Tuesday, March 1/2016

Well, maybe not ONLY in Cyprus. Inefficiency is international. Actually what is unusual is the frankness of the individual concerned. I don't buy the ministry's statement. He obviously had a useless supervisor and probably useless deputy minister or eauivalent. If he'd been given any guidelines at all, the ministry would have said so:

"Marios Dhrousiotis, the government employee who complained to President Nicos Anastasiades that he is given no work to do despite his €5,000-a-month salary, heads a critical unit of the Energy ministry and should have taken it upon himself to promote his department, instead of waiting to be assigned work, the Energy ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.

"A letter Dhrousiotis sent Anastasiades featured in daily Phileleftheros on Tuesday, in which he complained that he had been transferred to a ministry service centre as a supervisor a year ago but not a single file or any work has been assigned to him by his boss since.

“In my opinion, the state would save money if it asked me to remain home and sent me my salary as it would not incur the operating costs of my office such as lighting, heating, and consumables,” he said in his letter. “This is unacceptable. An employee to want to work and illegally prevented from doing so.”

 - Cyprus Mail

Monday, February 29/2016

Hot enough to head for the shady side of the street. Stop at the charity shop after coffee as it's on the way home. A car is pulled up next to it, across a walkway, and a man is changing a wheel. Not unusual to see people doing even major repairs more or less on the street for lack of better space. I take a quick shot, which proves later to look rather as if the car had crashed into the shop. Reluctant to take more photos with the man underneath the vehicle a possibly reluctant subject.  

Stop at Carrefour for yoghurt. Much nicer in containers from the big tub at the deli counter. Then to Prinos for onions, pears, mushrooms, and carrots. Carrots 49 euro cents a kilo today (40p, 74 cents CAD). Which still leaves me paying slightly more than Wednesday, when I only realised, embarrassingly, after we had left the store that I'd paid for everything - cauliflower, leeks, etc - except the carrots, which were still hanging in a clear plastic bag over my wrist undeclared. 

Lovely strawberries with balsamic vinegar and yoghurt. Reading Events, Dear Boy. Now into the seventies, forty years ago. So many of the same issues as today, including the referendum on leaving the Common Market, rail fares, and the state of annd funding for National Health.

Sunday, February 28/2016

Having Sunday morning coffee, with blues cd and wifi newspapers. Story of the morning featuring a robbery at one of Larnaca's little shops, the weapon being a sledgehammer. Jane calls. Bill is cooking liver for Lunch and will we come. A lovely sunny day. Meals at J and B's almost always outside on the patio under the awning, overlooking the park where we helped pick olives. 

Discussing the flora as we drink our coffee and someone mentions Harry's redwood tree, grown from a seed Bill brought back from Canada. Said tree now at Harry's cabin - a little retreat he's built from a Finnish kit on some land on the edge of the nearby village of Agia Anna. So off we go to examine same, after Jane has called Ailsa and confirmed that Harry is there now. The little cabin is lovely, all fitted wood. He's done quite a bit of work on it. He's also had a break in, involving the theft of a heavy metal stove and other things - clearly involving a lot of manpower and considerable time, as well as a crowbar. A bit off putting in terms of one's view of fellow villagers. 

Saturday, February 27/2016

Said if we were permanently travelling I would miss only the art on the walls. Not necessarily true. If we were permanently here at the Sunflower we'd miss proper showers. Presume that management turns the water heaters off at night, to save money, and then back on in the morning. So, inconveniently, water is hot by afternoon and into the evening, though not in the morning. However, the hot cold mixture operates on principles unknown to physics. Regardless of settings, proportions in the mix can change within a second or two from hot to cold or even to second degree burns. Can imagine serious injury if someone were unable to respond very quickly. Have uncharitable (and hope uncharacteristic) thoughts of management being sued by some unfortunate. Though actually all I really think is that hotel owners should spend a week living in their own hotels.

Friday, February 26/2016

Warm, but windy. We're sitting on the little pier at the far end of the waterfront when bride, groom and photographer come to get a shot with the sea as background. She looks mid thirties but could be older. Slim, blond hair pulled back and a lovely simple long white satin dress. Overhear the groom saying to the photographer - re the wind? - that they just came from the desert. I give them a thumbs up - then hope they don't come from somewhere that it's a rude sign. But the groom says thanks. See them again when we're going over to Harry's Café for coffee. They're having another photo taken with St Lazarus Church as background. The 17th century Venetian style bell tower is quite lovely. (the church itself is much older). 

Not unusual to see old men playing backgammon at the cafés, but this time the electronic age puts in an appearance. The game is on a tablet.

Thursday, February 25/2016

J has acquired some more beef fillet steak from Prinos, which is primarily a greengrocer's but does have quite a good butchery. So Jane and Bill round to dinner. Have also picked up leeks and local strawberries from Prinos as well as a purple lettuce, and a perfect little fresh cauliflower. Two Conference pears for the fruit salad. Pears at home always seem to be either hard or mushy, and those bought hard go to mushy with no intermediate step of firm and sweet. Or would it be different if we lived in the city? 

Jane calls to say they'll be early. They're in town getting a Taylor brace for Jane's back, as recommended by the neurologist, who says that she has two more cracked vertebrae, presumably from the fall that broke her femur. Hip now no real problem so fingers crossed on back improvement. Borrow one of the two chairs that sits unused by the fourth floor lift for her. Padded, straight back, and right height for the table. Can't imagine anyone noticing its absence. We don't really run to much in the way of either furniture or serving dishes or glassware....But it works, and we wonder why we need all the things we have at home. Think I would probably miss only the art on the walls if we travelled full time. Well, and people. But they're never gathered in one spot.

Wednesday, February 24/2016

Coming home after coffee and spot activity in St Helena's courtyard, scene of all their   non religious activities in good weather. Remember that this is - already - the last Wednesday of the month, the day when St H holds used book sales. And sure enough there are tables full of used books. So we poke about happily for half an hour, though we're probably a bit late for the best buys, and come home with a copy of Suite Française, a book of Morse short stories, a book about Monte Cassino, and a couple of travel books. Unrealistic to think we'll read them all as "real" book reading here is daylight only, but we will read some and the proceeds go to feeding the hungry.

Tuesday, February 23/2016

Mild weather back. Actually always was mild, but the wind did battle. J beach walking. Join him for tea at George's (more properly the Apollo Café) in part because the direct sun is pretty hot and George'd is in a covered walkway. Easy for the temp here to be 20 in the shade but 40 in the sun.

