| |
Our
adventures in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus continue....
  
These are last two weeks in U.K. which we spent seeing old friends and finalising the last arrangements before traveling on that one way ticket.It would seem that work had actually started on our house in Lapta, also luckily for us, Brian had kept a pictorial record of progress in the early stages. So now we able to see the first workers on site and the holes dug to take the foundations. The holes look just as if a large dog had been burying bones; and somebody left the loo door open! Brian had already told us that pouring the concrete was a pure manual labour job, even in all that heat, but even then you have to see the pictures to believe it. Finally it would seem, on the day we were flying in, the foundation platform was ready and they started to stack out the bricks.
The Big Day!
We left for Stanstead early this morning, after a very emotional farewell from Jill and Les. We had arranged for a taxi pick up and with our extra luggage, a wise move. We thought that we had left the kitchen sink at home, but any future travelers beware, our excess baggage cost was £300, the equivalent of another ticket.We arrived to find our hire car in the usual place, thanks Unwins, dumped our luggage in the rented villa and went looking for food. At the Ezic chicken house, 11 o'clock at night, we had fillet of chicken, mushrooms, chips, salad and beer, delicious and only £7.00 for the two of us. Eat your heart out KFC.
After going to bed at 3am; because we unpacked first; it was a bit of a late start. But boy is it hot - 104 in the shade.
First stop, deliver chocolates etc. to the very pregnant Hayran Unwin and then on to the site. It really looks different now, the foundations are complete and they are laying the first row of bricks.
We had drinks and a chat with Brian and Lil. It was great to meet them again and we get this feeling, that as we all enjoy the odd drink and good food, we picked some good neighbours.
We met Kemal today, who is going to assist with all the residency permits, driving licenses etc. and talked to him about other things like buying a car suitable for our needs. It seems that there are some very special rules about residency for foreigners and the red tape is very long and tangled. Kamel seems to be able to sort it out and jump to the front of queues when necessary. We arranged to meet later and then went looking at a few cars locally. We saw the most beautiful 320 Mercedes convertible, all leather and electric everything, a car to die for, but was it really the must practical thing to buy. We said we would sleep on it!
We met Kemal at 8.30pm, to go and see our village Mayor, you need his permission if you want to live in his village and guess what, Kemal had been ringing around some friends and he had with him, this 5 door Suzuki Vitara with 2 litre V6 engine, in good condition and a practical buy. So we suppose it has to be bye bye Mercedes and hello "Our Jeep".
July 20th is a day to celebrate for the people of T.R.N.C. Every year military parades take place all across the north to celebrate the date of the 1974 landings. We went to Kyrenia seafront to watch to watch the parades and then a flypast by the Turkish equivalent of the Red Arrows a super display.
The temperature consistently remains in the 95 to 100 degree range, but people tell us that we arrived in the hottest month of the year and we will acclimatise!!!!!
During the last few days we had, bought the car, arranged to have it fully serviced and checked, acquired a mobile phone, met the builder on site to discuss the extras we wanted and managed to get some time on the beach, an essential in this weather. Since our last visit, walls have got up to window level and the supports have gone. Joan stood around in the bathroom and on the rear terrace trying to imagine what it will all be like by the promised end October deadline. But when you turn up at lunchtime and find the brickies at work, you have to wonder about the deadline.
We went back to Lapta in the evening. Brian and Lil had invited us to a BBQ to meet the Robins family (sorry about the red eye - another senior moment). Mic and Chris and the family are our immediate neighbours on the other side, but theirs is a holiday home, so they will probably only visit a couple of times a year. A super evening with a midnight swim in the pool and a singalong with Mic on guitar.
Our first visit to the Wednesday market. Great fun and so much local farm produce. One thing is clear, you have to buy what is in season at any particular time and everything is organic, because there is no money for all the fertilisers and things that produce everything a perfect size and shape to suit Tesco customers. But we bought enough fresh fruit, vegetables and salad stuff to last us a week, for only £5.00. Later in the butchers we bought 7/8 days supply of fresh meat for £11.00. So no complaints about the cost of living.
Back to Lapta again in the evening, because this time, Mic and Chris had arranged a BBQ for their last evening before going back to U.K.. Michael and Barbara Smith, the 4th house on the plot, were also there, our first chance to meet them. Once again a very enjoyable evening, this time it was Joan's turn to drive.
Ali "the telephone and computer wiz" came in the evening and got me on-line with a local ISP and the rented house phoneline. At last communication! Tomorrow will be spent sending e-mails to everybody in the hope that they are still speaking to us.
Almost the end of the month and almost ready for the roof thanks to the brick laying team. There was one small snag, part way through the month, they had started to build two bathrooms upstairs when we had only requested one. A problem solved in time, but it just goes to show, it's better when you are here to watch progress.
|
|
