what you’re not about to buy. Specials less special than they once were, as well as less variety - and none of the distillers’ reps with chat and taster’s samples. 

Air Canada flight to Montreal a quarter full, if that. Really pleasant, apart from a group of half a dozen girls who are mask averse, reminded to leave them on covering both mouth and nose repeatedly until there are warnings that they could be turned over to authorities and fined. Then super quiet. Meal vegetarian, and cold, but surprisingly good. Montreal airport quiet and very efficient. Flight to Winnipeg very full, though, presumably down to there being many fewer flights going. People pretty good though. 

Suitcases checked in London arrive in Winnipeg as promised. Realise that I’m increasingly like Piaget’s baby - when the cases disappear at check in I do more than prudently carry valuables In my cabin baggage. They cease to exist for me. I lose any real expectation of ever seeIng them again. So always happy to see them on the carousel even if that is what normally happens.

Hotel, happily, about six steps from the airport and travels over - for now.

Saturday, August 8/2020

Last day of our pandemic adventure. Well, not necessarily. If this has taught us anything it’s to avoid the sin of presumption. We went to Famagusta for two weeks. That was five months ago come Monday. Tomorrow we’re booked to Winnipeg via Montreal. Quarantine form filled out and submitted. Only the unexpected left to expect. The glitches are never the ones you prepared for.

Friday, August 7/2020

Apart from convenience for Heathrow there are other good things about our location. A pub more or less round the corner. Does have outside tables but we appear to have brought Cypriot weather with us. Full sun and heading for 35. So outside tables somewhat less attractive than they might have been, before evening at least. Also a vegetarian take away with pizza and wraps. And a Tesco superstore about a kilometre away. 

Try to arrange outdoor socially distanced meet up with Jenny but proves too complicated. Jenny’s schedule naturally fuller than ours but most problems covid related. Need a place with outside seating. Also nearby parking (for Jenny). Don’t want public transport to get there (for us). In the end we give up and settle for phone chat.

Small fridge in the room so we go to Tesco for a little food. Seems to be a fair escalation in prices in the past year. Expect the shock effect of fruit and veg prices after five months in Cyprus but quite a lot of items that are marked 50% off seem to be the amount they used to be when they were full price. Interestingly there are a number of signs along the shelves that proclaim a price has been matched with Aldi. Aldi and Lidl have done wonders for UK supermarket competition.

Go to top up the iphone with a voucher from WH Smith. No mobile reception on either mobile in the room. Try the hallway, where it is adequate. So down to the front desk to explain the problem and accept the offer of a different room. Room #2 a weirdly precise copy of room #1 right down to the Welcome Jaworski on the flat screen of the tv. Almost feels like an old episode of The Prisoner. Difference is that this room has a window opening to the outside world and not the inner courtyard.

The difference has a benefit other than mobile reception. We’re on the flight path for Heathrow. Must be great insulation, though. No sound at all gets through but we do get to watch planes coming past the window, looking enormous and landing gear down. J points out that they’re obviously higher than our third storey room as we are looking up - slightly - to see them, but it hardly feels like it. And their silence makes it weirder. 

Grateful for the air conditioning as actual temperature high exceeds forecaster’s promises/threats. London final highest 37 - at Heathrow. Hottest day in 17 years.

Thursday, August 6/2020

The new Istanbul Airport is the largest in the world. Impressive and very new. Though largest in the world has a few drawbacks, mostly in terms of walking distance. Signs not bad. Seating pretty limited in central areas but plenty of it on the peripheries. Many shops and cafés not open yet but enough are. Need a fair bit of transit time just to cover the distance and get in the security checks. Our eight hours and fifteen minutes surplus to requirements, however. 

Quite a few of the seats are labelled with requests that you not sit on them in the interests of social distancing. Some people do, unsurprisingly, and actually it’s complicated. Families should be sitting together. Everyone meant to be masked and pretty well everyone is. Health Security people on scooters as well as on foot circulating constantly and politely but firmly speaking to anyone not properly masked, as well as cheerfully answering questions. Find seats together and doze off a little. Free wifi is free but amounts to an hour, so email checked. And tablet has downloaded books.

Loos interesting. Clean, and it appears that every fourth cubicle has a squat toilet, sign on the cubicle door identifying it as such. Well Istanbul does symbolise the meeting of east and west. And the sign above the sinks says that they are not suitable for Masjid (ritual Muslim) ablutions. Plenty of info signs on the inside of the toilet seat lid on the regular toilets. Although focusing on them would require a face closer to the, admittedly clean, facility than I’m eager to do. Do take its picture though in the interests of later deciphering meaning. Think I should now run a contest for the most creative guess.

Flight to London also Turkish Airlines but much nicer than flight to Istanbul. Larger plane, not too many people. Rows not full and stewardesses more professionally in control. Reasonably decent paper bag lunch (passengers asked to have only one person in their row unmasked to eat at a time). Are given sealed package wIth extra mask, disinfectant wipes, and a small bottle of what purports to be gel hand cleaner but is clearly ungelled alcohol cleaner. Has Turkish Airlines been refilling the bottles? 