Monday, February 22/2016

Not wet. Actually not cold either, but a pretty strong north wind. Palm trees whipping round and white caps in the sea. New read aloud book is Jack Shenker's The Egyptians: A Radical Story. Bought via Kobo, lured by the Guardian review:

**The limitations of much of the press coverage led, inevitably, to a dangerous oversimplification in which Mubarak was bad and the Tahrir Square crowds were good (except for those men raping women in the square), with Barack Obama speaking for us all when he said: “Egyptians have inspired us… they have changed the world”. The Egyptian army was good because it did nothing to stop the protesters (unlike the central security forces), but it became bad when it helped to create the post‑Mubarak regime. Egypt itself went from inspiring to horrifying, as the revolution was overcome by a counter-revolution, while the perception of the struggle morphed from people versus tyrant to violent Islamist martyrs versus the forces of order. The real story is more confused and more complicated, and, as Shenker presents it in this detailed, meticulous and fascinating book, more hopeful.**

Sunday, February 21/2016

Cloudy and cool. Even a brief bit of rain. Though it never rains here without someone saying but we need the rain. And we do, though this won't have sunk into the earth very far. And there's a fair north wind too. So a good day to stay in with our traditional Sunday egg brunch and a very cheerful read from The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole. Sure we read it many years ago, probably after reading the original Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 3/4. But always a laugh out loud pleasure.

Saturday, February 20/2016

Jane phones to ask if we'll have dinner with them tonight. Suspect, rightly, that it's her birthday (technically tomorrow), confirmed by searching the blog. We're to meet them at Kantara Restaurant. Google to check address and bus stops. Impressive menu. Then Jane calls back: Kantara seems to be closed so they'll pick us up and we'll find someplace else. The someplace else turns out to be The Blacksmith, near St Lazarus Church. Slight glitch as the young woman who owns it says she hasn't heard of us, and it seems Jane has just called a different restaurant to reserve - Greek names being confusing and all. But they do have a table if we'll be finished by nine, which will work perfectly. In a building in the old, originally Turkish, area. A blacksmith shop under the present owner's father. Quirky decor and very nice stuffed salmon. Then Our place for a drink.

Friday, February 19/2016

Hot day. Well, probably about 26, but obviously hotter than that in the sun,malthough there's a refreshing breeze and the big umbrella is up at Harry's Café, so there's shade. Stop at the charity shop on the way back. The Thai woman is minding the shop today and pleased to be able to ask us if she can run up to the loo for a minute. Naturally we say yes, although can't imagine what we'd say if someone began shoplifting. Would clearing the throat do it? Or maybe just saying that the lady in charge can give you a price on that in a moment. One would think that a poor economy would drive people to the charity shops, but apparently it's worse than that and many don't have money to spend there either.

Thursday, February 18/2016

Bus to Mazotos, about 20 km south of Larnaca, but on the city bus route, to visit Maggi, who moved there last summer. She has a two bedroom house, with a balcony off the master bedroom overlooking the distant sea, and fields rather than houses in between. It's a small private complex with a couple of dozen houses, owned by a benevolent man who also keeps animals there - sheep, goats, donkeys, birds - and has the place nicely landsxaped and tended. There's a pool, and a small gymnasium - fairly nicely equipped - and library too.

Drive down to the sea, five minutes away. Maxi, the dog, delighted to be off the lead there, and we're intrigued by the stones on the beach. J also finds a couple of nice shells. Then into the village where we're booked for a late lunch at a taverna. A very nice rabbit stifado (must be ordered two days in advance) preceded by Greek salad and followed, to our surprise, by a crepe with strawberries and drizzeled chocolate. Maggi had gone to pay but was told that we couldn't leave yet - the owner/chef had something else for us! M has a Greek class in town and drops us at home. 

Evening sees us out again. This time with Bill and Jane and Harry and Ailsa at Vlachos. Ailsa back from England where her sister was having brain surgery. Obviously she couldn't stay indefinitely, but things quite difficult. Good to see A and H again though. They kindly give us a lift home.

Wednesday, February 17/2016

Dust in the air again.  Warnings for the vulnerable to stay inside. Usually comes from the Sahara.

Tuesday, February 16/2016

New watch strap from the watchmaker. A man who loves watches and has a dusty window full of them and a cluttered work bench full of parts. Happy to support him instead of Walmart or Asda. The bad news is that leather straps for my watch are pretty thin on the ground. My watch face has a diameter a bit under two centimetres. Current fashion is enormous. Have to wait for the styles to come round again. Tea at George's. His café is in a covered walkway. Chilly without the sun in winter, but refreshing now that it's hitting mid twenties in the shade.

Monday, February 15/2016

And in the only in Cyprus department...

TUS, the new Cypriot airline replacing Cyprus Airlines, which went belly up when the troika refused to allow taxpayers to keep bailing the bankrupt and mismanaged firm out. The new airline should have made a debut flight to Tel Aviv yesterday, but when three managers quit on the eve of the flight for "personal reasons," leaving TUS deficient in experienced management, the Safety Regulation Unit withdrew its air operators certificate.

Sunday, February 14/2016

Grateful for the buses running. Apparently there has been a tentative agreement that the drivers should have their former pay restored but that the money should come not from taxpayers but the bloated management. Hard to disagree but hard also to imagine this as other than management delaying tactic. Meanwhile we take a bus out to Cambanella's and join Jane and Bill as well as Hazel and Bob (who we met at Christmas) for the Sunday lunch. Always a feast, and the lady of the family, presiding at the carvery, as hurt as an old fashioned grandmother when she can't persuade you to agree to a week's worth of the various roasts on your plate.

Saturday, February 13/2016

Reading aloud, thanks to the free online library, a super book called The Reason Why. It is the story of the charge of the light brigade, with marvellous background on the unlovely personalities concerned. Title comes from Tennyson's poem "The Charge of the Light Brigade," published six weeks after the event and containing the unforgettable lines:

Theirs not to reason why,

Theirs but to do and die.

Into the valley of Death

Rode the six hundred.

Beautifully written, interesting background on the Irish potato famine, appalling insights into 19th century army functioning, and a page turner. And, as a bit of trivia, Lord Cardigan, who led the ill-fated charge and survived had a woollen jacket named after him. The origin of the humble cardy.

Friday, February 12/2016

Last day, and not really a day at all, as we leave after breakfast for the airport. Time for a last shower, though. Temperature and water pressure MUCH better than at "home" in Cyprus. Metro from Ommonia. We pick up a koulouri each from the cart on the square for the airport. They're chewier and more sesame tasting than those in Cyprus, but like baguettes best early in the day and almost inedible by the next day. At the airport the wifi is as I remember it from last time - free   but too slow to even connect. Really serves only as a suggestion that one might wish to purchase the premium service. Which one doesn't. 

Plane fairly full, but we're near the back and have three seats for the two of us. Opposite us several members of a band or orchestra, all loud young male enthusiasm, so that J at first takes them for a sports team. As well we're not hungry. Lunch consists of a serving of orzo (with cheese J says, but little enough that I have to take his word for it) and a white bread roll. Followed by a pretty severe sugarless gluten free cocoa and fig bar. J leaves his. I eat mine but consider eating his as well would be adding insult to injury. See little point in any case in going gluten free on the bar, given the orzo and the bread roll. Resolve, out of curiosity, to see if the Geneva Convention has anything to say about protein. J points out that football player musicians opposite eat two portions of orzo each.

Buses running again, as Jane has messaged, so sunny ride in. And bus again out to Vlachos to meet Jane, Bill, Maureen and Iris. Usual excellent meze spread and full enough that half the chicken skewers come home with us to be turned into chicken salad for sandwiches.

