Wednesday, January 31/2024

Courtesy Lapta Alsancak Çamlıbel Belediyesi

Rain not quite over but now no longer torrential. After some morning showers sunlight alternates with clouds when it’s allowed a look in. And the assessment of damage begins. Reports of tornados touching down in a couple of places and also fast moving floods in some western parts of the country, including the Maronite village we visited last year, where the mukhtar said he had not witnessed similar devastation in over sixty years. Some houses rendered uninhabitable and one woman online tells of her sister arriving last night along with niece and nephew soaking wet and having been unable to salvage anything. 

Wind damage as well as rain and landslides and rock falls in places. The massive sign in front of one of the supermarkets came down in the parking lot hitting a couple of cars. No deaths anywhere and reported injuries don’t seem to have been serious. A 3.5 magnitude earthquake occurred at a depth of 6.6 km north of the island but no reports of anyone taking note of it - although in yesterday’s thunderstorms it might well have been missed. 

So we’ve been lucky. Too wet to go out but no leaks, no power cuts and plenty of food and drink in the flat as well as a good supply of reading material.

Tuesday, January 30/2024

Courtesy of Cyprus Mail 

Almost all of the rain that falls in Cyprus is in the winter, disproportionately in January. However, this three day deluge is unusual and is accompanied by colder than usual temperatures. Still, waking to find that the Girne to Nicosia road had been closed (though soon re-opened) due to ice was surprising. The low temperature had not been that close to freezing. The explanation is two fold. The road to Nicosia is one of three that goes through a pass in our mountain range. Obviously the passes are not at the highest points, but they are still considerably above sea level. And the road surface didn’t exactly freeze but was covered with quite a lot of hail that wasn’t quick to melt. The Troodos Mountains in the South are quite a bit higher and do often get snow. It’s not unusual there to hear announcements that road access to the higher villages is being restricted to those with four wheel drive or chains (chains - there’s one from the memory bank). 

The memos from the municipality have a charm all their own, presumably not entirely present in the original Turkish. A combination of paternal concern and quirky translation. First there is the weather warning, along with an assurance that employees - supervisors no less - will be looking after things:

“ ⛈️⛈️According to the information obtained from the Meteorological Office, heavy rainfall is expected in our region for 3 days as of tonight. Against all the negativities that may arise, our department supervisors are on their duties”. [Phone number included].

Then in the morning as the state of disruption becomes clear the parental cautions:

“ ATTENTION DRIVERS

Due to heavy rain and storm that is effective in our country;

• Drivers who are going to watch on the roads; watch slowly and carefully in case they encounter heavy rain, fog, rockfall, landslides and similar disasters that will adversely affect driving safety,

• In case of snowfall, they should not drive their vehicles on dangerous mountain roads in order to see snow and should not park on the side of the road in a way that would endanger other vehicles,

• Parking their vehicles in safe places foreseeing flood, roof collapse, tree falling and similar negatives.

• Our citizens in the face of the negativities that will happen

It is requested to call the hotlines.”

Love the recognition that some will be eager despite the hazards to go and see the snow on the mountain roads.

Early evening adds more thunder and lightning to the continuing rain, as well as - briefly - hail.

Monday, January 29/2024

Prediction is three days of rain and radar obligingly shows eastern end of the Mediterranean full of blue precipitation blobs. Rain mixed with sunny bits which leads to a rainbow in the Mediterranean. The sea itself a fascinating mix of colours with a deep blue section and to the east of it silver grey. Which raises the question of why the sea is the colour or colours it is. Googled answers are as many and bizarre as the Lewis Carroll poem:

The time has come,' the Walrus said,

      To talk of many things:

Of shoes — and ships — and sealing-wax —

      Of cabbages — and kings —

And why the sea is boiling hot —

      And whether pigs have wings.'

Blue sea, say some sources, is simply a reflection of blue sky. But many others heap scorn on that suggestion, though not all for the same reason. And indeed the usual deep sapphire of the Med is much darker than the daytime sky ever is, so with or without reflection that explanation seems unlikely. The saddest reason given is that the Mediterranean is lacking the nutrients that lead to plant growth and muddy the waters. But really - on some days though not others, and today to the west of our place but not to the east?

And this is the Mediterranean of Homer, with his confusing references to the wine-dark sea. Many improbable explanations for that one as well, including unconvincing suggestions that ancient Greeks were unable to see the colour blue. Or that they had no word for it (except they did). Not really clarified by more than one writer insisting that a more accurate translation would be “wine face sea”. 

But watching the changing colours from the vantage point of our flat a continuing delight.

Sunday, January 28/2024

Down to the store to buy a lightbulb. Only 75 and 100 watt ones available as well as various LEDs. Reminding us of the years before the advent of e-books when we used to stay in hotels that saved money by using lights with wattage too feeble to read by, limiting us to daytime reading. Until we began to take revenge by unscrewing their lightbulbs and replacing them with brighter.