Heathrow emptier than we’ve ever seen it. Which results in pretty fast transit. Chipped passports and their owners go through a scan and photograph process and we already provided all the contact and trace landing info electronically to the UK government before we were allowed to board in Nicosia. 

Tube pretty empty, happily. As in airport, people are required to be masked. And we’re only one stop away, so no one can get on and join us in the empty end of the carriage. Hotel a block away from tube station. Room good - and bed comfortable, not that it would probably matter at this point.

Wednesday, August 5/2020

Last day, strangely enough. Booked a flight with Turkish Airways, which of necessity involves a transfer in Turkey. More or less because TRNC is not recognised by any country except Turkey, but it’s actually more complicated than that. Taiwan is recognised by very few countries but has direct flights to other countries. The short explanation, for those disinclined to read the Chicago Convention and associated commentary, is that China tacitly approves - or at least does not try to prevent - flights to Taiwan. It appears that the Chinese are easier to reach agreement with than the Greek Cypriots. Who would have thought?

So our original booking had a transfer in Istanbul to a Turkish Airlines flight to London. It left Ercan Airport in Nicosia at 9:15. And not too much later we got an email telling us of a schedule change. Flight now leaving Ercan at 4:00 AM. Transfer wait time now much longer. Tiny print gives a website to refer to for more detail. Saw no need to refer. Rescheduling info perfectly clear and acceptable, if not all that desirable. 

However today go online to check the booking. Website says booking number must be changed as flights have changed. Attempts to change result in messages re technical difficulty and need to phone handy 24 hour line, apparently in Istanbul. Phone number less handy than described. Repeated attempts abort at different stages of the press one press two scenario but all do fail. Occasional operator references to quality control but same not in evidence. Find phone number for Turkish Airlines at Ercan, also advertised as 24/7 but no answer. Repair to North Cyprus Expats pages on Facebook for advice, or at least sympathy, but no real joy. 

Consider that at least taxi, driven by friend of Hassan, is booked early so all may be sorted at airport. Friend arrives at eleven as promised. Asks on the way what time our flight is. Tell him four. But they won’t let you in the airport until three hours before. Also informs us that Turkish Airlines is famous for not answering the phone. We consider that at least the night is warm. Arrive 11:30, early enough to score two of the six outside chairs. Presumably early enough to have Turkish Airlines sort problem should they be so minded.

Allowed in at one as promised. Girl at desk not remotely interested in our booking and ticket numbers. No need to ask for assistance changing booking number, seemingly essential procedure online. Does examine very carefully our UK passenger locator form, used by UK to trace covid contacts should need arise. Extremely detailed info submitted less than 48 hours before arrival. Arrivals from Canada required to quarantine when landing in the UK but not, happily, those who are coming from Cyprus - or Turkey. Probable reason slightly amusing. Canada has significantly better stats than Turkey and even somewhat better stats than France, also on the UK’s gold list. Not a question of reciprocity, either. Cypriot allowed in without quarantine, which is not the case with Brits going to Cyprus. But British quarantine regulations were designed mainly to please British citizens desperate for summer holidays in the sun without their having to quarantine on return. Canada is not what they are thinking.

But through security and - two and a half hours later -  on the plane. Announcements in Turkish and English, with some quaint touches. We are referred to as dear customers and reminded of the need for social distancing - though the plane is too full to make that meaningful. Given small sealed packages with two disinfectant wipes and a face mask each. Disinfectant wipes handy for wiping down the water containers distributed by a stewardess, which she allows the none too bright man in the aisle seat to pass along to us.  Man should, actually have had the window seat and J the aisle, which he prefers, but proved incapable of understanding the seating diagram so J gave up. 

Five forty land at the new Istanbul airport, the largest in the world. But tomorrow is another day.

Tuesday, August 4/2020

Up early - well for some reason we always are lately and it will make for some interesting time zone adjustments when we go home, as there’s an eight hour time difference. Moving west is supposed to be easier on the body, so the scientists say, but have always found east less difficult. Though that may be because it’s easier to hit the late morning sunshine in a new country than it is to find myself prowling round my brother’s house at four in the morning (read 10 UK time) looking for something to eat and hoping not to wake anybody.

Early start good for walk over to Fehmi’s surgery in the old city for a chat before his dentist day begins. He’s retiring by degrees - works mornings, not starting unduly early, and usually finishes by about one. Seldom works Fridays. But kindly willing to adjust for long term patients, some of whom he has known all his life and others who have come regularly from places like Germany for decades. Filiz is there as well and Fehmi’s new assistant makes Turkish coffee for us. Lovely and relaxed. Hope we’ll be able to come back next year.