We've missed a major demonstration in Athens, which may have been setting up above our heads at Syntagma Square outside the parliament buildings. Farmers have set up protest camps, tyres have been burned. The press reports that one police unit was forced to flee up a street pursued by farmers with crooks and pieces of wood. 

Thursday, February 11/2016

Beautiful sunny day. Walk down Panayi Tsaidan on our way to see the Kerameikos, one of the most ancient sites in a city of ancient sites. The walk itself is interesting. We go past one Chinese store after another, most selling handbags and backpacks, some labelled import-export, some featuring clothing. Sometimes the signs are in Chinese and English, occasionally just Chinese. Most have no Greek. As in most of inner Athens there is a juxtaposition of lovely old buildings with modern graffiti decor; sometimes political, often very well executed, though no particular favour to the original architecture.

The area is in the northwest of the oldest part of Athens, and got its name from the word for potters. The inner area was the potters' quarter and the outer area was used as a cemetery as far back as the third millennium BC and became an organised cemetery about 1200 BC. In 431 Pericles gave a funeral oration there and he was later himself buried in the graveyard. It's now a rurally peaceful area of grass and ancient walls and sculptures, though some of the funeral markers are replicas, with the originals in the National Museum. It's a stunningly beautiful day and there are few others around. The signs are in English as well as Greek but there aren't many and they're almost classically unhelpful. Wandering the site is a pleasure though. Quite amazing to think of a community here over four thousand years ago. There's non-human life as well. We spot a number of tortoises, including one whose mission in life appears to be to attack its neighbour, unwilling to be diverted despite J's strenuous efforts.

There's a small but impressive museum, with a number of sculptures that remind one of the links between ancient Greece and Egypt. One of my favourites though, is a grave relief showing a woman holding her infant grandchild. The inscription is translated. "I hold here the beloved child of my daughter, which I held on my knees when we were alive and saw the light of the sun, and now, dead, I hold it dead." The memorial is from a grave enclosure near the sunny Sacred Way we have just been exploring, approximately 425 bc, the young grandmother and tiny baby as moving now as they would have been 2500 years ago. A more amusing reminder of mortality is a small "voodoo" type doll in a coffin shaped case, next to an ancient engraved curse. Not all deaths were unwanted.

Stroll down to Monastiraki, along Ermou, major shopping street filled with interesting shops, retro if not antiques, but also with people sleeping rough in mid-afternoon. A leg in an absolutely filthy cast projects, at one point, from underneath a quilt. At Monastiraki Square the bleacher type benches seem no longer to exist. Taken down to prevent their use as bunks? Home along Athina, past street stalls and the central market. J buys a bag of dried camomile flowers for making tea as his mother did. 

Chat with the man on the desk at our hotel. Are things getting better in Greece? No, worse. He's quite moderate on most issues, and well travelled. Spent time in the US and lived for some months with his brother in Windsor, Ontario. An apartment in Athens that used to sell for €120,000 now sells for €50,000, so that a person who lost his job and can't make the payments also can't sell the flat for anything like what he owes. He himself is fifty years old and has a small mini mart in addition to this job at the hotel. He makes €25,000, half of which goes in taxes, which keep rising. It's not himself he worries for but his daughter, who's sixteen, as austerity takes jobs and taxes rise. He has sympathy for the migrants, but Greece has little to give.

 

Wednesday, February 10/2016

Breakfast included, and nicer than it was two years ago. Still the creamy strained yoghurt that meets J's test - you could (though we don't) hold the bowl upside down without losing any of it. Mediterranean standard. Fruit, tomatoes, cucumber, olives, hard boiled eggs, slices of meat and cheese. Bread for toasting. And a huge metal honey container. There's also some generically appalling looking cereal, but only once see someone - a child - taking any. Languages in the breakfast room as varied as those on the street, although not the same ones. More than one French speaker, including a thin man on his own who has turned the hotel into full board by virtue ( though virtue may not be the right word) of filling a plastic bread bag with about a dozen slices of bread worth of sandwiches, carefully prepared with butter and ham and cheese slices. No trace of embarrassment and certainly nothing furtive about the performance, which he makes no attempt to hide when the hotel girl is  refilling platters and clearing tables. He's not the only one supplying himself for later of course, but most of the others are satisfied with an orange or an apple. People watching as interesting here as anywhere. J sees a boy of about ten make a breakfast entirely of half a dozen slices of marbled cake.

Our first visit to the port of Piraeus in many years. It's on the end of one of the Metro lines, and the senior fare is only sixty euro cents (94 cents CAD, 47p UK). We hear music and watch as a young man - presumably Romany - exits the carriage, swinging a little boy of no more than three onto the platform. Suspect that it's not simply paternal responsibility that leads to him bringing the child with him, but the little boy's value in attracting donations. It's illegal, of course, but common. He's followed by three singing boys accompanying themselves with various instruments. Here there's another problem: the oldest boy may have reached school leaving age but the younger two certainly haven't. Everything conspires against their getting an education, though - the schools don't really want the burden, the parents prefer to have them as earners, and the children themselves wish to be free.

Piraeus. No cruise ships in sight, though J has berthed here often on school cruises. Ferries for the islands though, and people waiting for them. There are also homeless migrants. We pass only a few who are obviously homeless, but there are plenty of signs of people sleeping rough. Our first realisation comes when we sit on a set of benches looking out onto the port and notice the number of blankets folded, stored in supermarket trolleys, under benches, marking places. 

There's also a busy market in Piraeus. Fruit, vegetables, olive oil, meat, and - especially - fish. A little local café is serving fish but we're still pretty full from breakfast.

Tuesday, February 9/2016

Up at 4:45. Actually for the second time, as seem accidentally have set one ipad alarm for 2:45. Other ipad alarm and mobile go off as (accurately) instructed. Downstairs by 5:25 as taxi ordered for 5:30. Unfamiliar Night Porter at desk, and the detective story writer in me wonders to whom we have given our key - while obviously leaving for some time - and what he has done with our usual night porter, husband of Maria the cleaner. Initially think that M's husband is asleep on the couch in reception, but appears that blankets on couch have been vacated, obviously by new, and presumably legitimate, Night Porter. 

At 5:35 ask NP to phone taxi company to inquire, thinking it preferable to have him admonish them in Greek to finding that I am  engaged in mutually incomprehensible dialogue. Loud conversation follows - loud at least on the part of NP, and knowing Cypriots probably at other end of phone as well - my standard line regarding Greek tone and volume being that I divorced a man without ever speaking to him like that. (Ex-husband's memory may, of course, differ). Taxi man wishes to talk to me. This is an emergency number. Resist saying that in that case it seems odd to have it as the only phone number on their business card, realising that he probably means that at ungodly hours like this the office phone rings through to his home. When did we book? Yesterday. Did we call the office? No, we walked in. What time did we order the cab for? Five thirty. How much did they tell us? Twelve euros. Don't bother saying that we chose them in part because they were the only company that did not quote more for coming before six. Grunts, followed by a promise to come now - in five or six minutes. 

