| |
Our
adventures in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus continue....
   
Here we go again, the first day of the last month of 2007. Where the hell does the time go. Is it me or is it a fact that the older I get the faster time seems to gallop by, or maaybe it's just the old memory playing tricks again.
As it's December the first Xmas bazaar opened today. This one was organised by St Andrews church, in the church hall. Pat and Joan went down town and called in to see what it was all about and to take a couple of pics to put on the site. The first was of course Santa Claus and one of the children, no Xmas bazaar would be complete without his visit. There were the usual array of stalls raising funds for the church and there they managed to catch Anne wearing a silly hat which she found on her stall. I sent this picture to Jeff, who is back in UK on his final Chemo treatment visit and said that I wouldn't dare put this on the website, he replied "Go for it my friend", so there you are Anne, don't blame me.
There is some really sad news in the paper this morning. A Turkish airliner from AtlasJet crashed in south west Turkey yesterday killing all 67 people on board. The flight was on an internal, Istanbul to Isparta route and the plane came down in the mountain area. as of yet there is no indication of the reason.
Much more in the papers about the "Shopping in the South" saga. If you remember last week I spoke of a survey which clearly showed that things are cheaper in the south, which is the justifiable reason for going there. Add to this the foot and mouth scare in the south and you have another reason for the authorities to clamp down on cross border shopping. For the last four years there has been no real control over goods brought across although it would seem that there is an official 135 Euro limit, over which there is a tax liability. The officials were now enforcing this say the government and they are also saying that this only applied to personal goods and not supermarket shopping. Now the problem seems to be the officials on the border, they do not appear to have had the rules properly explained so they just introduce and interpret their own. Guess the thing to do is stay away for a little while until some clear rules apply.
I said last Thursday that there appeared to have been an accident on our route home. Well now it has come to light that a 24 year old man was hit by a speeding car and killed. The case developed in to a hit and run accident and yesterday two Ukranian women were arrested at Istanbul airport as they attempted to board a flight.
The paper is full of adverts by restaurants offering Christmas dinner specials. Well we are off to the Merit Crystal Hotel for two nights with a gang of eleven so should be good fun. We are going to have to take it in turn to come home and feed the cats, but they are entitled to some Xmas fare also.
The forecast for the rest of the week shows some rain coming in, so we took advantage of this sunny morning and did some extensive cutting back of the shrubs in the front garden. It was in fact nice and warm out there until early afternoon so good to still be taking advantage. From now on, until about end March, it will probably be a question of grabbing the odd good day when it comes around.
On Wednesday when I went to the Atakara supermarket they were putting out a couple of legs of lamb which looked quite nice, so I brought one home and this evening we had Pat, Anne and Bryan round to help us enjoy it. The lamb was in fact very tasty and quite tender, which is always a worry here as some of the sheep we see around, look as if they have had a long and hard life.
Tuesday night is traditional boys night out and we regularly go to The Ravine for a few pints. Every week, because we are faithful to them all through the year, the chef pops out with plates of chips and the occasional other titbit, like spring rolls etc. Now we have no objection to this at all, as you might guess, it helps the waistline and our diets. Well this evening Bryan picked Stewart and myself up, but when we got down there we were surprised to find the place closed, so we had to revert to plan B and go to The Celebrity. Imagine our further surprise when we found all the management and staff of The Ravine playing there in a pool competition. Now you can imagine that there was much banter about them closing on a Tuesday night without advance warning to the committee, so guess we might be best prepared for some reverse banter next week.
We have had a couple of real stormy days of late, with plenty of wind and rain coming across from the mainland. In fact it was so bad that it loosened our internet antenna pole so that it was banging against the water tower and the boys from The Internet Club had to come and reset it for us, as it was not a good aid for sleeping.
During the day today it cleared up quite nicely and Joan and I had to go over the mountain to Nicosia. Me for the month end accounts bit and Joan to take a quick walk over to Debenhams to pick up a birthday present for a young lady. Whilst we were over the other side of the mountains we apparently missed the wonderful sight of a water spout out over the sea. If you take a closer look you can see this thing sucking all the water up from the sea. Very powerful and not something you would want to be under at the time.