Even by the time we’re walking back shortly after ten it’s noticeably hotter and, more to the point, the shadows are receding so less of the walk is in the shade. I have somehow, in the last couple of weeks, contrived to lose my hat. J has gallantly lent me his but we pick up another on the way back. Fortunately, while his is a Tilley the one I lost was inexpensive.

In the evening we get the news of the horrific explosion in Beirut. Obvious that the initial casualty figures, dreadful as they are, will soon be much higher. We’re in the same time zone as Beirut, so shortly after six PM. About 200 km away as the crow flies. And appear to have been practically the only people in Cyprus who didn’t hear and feel the explosion. And no, we weren’t listening to the 1812 overture or anything else. Other people say their windows rattled.

Fifteen years ago we were in Beirut a couple of days after former president Rafik Hariri was killed by a car bomb. In fact his coffin and those of the others with him were still downtown in Martyrs Square to allow people to pay their respects, and it was clear that those who did so included everyone - Sunni, Shia and Christians alike. Felt a little like America after JFK’s death, a national tragedy that hit everyone, not just political sympathisers. And one of the memories that sticks is of people sweeping up broken glass from windows that shattered miles away from the bomb site. And that was a much smaller explosion.

Monday, August 3/2020

Six cats hoping for handouts and settling for shade

Last day of the four day holiday. Supermarket and pizza place have remained open. Pharmacies, interestingly, subject to government hours and limited to the duty pharmacy in each area. Have had no real need to go far and the heat is significant deterrent in business hours anyway.

Watching the masks beginning to disappear as people, not entirely logically, start to assume there is no problem here. After many weeks of no new cases did people assume magical immunity? Standing outside our building waiting for J (and photographing the ever hopeful cats) and see a man about to enter the building come up to one who has just exited it. No masks, although admittedly they are outside. But the Anglo in me - and, oddly this is cultural - thinks that they should not leave unnecessary regs on the books but actually enforce the ones that matter. There is no need for people outside and not close to anyone else to be wearing masks, and leaving the requirement to wear them outside your own home regardless just makes people think the regulations are pointless. On the other hand it is unfair and ineffective to leave enforcement in shops down to staff, many of whom are young or easily intimidated. Shops should be able to say that they’re sorry but they would lose their operating licence if they allowed it the same way pubs are unapologetic about legal requirements. But back to the two neighbours outside our apartment building. Forget the masks. Totally unnecessarily, acting out of long habit, the men shake hands.

It was inevitable that once flights were allowed in there would be cases, and the rules are still pretty strict. A test before leaving country of origin - think it’s in the area of 72 hours before, but specifics have changed and not on the list of things I need to know. Then another test on arrival at the airport and bus to quarantine hotel, where passport returned. Think that you’re now released from quarantine after seven days assuming both tests negative. 

Has worked pretty well despite a couple of well publicised slips. But assumptions that there could be no community transmission in the near future are ill founded. North Cyprus is in as good shape as it is - currently 28 cases but a good handle on where they came from and how they’re being treated - because of early severe lockdown and extremely good contact tracing. Only have to look at Melbourne, Australia, which has just called out the army to enforce a new and seriously escalated lockdown, to see what happens when the virus has not been eradicated but a significant number of people have decided no more problem.

Sunday, August 2/2020

Had noticed how quiet the streets seemed this holiday weekend and imagined families inside for the heat but gathering to happily celebrate Kurban Bayram together. However TRNC online news service LGC paints a less sanguine picture:

The item concludes by saying that on Friday the Turkish lira had fallen further so that a pound sterling was worth 9.12 Turkish lira and a euro 8.25. My sources say the euro today is valued at 8.21 lira but the implications are the same. When we arrived March 10 the euro was worth 6.98 lira. That’s inflation of nearly 18% in less than five months. “This means that businesses can no longer afford to pay the rents on their business premises.”

Saturday, August 1/2020

Bayraktar Yolu Sokak 48

Our apartment building, home since July 15. Not actually a very long walk from the old city - we used to walk over to the market every Thursday morning. The only deterrent is the heat unless it’s early morning or evening. Would have worked better if the lockdown had not been during the weeks when the temperatures were most moderate, although the countries that waited to lock down have not, unsurprisingly, done nearly as well, so no regrets.

Photo was taken standing in the shade, which is the shadow of the supermarket next door. The structure on the left of the photo is the municipal market, so couldn’t be much more convenient re grocery shopping. Our flat is the one on the top floor left hand side. Four flats per storey. It’s actually two bedroom, although only our bedroom and the open kitchen/sitting room area have air conditioning units. The smaller bedroom does have a fan but we only use that room to store our suitcases.

The view from the balcony is a bit difficult to appreciate from a photo, or at least one of this quality. Immediately behind the buildings is the Mediterranean, maybe a kilometre away, but the thin visible strip of it behind the lower buildings tends, with any haziness, to blend with the blue of the sky. The farthest distant trees to the right are in the old city and the stone coloured bit immediately underneath the red triangle far right is the mosque in the square of the old city. Market building is in the foreground to the right of the balcony.