"I report?" asks the NP. Wonder to whom - hotel, police? In any case can't imagine the translation difficulties involved. Only when question repeated with plane soaring actions do I realise that the word was aeroport. Suspect that the five or six minute quote more appeasement than accurate estimate. Say to J that taxi man clearly unhappy about being roused from sleep, and will have to dress and probably shave and start the car. However when taxi arrives - in about fifteen minutes - see that the driver is bearded. Frequently useful in such crises?

 Little traffic at this hour, which gets us to the airport earlier than any Cypriot would consider reasonable, or even sane. Hand driver the money, prudently in exact amount. Twelve euros?! That's what they told us. Can see that he regards himself as the injured party - called out of bed through no fault of his own. On the other hand, we are at our least inclined to tip - having booked well in advance for a service that was not provided until we had the hotel phone, and then only following extended argument. 

So off to Athens. In by Metro, to Ommonia Square, changing at Syntagma. Happily, seniors are half price regardless of nationality, so €5 each and we're a five minute walk from the hotel. It's the Epidavros, and we've stayed there before. Surprisingly, considering that last time was over two years ago, the morning desk man remembers us. Check out the neighbourhood. It's still vibrant, friendly, busy - but seems more multi-ethnic than it did two years ago. Signs in Arabic, English and Russian, as well as what we take for Tamil. Money transfer establishments, the mainstay of the immigrant community supporting relatives with remittances. Pastry shops that are no more than a heated window on the street. Fruit and vegetable stalls with surprisingly good prices. Inexpensive clothing. A community somehow reminiscent of London - but maybe east end post war.

Monday, February 8/2016

Meet J&B at George's for lunch. As it's round the corner from the animal shelter charity shop, we stop there first. They're overstocked, both because of the change in season and because of the economy - their patrons are cutting back even on charity shop priced purchases. So the woman who runs the shop has told us that she used to bank €6000 a month and now it's down to €1500. The workers are all volunteer and the goods donated, but there's still rent and utilities to pay. Lots of markdowns in an attempt to shift the inventory, so we acquire three books that we probably won't have (or make) time to read for ten cents each, including a good prose translation of the Odyssey. Memories of Greek sagas and myth sadly in need of renewing. George's meal of the day is chicken curry, with either rice or chips (seems odd, but very British). He does quite a good curry, though, starting from scratch with chicken fillet and asking how hot each of us wants our curry. Jane has taken two Breughel painting postcards round the corner for enlargement and laminating, and they're done by the time the curry is. One shows children engaged in a variety of games and can only be properly enjoyed when enlarged.

Sunday, February 7/2014

From the Cyprus news:

▪️ Burglars have made off with 60 bridal gowns and other wedding-related accessories worth over€90,000 from a central Larnaca bridal shop. According to the police, the break-in took place between 8pm on Thursday and 8.30am on Friday. The shop’s owner listed 60 dresses by various designers as having been taken, as well as 100 tiaras, 15 dress overlays, five sets of ‘stefania’ wedding crowns used in Orthodox wedding ceremonies, and five pairs of shoes. Police officers investigating the scene believe the thieves entered the shop through its main glass door after removing the lock.They have collected fingerprints and other evidence from the scene and will be examining footage from CCTV cameras in the area. The shop did not have an alarm or its own security cameras but the goods were insured, the police said.▪️

No alarm, no security camera, removable lock. But they were insured. Hmmmm

Saturday, February 6/2016

Checking on the bus strike. Apparently they plan to "escalate" next week, although they don't seem to have much labour left to withdraw.  Think one of the letter writers to the Cyprus Mail had it right:

"The owners are paid by the taxpayer but it appears that a disproportionate amount of that money sticks to their fingers." 

Anyway, plan B as far as getting to the airport on Tuesday is concerned. Ditto, probably, on coming back. Cyprus taxis overpriced, in part because there are too many of them, so that survival depends on high fares from few customers. Much worse than the airport question is the fact that our social life is tied in to the bus service. Talk of strike funds and holding out for victory not highly reassuring, although we do think that the drivers are not the cause of the problem. Ran into Harry at the supermarket and talked long enough that, as Harry said, we might as well have stopped for coffee. He has a good friend who drove a local bus for a while and was disgusted with the inefficiencies and outright corruption in the system.

Friday, February 5/2016

We're never quite sure what items we're not supposed to bring over the border from North Cyprus when returning to the South. Forget about it until we're asked by the uniform if we've bought anything, which seems a poor time to ask what shouldn't we have. Have always assumed tobacco was top of the verboten list but nobody we know buys it and booze doesn't seem any cheaper in the North. Though medicine  certainly is. But now we know not to waste our time gathering snails:

"Ten kilos of snails were found in the car of a Turkish Cypriot when he tried to transport them from the occupied areas to the south, customs said. On Wednesday morning, police in Pyla stopped a vehicle which was driven by a Turkish Cypriot man from Vatili and discovered the snails. The driver was taken to the customs department where he was fined €100. The snails were seized in order to be destroyed."

Destroyed, or escargots for the customs blokes?

Thursday, February 4/2016

(Photo: Cyprus Mail)

Identify the bar that was the scene of the shots last week. Bizarre, really: no one injured, bar closed for the night, but about 20 shots. Obviously not one careless person thinking it was unloaded and finding otherwise. Busy square with semi upscale bars and cafés, diagonally opposite where used to stay several years ago - before the hotel and square began to move up in the world.

Bus strike continues. Meeting with the relevant minister, or his delegate, predictably useless. Public sympathies probably limited, in part because only 39% of Cypriots have ever set foot on public transport, nor has the quality of same encouraged them to do so. As with so much in Cyprus, corruption seems to have been commonplace. Stories of personal vehicles being fueled at company expense.

J has acquired a friend at the beach, a Cypriot man who speaks almost no English but is highly voluble in Greek. He has a number of medical problems, from what J can make out, including metal replacement bits in his legs, back problems, and need for some difficult heart surgery for which he is waiting. Some of this information gleaned from a friend who sometimes keeps an eye on the man as he swims. Last week Cypriot Friend went swimming on a chilly day and J, seeing him shivering on the beach, brought him a cup of hot coffee. Later in the week, to J's embarrassment, CF pressed on him a bag of gifts - wine, sweets, zivania (wine based spirit). Today there's a top up package with Commandaria (traditional heavy, sweet Cypriot wine), nuts and more sweets. And this from a man with little savings, as his friend explained earlier! Horribly out of proportion any kindness in J's bringing coffee. He's on the beach today when We meet up and J introduces me. 

There's a young woman there sitting outside the concrete change room/toilet building who translates for us. His daughter? No, she works here but keeps an eye on him. She is Cypriot but Australian born and about to run out of any official assistance. The powers that be give her a number of days work and then cut her off. She says, philosophically, thar some people refuse to clean toilets but she needs the money. She has a ten year old daughter. She also used to have a good job, she says, working at the airport for €1000 ($1541 CAD, £771) a month. But with the economic crisis the salary was cut and then she was asked to work a split shift - which as a single parent she couldn't do. She shrugs. There are people who will work for four hundred euros - or five, or six - but you can't live. Later research shows that there are some minimum wage regulations, around €900 monthly, but only in a few occupations

Wednesday, February 3/2016

Jane has appointment with surgeon in the morning. The plan is that they will collect us afterward and we'll go for lunch. However usual chaos prevails at hospital, resulting in hour and a half of queuing (once more think of the ludicrous arrangement whereby those in wheelchairs go to the front of the line whilst those standing with difficulty do so interminably). This despite the fact that appointments are made in advance. Then J's files not delivered from registration counter to examining room, metres away, resulting in more delays. Would, in fact, be difficult to devise a more inefficient system. To add insult to injury, the surgeon then says they are expected to pay for the operation - which as Cyprus residents and EU citizens they're not. Odd that it would be the surgeon and not a clerk pursuing this anyway. But Bill, not in best humour by this point, obviously having none of it and enlightens surgeon. 