As we leave we’re passed by a dog running delightedly past with a flip flop in his mouth. And remember that on our way down we had passed a slipper beside the sidewalk and wondered how someone could contrive to lose one bedroom slipper, canine theft not having occurred to us.

And on the theme of slippers, there is an article in today’s Cyprus Mail (Republic of Cyprus, South, Greek). A Cypriot theologian is protesting the prevalence of relics acquired for veneration in the country’s churches, saying it leads to fanaticism: “‘Venerating slippers and canes is idolatry,’ theologian Theodoros Kyriacou told the Cyprus Mail, referring to some of the items that have been displayed…In a famous case two years ago, the slippers of Saint Efraim were paraded around Cyprus, with long queues forming for almost three days at a church in Nicosia of the ‘faithful’ seeking to venerate the footwear.” Apparently the incentive for the churches is the fact that those venerating the relics are expected to make donations.

Archbishop Georgios agrees, saying that even as bishop of Paphos, he had never requested or attempted to bring remains of a saint, save for one time when he had requested through then Archbishop Chrysostomos II for the head of the Apostle Paul to be brought to Cyprus from Rome.

Archbishop Georgios added that the request had been granted, but the late archbishop had died just as permission had been given.”

In case we had thought the practice to be in the distant past. 

As, coincidentally I am reading William Dalrymple’s From the Holy Mountain, in which he refers to the many venerated relics in seventh century Constantinople, including the nails from the crucifixion, the axe used by Noah in building the ark, and the head - including hair and beard - of John the  Baptist. And this stirs another travel memory, although not one of Constantinople/Istanbul.

In Damascus we visited the Umayyad Mosque, I dutifully covered from head to toe. It was built on the site of the eighth century Church of John the Baptist and claims to hold the head of John the Baptist. an honour also claimed by churches in Rome and Amiens as well as a museum in Munich. And this not even a saint who claimed the gift of bilocation.

Courtesy of Middle East Eye

 

Saturday, January 27/2024

 

Bougainvillea Reflected in Rain Puddle

Sunny in the morning and the marble mountain peak shines at us but it’s obviously rained in the night as well as yesterday. Pleasant walk down to the Saturday market but can see that the weather has taken its toll. There are quite a few vacant stalls and fewer shoppers as well. Some vendors will probably have decided yesterday that the weather was uncertain and they would be better waiting until next week. 

Big, if shallow, puddles on the cement floor - from one of which a large brown dog is drinking thirstily. The Tulips cancer charity stall is operating though the dog rescue book stall had apologised in advance that they would be unable to attend. Our friendly fruit and nut seller has a full stall. Had hoped he would be there as he has the best garlic we’ve been able to find - other than the heads that came from the Gimli producer. Our usual kilo of peanuts as well as half a kilo of shelled whole walnuts - almost certainly from California if Famagusta’s weekly market is anything to go by, but very nice. A kilo of raisins. That might have been all but the man cleverly entices us to try a date. They’re very good. A kilo? I hesitate.  OK half, he agrees. Sold.

Friday, January 26/2024

Courtesy of International Court of Justice

We watch live as the International Court of Justice verdict is delivered. Commentary from The Guardian:

‘The international court of justice’s (ICJ) ruling in South Africa’s genocide case was a powerful repudiation of Israel’s denialism. By an overwhelming majority, the court found a “plausible” case that provisional measures were needed to avoid “irreparable prejudice” from further Israeli acts in Gaza that could jeopardize Palestinian rights under the genocide convention… The court’s ruling was also a repudiation of Israel’s western backers. The Biden administration had called the suit “meritless”. The British government said it was “nonsense”. By a vote of 15 to 2, the ICJ judges found otherwise.’

Presumably difficult for the minority of countries assisting in Israel’s lethal activity to distance themselves from the ICJ now after being happy to note how it dealt with the sins of Myanmar and Serbia.

Thursday, January 25/2024

 No shining marble mountain in the sun when we open the blinds this morning. It’s been raining and the mountains are shrouded in cloud and mist. Not cold, though, so we go down to the store for honey, coffee, oranges, carrots, onions. Then spot a whole chicken for a particularly good price. And there’s warm sourdough olive bread. Mountains, as we return, still with their tops hidden in the clouds.

Predictable email from Air Canada. As in most, if not all, previous years, a change has been made to our return itinerary. Usually we just go with whatever change they’ve made, although it does rather make a mockery of the careful time spent finding a good booking in the first place. Did once complain mildly to a rep that this happened annually and she said snippily that the time changed to daylight savings. Suppose that would have been hard to predict. And then there was the time when we were locked down in North Cyprus and were sent a new itinerary that involved leaving Toronto before we’d arrived. Air Canada didn’t seem inclined to discuss the problem, and, as we had no hope of actually being in England in time to catch the flight, neither did we. 

