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| Courtesy KıbrısOnAir |
Today is the official day of commemoration for Kemal Atatürk. Not a public holiday but there are ceremonies, though not ones we had planned to attend. In fact we are reminded of the occasion at nine in the morning when loud sirens start up and we dismiss possibilities such as air raid. Can see that the two minutes of silence are indeed taken seriously though from the photo on KıbrısOnAir. Traffic stopped and people standing at attention beside their cars.
Take the dolmuş to Girne where we have errands to do. Dolmuş full and the woman (well past middle age) in the seat ahead is occupied with attaching a colourful paper object to the window latch. Looks like a religious object perhaps. No, on closer observation turns out to be a SpongeBob card.
Centre of Girne has become much busier and more commercial since we first stayed here twenty-five years ago. There must have been currency exchanges here then as well, though I don’t remember them. We’re changing Canadian dollars to Turkish lira. Do also have British pounds and a few euros with us but more efficient to effect a single rather than double exchange. Have learned to say Canada dollars rather than Canadian. Less grammatical but much easier for non Anglo ears to pick up. “Canadian” emphasises the second syllable and pronounces the long A in a way that only English speakers do. Almost never understood on the first try.
Stop for a lamb pita at a tiny outdoor café that we used to eat at when we first stayed here. In those days pitas and chips totally unknown. We would look at the basins of old-fashioned Cypriot cooking and point to what we wanted. Feels like a different century.
Bank and Mr Pound on the way home. Mr Pound inspired by pound or dollar stores. Inflation has hit here too. Can’t remember what the price was a year ago but everything now 70 Turkish lira. More like £1.30 than a pound. But a good variety of inexpensive items from reading glasses to cheap Christmas decorations and minor hardware.
And stop at our little supermarket on the way home. Eggs, bananas, grapes - and a small loaf of sourdough bread, still warm.
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