Lunch at Cessac at the British base, where we're metres away from a sunny sea and the fish and chips are excellent. Arrive home at B&J's just as the postman pulls up on his motorbike. Delivery is only weekly in Pyla, so there's a small bundle. Two letters in official brown envelopes are registered and require signatures. What are they? The postman is happy to share his expertise - it will be the title deeds for the house. 

And after lunch the treat: Bill shows us how to make terrine. Labour intensive but fun. Basically sausage meat and chestnut stuffing layered with chicken breast (or on some occasions rabbit) and wrapped in bacon. Plenty of herbs from the garden. To be baked, cooled and pressed. 

We leave for the bus after the terrine is in the oven. And wait a ridiculously long time even assuming the schedule may be a bit off. Until a car stops in the dusk and beeps. Woman inside informs us that the bus strike is still on. Certainly explains non-appearance. Obviously we should have read more than Sunday's paper. B&J kindly run us home.

Tuesday, February 2/2016

Hotel employees get the green light to strike, though apparently not immediately. Never thought of the staff here as belonging to a union, and perhaps they don't. In any case housekeeping of such an indifferent quality that we could easily manage without for a week or two. More if we had access to the linen and mops, etc.

Monday, February 1/2016

Reports say that the Cypriot unemployment rate for December 2015 is down by 8 percentage points to 15.7%, from 16.5% in the last month of 2014. Maths seem odd. But apart from that, this doesn't take into account young people leaving the country because there were no jobs for them.

Discussion - well no, actually we just listen - with the woman who runs the animal shelter charity shop. J asks her opinion on the UK exiting the EU: she's all in favour. Then comes the torrent - all the money and benefits that asylum seekers can get at the expense of the British poor. She quotes astonishing figures. They're wrong, of course. I'm disturbed enough to look them up when we get back. But if there were the sort of differential she imagines it would be pretty distressing. As it is, the most upsetting thing is the seemingly endless pitting of the poor against the poor. The why should they get it when.... Never seems to come round to any suggestion of sacrifice on the part of the one percent.

Sunday, January 31/2016

From today's Cyprus Mail, one more example of local Mafia style. Of particular interest as we stayed at a nearby hotel on Ermou St for several years. Not hat tourists are ever at much risk in these affairs. Normally tourists (other than yobs hitting on local girls in the bars) are at risk only from appaling Cypriot drivers:

▪️POLICE are investigating a shooting incident that occurred early Friday at a newly opened bar in Larnaca, after it had closed for the night.

▪️According to police reports, around 20 shots were fired with an automatic weapon at around 3.50am outside the bar which is located in Ermou Street, in the centre of Larnaca. The bar’s owner told police he does not suspect anyone.

▪️The bullets, smashed the bar’s front window panes, while several shells were found on site. The bar was closed when the shooting occurred.

Saturday, January 30/2016

Brief strikes, really more protests than serious work stoppages, are fairly common in Cyprus. Doctors employed by the state at hospitals and clinics have planned a six hour strike for Monday to protest the raising of their pensionable age from 65 to 68. Also on Monday is a strike of Larnaca bus drivers, slated for 24 hours beginning at 5 AM. Their problem is that they accepted wage cuts in September 2014 because the company had financial problems. The agreement, they say, was temporary - until December 31/2015 - and they should have reverted to their regular pay. 

Friday, January 29/2016

Lovely day, so reinstitute Plan A from Wednesday, sort of. Bus to Pyla, where Bill and Joe trim trees. Then evening buffet at Bambos, restaurant in next village over. Thursday and Friday evenings feature enormous buffet at impressively low price of €7.30 ($11.05 CAD, £5.55). Always noisily full of Cypriots with a few expats. Birthday parties, children under tables and great good humour. Family run.

Thursday, January 28/2016

At Prinos greengrocer's. They always ask at the till whether we have a bonus card. We don't, but have shopped there for so many winters that it occurs to us that maybe we should. So inquire, and are duly given an application form. First boc for surname and second for first name. Third is for ID or passport number!! Can think of no conceivable legitimate reason for asking. Sheer nosiness? Bureaucratic habit? Same phenomenon at airport, where girls doing tourism surveys invariably ask so many intrusive questions that visitors refuse to complete the questionnaire. Shall not bother with bonus card application.

Maggi and I have late lunch special at Marzano's. Classier than most traditional Cypriot restaurants, but without their familial warmth and rough hospitality.

Wednesday, January 27/2016

Wednesday. Plan A was that we would go to Jane and Bill's in the AM, and Bill and Joe would trim the trees adjacent to the house that were beyond B's reach and heading for the power lines. Weather still fairly bitter in the wind, so Plan B devised. Jane goes to her painting group at the Flamingo Hotel for the first time since she broke her femur and B and J collect us on the way back to Pyla. Homemade soup and terrine (totally spoiled we are) and film watching. Actually men watch WW II airplane videos. Jane has nap. I take out ipad. Always familial comfortable there when we each do our own thing, though. Then evening meal at To Kazani, in part down to Christmas present voucher from B&J's grandson. Lamb chops and chicken souvlaki, following meze that would have been sufficient in itself.

Tuesday, January 26/2016

Northern Cyprus press after their president's return from Davos yesterday: 

"President Mustafa Akıncı stated that they had an opportunity to express the peaceful, modern and rational messages of the Turkish Cypriots in Davos, adding that the few days in Davos were very beneficial for the Turkish Cypriot people and the future of Cyprus. In his press meeting at Ercan Airport after his return from Davos, Akıncı said that it was a great experience for them to attend the World Economic Forum in Davos. Furthermore, Akıncı expressed that the Turkish Cypriot people are one of the two equal partners of the Federal United Cyprus to be established."

And therein lies the seeds of reunification failure. Greek Cypriots recoil in horror at any thought of equality of any kind. Game over.

Monday, January 25/2016

Thought winter was over and thought wrong. Freezing. Very nearly literally as overnight temperature dips to about 1 degree. Water jar (our dechlorinator) on the balcony doesn't form ice, of course, but cold enough that the thought occurs. Cypriots can't remember colder temperatures, though we Canadians can, of course. Follows on what has been in general the warmest winter we can remember here. And since this is our sixteenth year we're developing a fair memory bank. But expected to warm up later in the week.

