Wednesday, March 28/2012

Word spreads that the Norwegians have been told that the rent will be €100 more next year than we're paying this. This in contrast with Mr Andreas having said the price will be the same next year. As J says, there's no particular obligation to ensure that everyone pays the same. On any given airplane passengers have paid a multitude of different fares, depending on how and where they bought their tickets. All the same, it does seem a little unpleasant if the Norwegians, who have been coming to this hotel longer than we have and stay at least as long in a winter, pay more simply because they are less willing to bargain and, if necessary, leave. We knkow we could go to Paphos and pay less, and do like it there, but on the whole we're quite comfortable here and have friends whom we see here as well.

Tuesday, March 27/2012

There's a sign in the lobby advertising free barbecues at the restaurant every Saturday night. The unwritten understanding, of course, is that it's an incentive to go and purchase drinks. So it appears that a family of four staying here, a couple with two rather overweight daughters, left staff flabbergasted by going and eating copiously and then answering the question "what will you have?" with "nothing."

Monday, March 26/2012

Pass three cars parked on the sidewalk - as per usual in Cyprus - with (most unusually) parking tickets affixed to the windshields. New policeman on the beat? The owners will be astonished.

J has coffeeat Harry's and I a lemon ice cream cone. It is indeed good - as good as in Florence, always my gold standard. And, on the theme of gold, J to Zeus (local pronunciation Zefs) to have his gold chain repaired on the spot.

Last game of Scrabble in the evening as M packs up.

Sunday, March 25/2012

Two events on today, and they conflict. There's the Malaysian Grand Prix, which I finally work out - through time changes, both longitudinal and daylight savings - to be at 11 o'clock. Not bad - pubs open and late enough for a Guinness to be drinkable. But there's also an invitation from Mr. Andreas here at the Sunflower, to a meal at 1 o'clock - in apology, it seems, for the construction inconvenience this winter. It's clear that the race won't quite be finished in time for the meal, so that's a write off. Even more definitely when the race is suspended for a while due to torrential rain in Malaysia.

The meal, however, turns out to be better than anticipated. The Norwegians prove to be very friendly and mostly speak some English. We have quite a good chat with Arvid and Eva, who are sitting next to us and also live next door. Andreas is on our other side and on his best behaviour. He and his wife, a sweet young grandmother, talk to us of their grandchildren and Cypriot customs. The salad is good. Followed by a massive plate of rice and shared platters of beef tenderloin and chips. Plenty of beer and wine nd we and the next door Norwegians drinking a South African cabernet sauvignon, and then finishing the bottle of sauvignon blanc that Mr Andreas and his wife had only toyed with. Actually lovely talking to the Norwegians, who are very friendly but clearly find it easier to talk Norwegian to other Norwegians than to talk English with us - though some of them are very fluent in English. And after all that wine and beer and a number of toasts we're all feeling pretty friendly.

As for the race - eventually we find it was an unexpected Ferari win for Alonso. Next two races in London (us, not the races). Question re sports reporting: When have we heard a North American reporter use a phrase like "suffused with poignancy" as I heard this morning (re football and not racing). Is it necessary to place a 200 word vocabulary limit on Canadian sports reporters?

Saturday, March 24/2012

Coffee at Harry's and some of the patrons are eating ice creams and say they're excellent. Maggi and her friend Laurel are slated to join us but don't show, having got waylaid shopping. Stunning coffee spot in front of St Lazarus Church with its lovely Venetian tower.

Planning for London in not much more than a week's time, so googling accordingly. The obvious in the way of galleries, museums and theatres, but also making a list of eating places, as we're not doing our own cooking. Amazing what comes up by googling things like "ridiculously cheap" (along with positive terms, of course) and "BYO + no corkage" is good as well. Lots of Indian and vegeterian spots, but by no means only those. Canadians always seem a bit prim - wanting to say "inexpensive" or "good value." It's quite easy to search for British holidays or restaurants by saying "very cheap" - and there are some real winners in the mix.

Friday, March 23/2012

Meet J at the beach after his morning constitutional. On the way I pass the Avenue, originally hotel apartments and now mostly just apartments. It's surrounded by police tape and fire investigators are there as well, though the building seems to be intact and there ae tenants leaning over their balconies observing. And I remember that there were sirens around one a.m. Later we hear that the fire was started by a cigarette in the reception area.

