Belated winter weather with a high of thirteen today and eleven predicted tomorrow, though temperatures expected to struggle back to normal after that. And significantly warmer in the sun, which has been in full glory today 🌞.
Much more wintry two years ago in Athens where we were en route to Northern Cyprus. We woke to snow, both on the orange trees outside our window and on the Acropolis (not outside our window but duly photographed by others). Had expected to fly to LefkoÅŸa via Istanbul the next morning but received an email from Turkish Airlines saying that the Athens to Istanbul section of our flight had been cancelled due to weather conditions and would have to be rebooked. Suspected then, and now, that the real reason for the cancellation was chaos caused by the earthquake, though there was indeed some snow in Istanbul and a little in Athens.
In Türkiye the chaos was only beginning from a 7.8 earthquake that ultimately left over 55,000 dead. Many people in Northern Cyprus, where most residents are ethnically Turkish, have family and friends in Türkiye. But grief centred on a volleyball team that had gone from Gazimagusa (Famagusta) to southern Türkiye for a volleyball tournament. Young teens, both boys and girls, all from the same school. All twenty-four youths, along with eleven coaches and chaperones, died when the hotel in which they were staying collapsed. And no, it shouldn’t have collapsed. A great many of the deaths in Türkiye were down to substandard buildings or failure to adhere to codes.
This is a small country. A high proportion of residents know or are related to people who were killed or displaced by the earthquakes. And today there have been services and memorials for a team posthumously christened the Champion Angels and for children who belonged to everyone.
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