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Our
adventures in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus continue....
   
Yesterday, Margaret and Norman, came over for a swim and a late BBQ, so they stayed over, as even here its not worth the risk of drinking and driving.Early this morning, Norman and I decided that an early morning swim would aid in clearing the head and it was such a beautiful morning that Joan joined us too. At around 8.30, these very black clouds started to roll in along the mountains and we could here thunder not too far away. In no time at all, a real storm was raging, thunder and lightening directly overhead and a huge torrent of water pouring down across the gardens. Most of our garden was a flood, the shingle road down to the houses has washed off into the fields again and the wooden frame of our big linen umbrella has been smashed. I suppose it must have caught a big gust of wind and couldn't stand the strain. I have been, for some time now, been promising to build a pergola, over the terrace table, to give us some shade and I suppose now it is a case of needs must.
This evening, Joan and I went to the Sevener restaurant. It is on the main coast road at the junction of the road to Alsancak. A local Cypriot restaurant, were everything is cooked freshly. It's the first time we had been there, despite the fact that we pass by every time we go into Kyrenia, but we shall certainly return. Lovely food very reasonably priced and of course the usual very friendly, smiling people.
The rest of the week was clearing up after the storm and boring things like shopping etc. But tonight we had been invited to a Cypriot wedding.Serdar's brother in law was to be married and we were invited to attend. Our first Cypriot wedding so it was an interesting experience.The wedding took place on the terrace of a Kyrenia Hotel, even the official wedding ceremony. The bride and groom were enjoying their day immensely and the wonderful thing here, is that everything can happen outside, in the cool of the evening.After the official ceremony was over all the invited guests formed a long queue to congratulate the bridal pair and their immediate family. Every guest offered money to the newlyweds, which was pinned initially, on the groom's suit or the bride's dress. After a short time the bridesmaids started to pin trails of money onto special stands set up for the occasion. The queue of guests had originally formed around 8 o'clock and there were still people arriving to congratulate the pair until almost midnight. At sometime during the evening, we saw the bridesmaids, stuffing money into supermarket carrier bags, so clearly the more people you know the better the occasion.During the evening there is no food or drink served except for the wedding cake, which is a very grand affair. A bar is available for those who want to get drinks, but it was quite noticeable that whilst a few of us men went up to get a beer, non of the ladies had a drink all night. A very different situation to the average English wedding. There was music and dancing, which was enjoyed by all, even though some of us used the excuse of the camera to avoid the dance floor.Joan and I enjoyed the evening, arrived home around 12.30 am, found an open bottle of wine and toasted the bridal pair !
It just had to be Friday the 13th. I came down to my little office to do a few e-mails, early in the morning and found that I had acquired a "pet" during the night. The biggest blooming spider I had ever seen in this country, all hairy legs and brown and cream stripes. He moves like greased lightening if you go anywhere near and has now taken up residence round the back of the bookcase. Lets hope he stays there; I think I might call him "Hairy Harry"
Lorraine from Lardy Da's called to say that the Limassol House Restaurant, in Karaogaonoglu, was re-opening tonight, now that the electric problems were resolved. So we decided to give her a big boost by getting up a gang to eat there. So there we were, a gang of twelve, tucking in to traditional Cypriot food as starters, pans on the table, home baked bread followed by mixed meat kebabs. A super meal, super company and now we won't need to eat for a week.
The weather is consistently around the 100 degrees now, so Norman and Margaret come round and cool off in our pool most Sunday's. Today, Joan had found a large piece of beef in the freezer, so decided on a traditional roast dinner. We all enjoyed it very much, but Joan was heard to mutter, that's the last roast dinner you guys get until the weather cools down. Think it got a bit hot in the kitchen.It was so warm and mild all evening, that we sat out till midnight, just enjoying a drink and conversation. Around nine the full moon rose above the hills behind Lapta, a terrific sight as it was such a clear night.
What a busy life we lead, who said retirement was boring.
Tonight Dennis and Darryl, the lads who built our house, were opening their new offices and their latest venture. They have branched out into boats, jet ski's, quad bikes and all the other gear associated with fishing and boating.
Their new showroom is called Kingfisher Marine and can be found opposite the Lemar Supermarket, to the east of Kyrenia. They really have done a tremendous job and stocked out with everything a boating enthusiast could want, we wish them well.
There opening evening was a great success, enjoyed by many, and some of the usual gang enjoyed it even more, talk about 6 brass monkeys ! The jet ski's, quad bikes and speedboats were to die for and it looked as if Del and Joan wanted to play Hells Angels, that is, if they had a spare $14,000 to buy this Predator.
What a busy week. Tonight the kids at Sunny Lane School were giving a recital of all the old time music. We always enjoy going to these shows, because the kids just put their all into it and obviously enjoy it as much as those watching. Tonight was no exception, the performance was up to the usual standard and we even got to join in the singalong. These shows must be a real confidence booster for all the children, apart from all the memory training and other teaching advantages. A great part of the curriculum at this school. Now I have to get down to some work for the rest of this week. It really is time that I made a start on the pergola over the terrace table, we need the shade there. So watch this space for the result. I new that "O" level in woodwork would come in handy sometime.
For some time now, we had been telling Margaret and Norman about the beauty of the Karpas region of the island. This is the extreme eastern point, known to many as "The Pan Handle". So we decided to make a two day trip up there.We set off at around 9 a.m. and checked into the Club Malibu Motel around lunchtime. This is a very simple motel with only 5 rooms, each is small, but en-suite and you really can't get much closer to the beach than this. The setting is glorious and the temptation is just to stay and laze the rest of the day away on their beach, but no, we had promised to drive further up the peninsula.So we had a drink and then set off for Golden Beach, which is around 15 miles further and on the southern coast. Here we stopped for a little lunch and then were very tempted by the beach. We ate in the little beach restaurant and then walked down for a swim. Golden Beach must be around three miles long, totally un-commercialised, golden sand, clear blue sea and when we got down there we swelled the crowd to a total of 14 people on the whole of the beach. A touch of paradise, long may it stay this way. We stayed on the beach most of the afternoon and then went back to our hotel in time to take a stroll around the harbour and take a few photos before we went to watch the sunset from the hotel terrace and sample a few G & T's before dinner. There was Red Mullet on the menu this evening, so we all decided that this was the only choice to make, they had clearly come fresh from the harbour that day. Absolutely delicious.
This morning we awoke to the usual blue sky, but also the sound of the waves on the beach so it was a long pre-breakfast swim for us all. The breakfast was a little late due to the delights of the water and beach, but it didn't seem to matter. In the true style of the local people, you are a guest in their home and nothing matters, but your comforts. We remained on the beach until lunch and then set off back over the mountains, via Kantara castle. This is also a lovely trip along the northern coast, but we hadn't reckoned with the new road building nearer Kyrenia, so the last bit was a little rough and slow. But it didn't really matter as we had all had a great two days.
Today was my 65th birthday, so it was up to the post office to see if I had got my letter from Tony Blair and my Pension Book. Guess what; the postal service hasn't worked again; either that or Dear Tony's forgotten all about us, deserters from good old UK..This evening Joan and I celebrated on our own, at Jashans, the Indian restaurant in Edremit. We had a glorious meal and I guess Joan must have advance booked, because Riaz turned up with a birthday cake and sparklers. Nice touch.The reason we celebrated on our own tonight is; We have organised a boat trip for thirty of our friends, from Kyrenia Old Harbour, in the good ship Sunseeker, on Sunday next. So I guess that might just be a nice celebration and you will have to wait until early July for the pics. Firstly because I have run out of space on the June website and secondly maybe I will want time to recover.See you next month.
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