Down Makenzy (yes, correct local spelling) to look at the paintings on display by local aartists. Jane has some there - and sold one last week. There's also a batik we really like, but like most framed works it's just too big to try to take back. Coffee at Harry's on the way back. J comes home later with half a kilo of fresh picked Derynia strawberries from Prinos.

Thursday, March 22/2012

To the dentist to get our teeth examined and cleaned. No rebate for there being one less tooth to clean, but at €45 each we're not complaining. thought we'd miss Thursday morning coffee, but we're done in time. Lovely soaking in the sun, but sunglasses definitely needed..

Wednesday, March 21/2012

M back from Dubai and we go to Dhekelia for the film. The base gets current films and charges only €4 for students and seniors. The legroom is amazing - estimate a 6 foot pitch from the back of one chair to€ the same point in the row ahead. No difficulty in finding a seat either - exactly thirteen patrons there, almost all at the €4 rate. Hard to know how they do it.

The film itself, though, is, unfortunately horror verging (as horror so easily does) on the silly: The Woman in Black. It's adapted from the novel and stage play. The play is the second longest running in the west end, but then the longest running is The Mousetrap - simply a bad play that has become famous for being famous. Some lovely Victorian settings tonight, but ultimately an unsatisfactory script. I'd avoided reading the review in the Cyprus Mail, the reviewer being usually self-indulgent and rather annoying. When I do read it after the film, it turns out the reviewer is lukewarm, but for not quite the righht reasons.

Clear evening s we leave the theatre and Harry points out Jupiter and Venus and Mars.

Tuesday, March 20/2012

Jane and Bill and Aylsa and Harry to dinner. Maggi still in Dubai. Six people means bringing in the plastic chairs from the balcony but they're reasonably comfortable and there are also the 2 armchairs anc couch. Lovely to be able to sit in a circle in comfortable seats where we can all hear everyone and not just the person next. A lot of laughter. Harry can be very funny and describes being called on stage at a magician's show and finding after all the abracadabra a chicken sticking its squawking head out of his fly.

Monday, March 19/2012

Haircut in the moroning, taking Miranda Carter's biography of Anthony Blunt along. Forget to take the book with me to the chair where I'm parked for fifteen minutes or so after the girl has wetted my hair. Like not rememering to take a book out of the doctor's waiting room and into the examining room, where there's nothing to read except wall charts on the reproductive system.

Chicken into a itre of wine as per the two fat ladies' instructions for tomorrow's coq au vin. J also makes pork goulash and chicken liver paté and does the time consuming cutting of the artichokes while I read to him - now an Ian Rankin novel.

Sunday, March 18/2012

First Grand Prix of the season. The AAustralian, so it's at eight in the morning - a bit too early for a sports bar. The good news is that it's broadcast on BBC Radio 5 live, courtesy of the British forces radio. The bad that no television station we get covers it so it's all audio, no video. Good race though.

Maggi off on a trip to Dubai.

Finish Tony Benn's diary (1991-2001). Amazing energy - Benn, not us.

Saturday, March 17/2012

St. Patrick's Day and Maggi's birthday so we have a longish lunch here with meze Jaworski style - sautéed artichoke hearts, tzatziki, humus with caramelised onions, mackerel spread, etc. Cheesecake but no candles. Give her the Egyptian t-shirt we found at the animal shelter shop - sadly more her size than mine, as well as being her colour.

Friday, March 16/2012

Weather finally sunny and warm - seasonal in fact for kCyprus. But, most unfairly, equally sunny and warm in much of Canada, including record breaking 20's in northern Ontario. The Great Lakes aren't supposed to match the Mediterranean before the end of winter!

Thursday, March 15/2012

Meet Margaret, Leslie, Sharon et al for coffee.  Sharon's mother is here, visiting from England.
 To Vlachols in the evening with the usual crew plus Bill and Jane's neighbour Maureen, who is about to leave to visit her daughter in Dubai nd says the races there leave Ascot in second place for glamour. J and I both order the moussaka  - but everyone else's looks good too.