This year they’ve moved a particularly good booking that gave us two hours in Montreal to make our connection to one that leaves a scant hour. Given that the first flight could be late and that we have to clear customs on landing it’s just not good enough. So change it to a connection that means a four and a half hour layover in Toronto. Not ideal, but unlikely to mess up. Unable to let us change seats from the randomly assigned until after they’ve confirmed the flight change. And then insist that they are unable to show the confirmation - would I like to call their 800 number? Fortunately, they’re wrong - they can show it when I go by another route to booking management, and they’ve done it correctly. Can’t imagine why so many people consider government services to be less efficient than private companies. It’s a very low bar. And we’re not even talking about Bell. 

Happily, this is Burns day. No haggis about in North Cyprus - or probably in South - but we’ve just earned a wee dram of Famous Grouse smoky black.

Wednesday, January 24/2024

 Walk down to Bestmar supermarket. Just over a mile, and mostly rural walk. Could in fact take a dolmuş there but not back, or at least not back without going miles out of our way as the circular routes work. It’s a bigger supermarket than “ours” and has a little more variety but for the most part prices no better and sometimes not as good. Which is good because ours is a five minute walk. 

The one advantage to Bestmar, qualifying it for an occasional trip, is that they not only have a wider selection of wine and liquor - and our little supermarket has a wider selection than Sioux Lookout’s liquor store - but the price on most bottles is noticeably less than at ours. One reviewer said the cheapest on the island. Not in a position to judge, but impressive. Jameson whiskey, for example, less than half of Ontario’s LCBO price. Although as I noted in a previous year’s blog one doesn’t wish to become alcoholic simply because it would be affordable. Also, I do approve of Ontario charging the same price everywhere, so that a bottle in a remote northern community costs the same as it would in Toronto, should it be available. Assume Premier Ford may not have noticed or that small benefit would have disappeared.

Tuesday, January 23/2024

 Marble floors fairly common in this part of the world. Take, for example, the marble walls and floors in the Athens metro stations. The floors in the flat are marble tile, and shiny enough that I’ve been caught thinking I saw something flicker across the floor and realising it was the reflection of a bird in the sky outside the window.

And surplus tiles, especially small or chipped ones sometimes appear slated for the garbage pickup along with other odd bits of construction detritus. So when we saw several pieces of blue marble tile we couldn’t resist salvaging them to see what could be made of them. The result, largely down to J’s jigsaw patience, a small white wooden table newly topped with marble (arranged but not cemented on top of paper).

Monday, January 22/2024

 

If nothing else the weather forecasts and maps are a good source of entertainment. Check the skies where we can see for miles down the coast to the west and as far as the mountains in Türkiye to the north on clear days. Look at the mountain flags and our neighbour’s flags - TRNC, Turkish and Swedish - for wind direction. Unable to understand why the two mountain flags, planted next to each other, aren’t in sync. One pointing bravely to the east and the other in need of Viagra. Then repair to the radar maps. First map shows us being chased by a pacman style cartoon monster just about big enough to swallow our island whole. However, doesn’t seem to be making much speed. Remains roughly half way between Crete and Cyprus for quite a long time.

Map from second source includes wind directions and suggests an answer. The winds are swirling in a circular pattern in the eastern end of the Med holding the coming - or not coming - precipitation practically stationary. No tornado but no real progress either. Meanwhile warm, breezy - and dry.

Sunday, January 21/2024

 Showers forecast but don’t actually appear, during daylight at least. High winds do, though, so good drying weather for the towels on the drying rack, prudently held down by two large - and heavy - marble tiles, presumably surplus to requirements on the patio at some point. 

Clothes here normally dried with solar and wind power only. Interestingly, neighbours down the road hang items of clothing, and sometimes shoes, to dry on the driveway gate or sometimes on the stone wall or on chairs. Initially I thought these were things that they no longer wanted and were giving away as part of an informal curbside recycling effort. As is done in a number of Canadian towns and even in parts of London. Have occasionally improved the furnishings in a London bedsit we were staying at by these means. 

Fortunately nothing ever took my fancy down the road here, as J assured me that the not all that attractive bits and pieces were definitely there drying and not looking for new homes. I could see that the garden behind the stone wall was pretty shady, so possibly the roadside was a better drying spot. But no, the actual owner of the clothing lives across from the stone wall in a north facing house and regularly takes advantage of his neighbour’s sunny exposure.

Saturday, January 20/2024

 Saturday is market day and happily the weather couldn’t be better. High today expected to be 19 or 20 but much warmer than that in the direct sun, although as we live on the north slopes of a mountain range the direct sun disappears somewhat before official sunset time. Think the market opens at eight - possibly even seven - but we get there a little after nine. 