Sunday, January 24/2016

Chilly. Well, for Cyprus downright cold. Sunday lunch at Cambanella's with Bill and Jane. The place is packed and an Englishwoman asks us on our way in whether we know of any special occasion, as there isn't an unreserved table to be had.  Seems it's just chance, though. As usual the lady of the house, presiding over the carvery, is disappointed if one takes only a week's worth of meat from the roasts on offer.

Saturday, January 23/2016

 CTO, the Cyprus Tourist Organisation, is claiming credit for an increase in tourists to the island last year in typically turgid Cypriot bureaucratic jargon, citing "hard and methodical work, achieved through a multi-level and complex effort." Well, yes, although terrorism in Tunisia, Turkey and Egypt did give Cyprus an edge over competing markets. The strength of the pound against the euro was another factor, and many avoided Greece because of bailout uncertainty. An editorial in the Cyprus Mail comments wryly: "If this were the case what had the CTO been doing the previous years? Why had it taken so many years for it to engage in the hard and methodical work and the multi-level and complex effort that achieved the impressive results of 2015? Why was there no intense and targeted action in 2013 and 2014?"

Friday, January 22/2016

Think more of the Norwegians must be back in the hotel. There's a fairly exuberant gathering in the studio next to us, laughter until after midnight so we joke about taking a bottle and knocking on the door. But much more typical of Cypriots than Norwegians. Think it sounds like Norwegian being spoken, though. Time will tell. Last year the wifi was enough worse that we spent more time in reception in search of a stronger signal. Meant we saw more of the neighbours and knew more of what was going on.

Thursday, January 21/2016

Jane has physio in the morning so she and Bill stop for lunch. Raw veg, dips (tzatziki from scratch, others from Prinos), beef fillet and then fruit. Strawberries now local, from a bit north of here. 

Wednesday, January 20/2016

800 gram cauliflower

Coffee at Harry's about 11:30. Four older men (don't know older than what - not necessarily older than us, but not young) at the next table. They have coffee but also a bottle of something colourless labelled in Greek. Probably zivania, a grape based spirit. Much laughter, and when they're finished the bottle returned to the café shelves. Cheerful lifestyle, though as J points out the women don't seem to have nearly such a relaxed life. 

Carrefour and Prinos for fruit and veg. Incredibly lucky to be here strawberries are fresh. In fact I never by fruit that has no scent. Same rule at home, but in SL that leaves us with a much narrower range - mostly bananas and grapes. Here even the carrots smell like carrots. Tiny tomatoes, and cauliflower. The latter 69 euro cents per kilo today (52p, $1.06 CAD). That's 48 cents a pound in Canada. We've been reading stories about $8 heads of cauliflower in Canada. Of course that isn't a kilo price. Maybe they're enormous....Maybe aye and maybe hooch aye, my Scots grandmother would have said skeptically.

Tuesday, January 19/2016

Article from Davos, via Reuters, with commentary by B Jaworski in brackets:

Cyprus will make an unprecedented joint appeal to the world's political and business elite in Davos on Thursday to support their efforts to reach a settlement to their decades-old dispute.

Cyprus leaders to make joint Davos appeal for peace support   *[Wonderful! New captive audience - Brussels' patience long since exhausted]

U.N. and European officials say the prospects of finally reaching a peace deal to resolve one of the oldest frozen conflicts on the planet are better than at any time since Greek Cypriots rejected a U.N. peace plan in 2004.  *[Not that they were good then].

There's an interest among the leaders involved. Both Turkey and Greece see advantages to moving on,"  [special UN envoy] Eide told Reuters.  *[Well, optimism is his job].

The east Mediterranean island has been divided since Turkey invaded the north in 1974 in response to a short-lived coup in Nicosia inspired by Greece's then military rulers.

Cyprus joined the European Union in 2004 despite the Greek Cypriot vote against reunification. *[Major error on the part of a weary EU - when negotiating never assume the sensitive issues will sort themselves out later]

However, its relations with Turkey have remained frozen, efforts to reduce the economic isolation of Turkish Cypriot northern Cyprus have stalled and Nicosia has blocked much of Ankara's EU accession negotiations over the continued dispute. *[All too predictably - what WERE they thinking in Brussels?]

Peace efforts gained a boost with the election of two leaders who are personally committed to a negotiated settlement, as well as the discovery of large offshore natural gas deposits off Cyprus which would be easier to exploit if there is a deal. *[Finally a little incentive, but don't hold your breath].

A reunited Cyprus would also need international investment to help the peace process work. Reconstructing one resort town abandoned in the conflict is estimated to cost billions of euros, and compensation may also be required for people unable to reclaim their properties. *[Dream on, Cyprus, do you have ANY idea where you fall in the list of EU priorities?].

The regional strategic environment is more favorable because Greece's leftist government is less nationalistic than its predecessors and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has tamed the military and is keen to improve relations with the EU.  *[And no serious problems in Greece or Turkey at the moment. They're free to concentrate on Cyprus].

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu is due to address the Davos audience right after the Cypriot leaders and is likely to reaffirm his country's commitment to support a settlement this year, which would also remove an obstacle to closer EU ties.  *[They'll be lucky to be allowed to stay in Nato. Forget the EU].

Some diplomats in Ankara hope for agreement on the text of a deal before Cypriot parliamentary elections in May, and a referendum soon after that.  *[These are the same realists who would rather destroy Kurds than ISIS and can't resist poking the Russian bear].

Anastasiades and Akinci  *[still referred to in southern Cypriot news broadcasts as the so-called president of the illegal regime - that's how friendly things are]. are not expected to announce any agreement on Thursday because much detailed work remains on sensitive issues such as territory, the return of property or compensation.  *[So far they've agreed on catering for the talks?]

An international reconstruction fund with EU and private money could be a vital component. *[Swamp land also on offer]

"We have gone from harvesting relatively low-hanging fruit into the hard core deepest areas. We're in tougher terrain now and both leaders will have to make concessions," Eide said.  *[Begin of preparation for disaster]

An agreement between the two leaders would have to be ratified in referendums in each of the communities and implemented over time with international support.  *[That was where it fell apart last time]. 

Anastasiades has not yet really begun to sell the benefits of a potential deal to a skeptical Greek Cypriot electorate.  *[Wisely. He's had cardiac problems. And said electorate already unhappy that both leaders went to Davos, just like equal human beings].

Asked why prospects for a settlement were better now than in 2004, Eide said: "The one major difference is that this time the process is led by the Cypriots and their leaders. My role is to facilitate but we (United Nations) are not putting down our own proposals. Every word is written and agreed to by the sides."  *[EU, at least, has learned not to beat its head against a wall].

Monday, January 18/2016

Cool and showery in Larnaca, but roads closed in the Troodos Mountains due to heavy snowfall. Cyprus is such a small island, 240 km long by 100 km wide, so the mountains are about 110 km away by road - more like 70 km as the crow flies. It's not unusual to have mountain roads closed to non 4WD vehicles (or those without chains!) in winter. Totally closed much less common.