Wednesday, March 14/2012

Dinner with Maggi and Marj on Marj's last day in Cyprus. Nice getting to chat with her again and very nice meal - lamb kleftiko and Lebanese style pastries. Some serious fasting in order - but not likely.

Tuesday, March 13/2012

The forecast was unpromising, but we're lucky. It stops pouring just before we leave for the bus to Limassol. As we wait for the bus on the waterfront, I read some of the posted timetables for local buses. One advertises itself as going to Central Abattoir, Political Asylum, and Kofinoy Station. An interesting combination. And on the way to Limassol we do stop at the bus station in Kofinoy village and pass the signpost for the central abattoir. No sign of political asylum though - maybe it's just a state of mind.

Rains again on the way, but stops as we reach Limassol. Sam and Andy pick us up, Andy driving, and back to the house in Erimi. We go to Curium Beach for coffee, sitting outside, a few feet away from the sea, which is turbulent and multicoloured today. It's so beautiful and so easy to take for granted in this country.

Talking with Sam always interesting - such clear insights with that lovely balance, assured but not imposing. And very nice also to see Andy again and catch up a little. He says Olivia has found a job as a nanny for a Canadian couple - work which, happily for her, requires her to travel with the family. Sam makes an interesting - and delicious middle eaastern dish with browned onions,  and layers of rice, aubergine and fish, as well as quite a lot of allspice. A keeper!  Then strawberries and cream.

Once more rain just before we leave but not as we wait for the bus or walk home from it. And during the day dry enough for us to eat outside in Sam's Roman villa style garden. Perfect.

Monday, March 12/2012

Coffee at Harry's with Lynette and Alex, and as we drink the temperature drops and the wind comes up, to the point where sandwich boards outside cafés are in danger of becoming airborne. As we walk back there are spatters of rain.

In the evening L and A ccome over for a drink. They`re off tomorrow, heading for Turkey and - they hope - a second try at an Iranian visa. They`re hoping that Ankara has good enough relations that this may work - as it didn`t from Nicosia. The difficulty is that the Iranians seem to prefer organised tours or, at the least, carefully planned itineraries with prebooked arrangements, whereas A and L are reluctant to make a lot of bookings without knowing that their visa application will be approved. They`ll already be out over  €200 on an application - non-refundable if it isn't approved. They're also thinking of going to India, so we'll be interested in hearing how it goes.

Sunday, March 11/2012

Lazy day. Brunch with the local daily, which isn't very good but does come up with basic information and some unintentional humour. There's also so much evidence that Cyprus is not an EU country in a functional sense. There is this week a letter complaining that EU directives require that retailers repair or provide refunds for defective goods for a two year period after purchase - a requirement that is ignored by Cypriot merchants, who often deny that there is any such law, and ignored by government agencies as well, so that complaints are useless. This corresponds with what others have said - that Cyprus rregularly pays fines rather than comply with EU regulations.

And, in similar vein, one section of today's paper reports that the government has passed a law prohibiting air traffic controllers from striking while another section announces the three dates in the coming week when four-hour strikes will occur.

In the evening Maggi and her friend Marge come up for a Cyprus brandy and a chat. Marge laid back, interesting and well informed.

Saturday, March 10/2012

Coffee at Harry's - sunny and warm enough now that we opt for a table in partial shade. Amble through the market, now buzzing with Saturday colour and trade  - everything from artichokes to strawberries to pomelos to net bags of live snails.

In the evening we go to Lynette and Alex's flat where we've been invited for curry. It's lovely, and so is the pleasure of tlk with like minded people. Easy to find it's nearly midnight and when we were twenty the conversation would probably have gone on  until dawn.

Friday, March 9/2012

J to the beach for his morning walk and I to George`s café to meet up with Margaret and Leslie for a cuppa. Actually pretty hot walking in the sun, but after the cool weather we've been having no one is complaining. We're back to Cyprus sun.

In the afternoon Maggi, her friend Marge (visiting from Scotland for a week) and Jane and I go to the base at Dhekelia for fish and chips at the restaurant (portions so big that two would really have done the four of us). We're there for a production of Little Shop of Horrors - a combined effort on the part of King Richard School and the little theatre group. It's light and fun and fairly good for amateur, despite the female lead having difficulty carrying a tune. Probably would have been more interesting but less professional had it been entirely a student production.