The Tulips stall, supporting cancer patients, has advertised that they will be selling linen and towels and blankets this week. Along with their regular stock of books, CDs, homemade cakes, and general white elephant type items. We’re not in need of sheets and blankets but do seem to use towels faster than we wash them so pleased to add a few and support a worthy charity at the same time.

Haven’t seen the old man who sold us the excellent honey for a couple of weeks. Honey now nearly gone. Some local honey available at the market this time but significantly more expensive. So we’ll give him another week to reappear and then decide on plan B. Remember when we were in China, nearly thirty-five years ago now, people said that if you saw something you really wanted you should buy it and not assume the same thing would be available later or elsewhere. The same seems to apply to markets.

Friday, January 19/2024

 Late breakfast on the patio in the sun. Looks to be sunny for a couple of days anyway, if BBC weather can be relied on. Oddly, more than one radar map has been showing Cyprus with a large blob of rain seemingly permanently attached to its backside. More or less connected to Paphos on the southwest coast. Have never thought of Paphos as being particularly rainy - and we have stayed there - and indeed rain is not in their immediate forecast now. But there is the radar blob.

If it were to rain here it would be down to me as I murdered three pretty innocuous looking spiders discovered in the most fragile of webs in a corner. No easy way to remove them without resorting to arachnicide. But so far the sun continues. 

Down to Blue Song in the afternoon. Spot a murder of crows in the top branches of a tall tree on the way. Too far away to identify by more than body language, but they will be hooded crows - associated in Celtic myth with death on the battlefield and also known as the bearers of messages.

We’re not the only ones at the Blue Song to choose to sit at an outside table. It’s lovely and J points out that now we’re at sea level and a little farther from the mountains it’s possible to see the sun for a bit longer. Do notice that most of the other “outdoors” people are smokers. One man suits up to leave by bicycle. I tell J that I wouldn’t be keen on biking here because it’s so hilly. He says it’s also hazardous as drivers not noted for due care and attention. The cyclist seems to be of the same mind and has both a substantial hi vis vest and a flashing rear light on his bike.

Thursday, January 18/2024

Back from the bank by dolmuş. Initially we were a little taken aback by the lack of guarantees re frequency, but no problem - it’s rare to wait more than ten minutes. The only drawback at all is that in our area the route is pretty well circular so that the way home may be rather roundabout - literally. Credit for the inaccurate photo to Wikipedia. Haven’t thought to snap one as we’re hopping in or out, although there is one that lives round the corner from us - or at least gets parked there at night. The photo is inaccurate because the dolmuş in it is left hand drive, which means it’s Turkish. In Türkiye people drive on the right hand side while in Cyprus, both South and North, driving remained on the left after the British left in 1960. Otherwise the vehicle could as easily be from North Cyprus, although if it were the destinations would appear front and back in large letters. 

They’re really very responsive. If you’re out walking on a dolmuş route you’re likely to be beeped at lightly as an inquiry. Did you want a ride? Convenient for both driver and would be passengers and no need to rely on official stops. If you’re only out for a walk better to walk on the right hand side of the road if you’re not interested in a lift, but good to know you’re likely to be spotted if you are. And you’ll be put down where you requested as well. Don’t think official  stops even exist.

Have guessed that routes were probably a bit flexible according to the needs of the driver and friends and suspicions confirmed this afternoon when the driver makes a detour of three or four blocks to drop off an older woman (well, probably not older than me, but anyway…) at her home. Uneven service maybe, but more responsive and more human than a scheduled city route.

Wednesday, January 17/2024

 

Wouldn’t have needed to go to the store today if we hadn’t been out of yoghurt - although always happy to enjoy the short walk back looking up at the mountain. Stop part way to observe a standoff between two all white cats, rare colouring around here. The male making slow advances and the female unwelcoming but also unwilling to make an effective escape. Very slow unfolding drama. They look enough alike to be littermates. Incestuous? Eventually we leave with the resolution still unclear.

We always buy sheep’s yoghurt. Well, in Cyprus anyway. Canada more or less impossible and London neither cheap nor easy to find. Tried the Istanbul shop on Finchley Road, helpfully telling the man that they sell it in  Türkiye. Yes, he sighed, but….

In part we like the taste but it’s also significantly higher in calcium than cow’s yoghurt - or, for that matter goat’s.  Do know the word for sheep in Turkish although not the word for cow, so no longer totally reliant on the pictures on the labels. Also know the Turkish word for strained - as well as the fact that if it’s strained it won’t be sheep’s as sheep’s yoghurt has the creamy thickness without benefit of straining. There are a number of dairy companies but today for the first time this season we find sheep’s yoghurt in a clay container. Cow’s yoghurt always available in clay and the pots are nice, and reusable as small casseroles for baking, although there’s an obvious limit to how many one might need.