Sunday, January 17/2016

Sunday lunch. This time we go with Bill and Jane to Kofinou, a little village just south of Larnaca. There's a restaurant there featuring lamb kleftiko - baked in a traditional outdoor beehive shaped oven. Actually, later googling reveals that there are several (5?) kleftiko restaurants in Kofinou, which is known in Cyprus as the village to go to for the best kleftiko. It's also known for its refugee centre, prefab houses sheltering various refugees including, as of September some Syrians who sailed from Tripoli in Lebanon. (And also for its abattoir). 

Our meal is certainly very good, served with roast potatoes, preceded by salad (including very nice marinated caper greens) and followed by small pastries filled with anari cheese and Greek coffee. Quite busy and all the other patrons seem to be Cypriot, a good sign.

Saturday, January 16/2016

Walking up from the beach we see our friend Mr Walid outside the mosque. He's an Iraqi refugee who lives at the Sunflower and always stops for a chat. His life centres around the mosque and he is pleased to invite us in. We've often admired it from the outside. A beautiful building, 500 years old he says, stone with flying buttresses. We leave our shoes at the door and enter the spare, carpeted interior. J lends me his sunhat, but otherwise I'm pretty well covered. Very peaceful. There are books. Take one if you wish, he says, and J takes a small paperback Koran in English. A few young men are seated cross-legged on the floor for instruction or discussion. We admire the few pictures. The space is large, airy, and pleasant. A lovely, serendipitous encounter. 

Coffee at Harry's Café. Usually fellow coffee drinkers are local Cypriots, though there are also occasional tourists or others. A tall fair haired man, probably in his forties (although we're becoming less reliable estimators as everyone looks younger and younger) arrives with a (probably) Cypriot man. The language of conversation is English but not close enough to assess the accent - the Cypriot is quite loud but his companion inaudible. So play the guess nationality game. Not British or North American. Wearing a waistcoat with quite casual clothes. Not proof positive but material is shiny, satin-like, as opposed to, say, leather. Number two is footwear. Leather sandals could be from anywhere, but these with loudly checked socks. Number three is hair. Shoulder length proves nothing, but the combed straight back look almost certainly European. Concensus, including colouring, Northern European, probably Scandinavian or German. Other considerations are that he is carrying a sketch pad featuring a cartoon and that he is here outside of tourist season, so perhaps slightly atypical in his home country. An interesting pastime. 

Stop at the elephant store on the way home. Notice, not for the first time that unit prices are utterly unreliable, specifically in this case re Famous Grouse whisky, which we don't intend to buy and bread, which we do. The sign says, inaccurately, that a 550 gram loaf of bread at €1.39 is the same price per hundred grams as a 900 gram loaf for €1.99. (And no, I don't carry a calculator or do the precise maths in my head - some things just stand out as an insult to the intelligence). 

More obvious is the whisky. Two bottles of Famous Grouse, one 70 cl and the other a full litre. The full litre one sells for €12.99 (or €1.30 per hundred ml). The 70 cl bottle is €9.99 (or €1.43 per 100 ml). Fair enough. OK, I know. If anybody is actually reading this, they may well be distracted by the actual prices. €12.99 is $20.61 CAD or £9.94. And you can't begin to think about an acceptable blend for that price in Canada or the UK. I also know that in Canada you can't buy a litre of whisky; you'd have to buy 1.14 litres. If you're not Canadian, don't ask. I also know that if Jennifer is reading this she thinks I've totally lost it. Raye, this is where numeracy leads. BUT the thing is, the sign doesn't compare mls at all. It shows the price per gram. GRAMS of whisky? And furthermore it says that the litre costs €3.25 per 100 grams while the 70 cl bottle is €1.43 per 100 grams. Go figure!

Friday, January 15/2016

Decide on booking Athens instead of Sofia. An unnerving experience with hotel wifi speeds, although safe enough with a VPN. Constant finger crossing that the system won't crash mid payment. Aegean's site works so badly that in the end I switch to Expedia which, oddly enough, is cheaper even with the booking fee than Aegean's own non-functional site. Then have the good luck to think of Expedia.ca, so no change of currency as well.  Book hotel separately, the same one we stayed at two years ago - quite adequate but definitely not the kind of luxury that attracts hostage takers. Whole procedure invollves switching to the reception area for better internet connection. Feel thoroughly entitled to the small whiskey J pours on my return.

Thursday, January 14/2016

Meet at the waterfront for coffee. No rain, but a dark cloud forms. Still warm though, with people on the beach, some swimmers, and sailboats on the horizon. Stop on the way back at Top Kinesis, the travel agency that sold us the Nile cruise all those years ago. The girl we talk to totally gets the idea of the visa run. We have to go somewhere by mid-February. Preferably reasonably cheaply. Sofia? Yes, maybe.

Wednesday, January 13/2016

Tree planting day. Bill has two trees started in pots that need to be transplanted and they're big enough that moving them has become a two-person job. They pick us up after Jane's physio appointment and we head out to the British base for fish and chips. Stunning warm, sunny day. The restaurant is on the edge of the sea. See-through plastic windows still in place, so the view is a bit hazy, but in the summer they'll be removed and the breeze will flow through. J and Bill transplant a young grapefruit tree and one other. J says the soil is extremely dry when they dig down but the trees get a good watering. Home with a beautifully marbled. 

Thick slice of Bill's latest culinary production, rabbit terrine. Light supper after lunchtime fish and chips. Light maybe, but with terrine and marinated olives from Jane and Bill's tree indecently luxurious.

Tuesday, January 12/2016

Bus out to Vlachos where we're meeting Jane and Bill for dinner. Last visit there was mid-December when Jane was in hospital. We're early so go for a short walk and return as Jane and Bill are arriving - Jane for the first time using elbow crutches instead of the walking frame and moving fairly smoothly. Excellent meal as always. I order moussaka and J a mixture of chicken kebab and sheftalia sausages (a Cypriot specialty made with ground pork or lamb mixed with onion and parsley and grilled). Practically a meal's worth of leftovers to take home.

Monday, January 11/2016

Radio four interrupted with the news that David Bowie has died. Presenters clearly stunned by completely unexpected news, though it emerges that he had been suffering from cancer for the last year and a half. Tributes and reminiscences for the rest of the day. By evening the Cyprus Mail online has struggled to find a local angle, a little reminiscent of the apocryphal story about the Aberdeen paper that was supposed to have reported the sinking of the Titanic under the headline "North-east man dies at sea". The CM's heading is "David Bowie: Cyprus is my Island (Updated)" and the story mainly refers to the fondness Bowie's first wife had for Cyprus where she was born while her father was here working as a mining engineer. Clearly pulled out of the archives to meet the occasion.

Sunday, January 10/2016

Cambanella's for Sunday roast again. Or choice of roasts. The staff are all, or mostly family (apparently the daughter is a lawyer who still cooks at the restaurant on weekends). The woman who carves the meet seems terribly disappointed when one says no to a third slice. Maureen here as well as Jane and Bill. Bill fills a plate at the carvery cum buffet for Jane and she says, mildly, that she had specified thin slices. But we're all agreed - the woman doesn't do thin. 

Saturday, January 9/2016

Lovely weather again. Some tourists wearing shorts. Some locals wearing sweaters and coats. Speculate, not for the first time, on the rôle of culture and human physiology in establishing comfort norms re temperature. And surely perspiration is independent of cultural conditioning?

Friday, January 8/2016

Threatens rain but more or less doesn't. That is it rains, but only while we're having coffee and sheltered by the restaurant patio roof. Windy but not cold at all. Some people in swimming and the sea probably warmer than Ontario lakes in summer. Stop at the animal shelter charity shop on the way back, where the Thai woman that works there on Fridays tells us that she and her husband stayed home on New Year's Eve because the celebrations aren't what they were. No music this year, she says. Timed the fireworks from our window, I say - three minutes. Glad we celebrated chez nous, although a little nostalgia for the days when we'd take a bottle of sparkling wine and a couple of glasses out into the throng along the beach and join the ooohs and aaahs.

Thursday, January 7/2016

Jane has a physio appointment, after which she and Bill pick us up and we go for lunch at Cessac, at the Dekhelia base (British). It's more or less cafeteria style, but famous for its fish and chips, which live up to the reputation. Jane manages the walk from the parking lot with her walker, and observes that a disabled parking spot would be handy but would undoubtedly be used by the wrong people. Back to J and B's where we're given oranges from their tree. Bus home.

Wednesday, January 6/2016

Winter over! Seems like it anyway, and nice timing as today is a holiday. The Feast of Epiphany always seems like a bigger event than Christmas in Cyprus, although it may only be that Christmas is more familial and celebrated in the home whereas Epiphany involves public events and parades. Super day - sunny and a high around 20 in the shade. Some in swimming and quite a few tourists around. Not as crowded on the waterfront as on previous years, though there are a number of booths selling everything from cotton candy and roast chestnuts and corn cobs to cheap jewellery and religious items. When we arrive the (arch?)bishop is still on the pier. There has been a procession from St Lazarus Church, ending with the bishop throwing the cross in the water and young men diving for the honour of retrieving it. Retrieval always successful as it's tied to a cord. We do see the procession heading back. It's always a little disturbing as a symbol of non-separation of Church and state. Large numbers of cadets bearing a large cross, soldiers with unpleasant looking automatic weapons, a military band, and heavily vested Church dignitaries. Nationalism, religious loyalties and a certain amount of xenophobia heavily combined. 

Harry's café open and along with our Cyprus coffee we're served two small lokoumades, round honey soaked doughnuts that are traditional on this day.  Back on the beach carnival atmosphere continues and we stop for our annual ice cream cone. Home with sprigs of eucalyptus leaves from the pier, left after the parade. Beautiful scent in the flat.

Tuesday, January 5/2016

Rain and cold. What passes in Cyprus for winter. The newspaper reports that police on Sunday wrote up 136 businesses for continuing to trade on Sundays while forbidden to do so. There's a continuing dispute over whether Sunday trading should be determined by executive decision or parliamentary legislation. Pending a supreme court decision stores should remain closed, with the exception of small corner shop types. One reader is enraged, writing: 

"So the police have lots of time to issue notices to shops staying open on a Sunday. Why don't the police stop all those driving whilst using a mobile phone, going over red lights, parking and blocking pedestrians on pavements, parking on zebra crossings, double parking outside schools, driving with children in their cars who have no seat belts, stopping motorcyclists who have no number plates or helmets on, stopping the many, many vehicles belching smoke out of their exhausts,..." Fair point as all of the above are huge problems, with people using wheelchairs or pushing prams forced out onto the road as the sidewalks are blocked by parked cars.

Monday, January 4/2016

Photo courtesy of Cyprus Mail

Winter. Cold and rainy and a good day to be inside. But a good day, it would seem for the birds. According to the newspapers they're back - the flamingos that winter at the 2.2 square kilometre salt lake near the airport. There were some there in December but they've been joined by many more - the estimate is 10,000. The salt lake was, until the 1980's, a source of salt for export, taken by donkeys down to the harbour. When we stayed at the Athene it was walking distance. It's not really now, although might be possible using the bus one way. The flamingos are a bit unpredictable, though. Not easy to tell which side of the lake they'd be on.

Sunday, January 3/2016

(Maureen and Jane. Bill's beer seems to have wandered into the photo too)

Sunny, and much less windy than yesterday. Buses on the Sunday schedule less frequent, but the 425 along Dekhelia Road goes every half hour seven days a week. Take it out to Cambanella's Restaurant. Have memorised the landmarks and do know where to get off, but the driver, rather sweetly, is concerned on our behalf. Another passenger (young Philippino woman, the only other passenger at this point) kindly puts him straight, as she's getting off at the same spot. Arrive just as Jane and Bill and neighbours Iris and Maureen are going in. Jane's first physio appointment has clearly made a lot of difference, and three more scheduled this week. Cambanella's usual Sunday roast. Starters, choice of four roasts - beef, pork, lamb, and chicken (or all four if anyone wanted and could hold it), roast potatoes, Yorkshire pudding and veg. Apple pie, cheesecake or crème caramel for dessert. Always the same, but always good. Maureen turns out to be, originally, from Kilburn, home of our favourite London café.

Saturday, January 2/2016

Jane messages to say "have not used W /C all day today.......improving.

So am now able to stand & walk but still need Zimmer to rest on." I read this with the traditional use of WC, meaning loo or toilet and am puzzled. Surely not having used it all day can't be good news. And this is improvement?! Read the rest of the message, which refers to our meeting tomorrow at a restaurant for a Sunday meal: "We are leaving w/c at home so it'll be a v slow arrival". Slowly the penny drops. W/C in this case is wheelchair!

Friday, January 1/2016

New Year's Day. Winter, or what passes for it here. Not wet, but chilly enough to wear J's windproof shell over my blazer. We're invited to Bill and Jane's for dinner. Bill's doing the cooking, as he often does even when Jane isn't incapacitated. It's fairly impressive, too. The soup is a venison purée and it's followed by duck breasts with orange. Unusually, we eat inside. Without the wind it would be ok in the sun. Sunday schedule for the buses, so we get on as the bus heads into Pyla to check the route and timing. Timing always a bit problematic in Cyprus. Drivers quite considerate about letting you off at a convenient spot or waiting for a mother struggling with toddlers, but have no problem running ahead of schedule to allow for coffee at the end of the run, and quite likely to, totally illegally, use the phone while driving.

Thursday, December 31/2015

New Year's Eve, and for once we don't even really give lip service to the possibility of going down to the waterfront. Free wine and beer with the fireworks and probably a young and festive atmosphere. But better quality drink here, and quite cosy. The clincher is that the fireworks - which we can see from our sitting room (although not quite as well as if we were able to remove one particular building from the line of sight) - are shorter every year. So online greeting exchanges as the new year moves west from Australia. Midnight North American central time 8 AM here. Time the fireworks. Right- only three minutes so much better here - and raise a glass.

Wednesday, December 30/2015

Bus to Pyla. Jane in wheelchair, but we go out for a walk around the neighbourhood. Meet Bulgarian neighbour with small dog. Neighbour as affectionate, voluble - and totally incomprehensible as ever. Identify (tentatively) one word. Może, same as Polish for maybe, and accompanied by "who knows" gesture. Wheelchair significantly heavier than it looks.