Some of you may remember that it was one of these things that came ashore a few years ago and picked up our gazebo and threw it across the road.
Boy, did we have a storm last night, thunder, lightening and driving rain. It was banging and rattling against the windows all night long and did it's best to keep us awake. One of our cats, Tiggy, must have been out when it started and so she came in yelling for attention about 1.30 a.m. The poor thing was soaked to the skin and was highly delighted to get a rub down in an old towel.
For the rest of the day they both sought the warmth and comfort in front of the gas fire. We are now all looking forward to the 14th when the proper gas fire is installed, instead of this portable.
I have recently been asked to come up with something special. Very special prices for the SOS Children's Village in Nicosia. Unwin Estate Agents had heard that there was a need for TV's, Air Conditioning, Computers etc. for this orphanage village where some 50+ children are brought up in small houses run by local people. They set about canvassing the local builders, solicitors and others they work with for funds and now they wanted some special deals to maximise the use of these funds. I was able to talk to the Bosch importer and get some cost price deals for this very good cause, so today we visited the village to find out exactly were this stuff needs to go. Work will start on Monday next with the installations and I understand that the press will be involved on Tuesday, to thank all those who were involved and who contributed and encourage more local traders to participate in the future.
This is a very happy village with lots of enthousiastic workers and volunteers and from what we could see, some very happy kids who need all the help they can get.
Barbara has a birthday coming up on 17th and Susan has her birthday as usual on Xmas day. This year George and Susan are going over to UK to visit their grandson for Xmas so they jointly decided to hold a birthday party this evening at George and Susans, whilst most of the Layabouts were around to enjoy it. A good spread of far too much to eat and drink with entertainment of a sort by the three chimps... or chumps, I can't really make up my mind. Another brilliant night out at the run up to Xmas.
Yesterdays papers are once again full of news about shopping in the South. Supermarket owners here are suggesting that they are slashing prices, on some goods, by as much as 50%, to win back local custom. Now in my mind this begs the question as to how they are able to slash prices by this much and still remain profitable? Even if they continue to lower prices the locals must be mesmerised by the extensive choice available in the South in comparison with the North. Delicatessen counters for example with a range of products which compares with UK supermarket chains. It remains to be seen if the overall effect will encourage many of us to remain here for all our needs. Clearly the restriction on meat and dairy products must remain so long as the South has a foot and mouth infection scare, but unless you buy big products, it is unlikely that you would exceed the €135.00 limit per person for personal use items.
At the same time as all this is going on we are advised of an increase in the price of beef by almost 20%. Apparantly there is a shortage, so the beef farmers are taking advantage. Also there is a big move by private sector business against the government plan to restrict retail opening hours. The sector rightly says that one advantage they have over the South is their ability to open on Sundays, which does not happen across the border. The chamber of private sector business, called on the government to increase the working hours in the public sector, reduce the holidays in the public sector and improve efficiency in the public sector, instead of trying to control the business areas which were striving to improve the TRNC economy. Now that's an interesting suggestion, if any of you have ever been in to a government office and seen three drinking coffee and two others holding private phone calls on their mobiles, you will know exactly what they are getting at!
There is a "Litter Blitz" plan being developed by a steering group of volunteers. This is the brainchild of Hans Doelman a Dutch friend of ours who has finally had enough of looking at all the rubbish and litter and is planning to do something about it by educating people among other things. I wish them well as I hear shades of the old "Keep Britain Tidy" campaign which took years to filter down through the education system, but eventually worked.
Tuesday is of course boy's night out, but this week we were beaten by the ladies who left early to go to Chorus Lambousa. A musical Christmas showtime evening, which they said was really extremely good. A locally formed choir and some excellent solo singers treated them to some songs from many of the well known London musicals.
We of course went to The Ravine Bar, where we were well treated to free spring rolls and chips as a sort of sorry for being closed without warning, last week.
Today we started the installation at the SOS Childrens Village of air conditioners, washing machines and TV's for the kids. The SOS Children's charity is part of a world wide organization dedicated to helping children who have no place else to turn. In Nicosia there are 58 children from ages 2 to 16 all living in what is almost a village, with a (12_9} and eleven village houses. In a village house you will find a professional house mother responsible for up to 6 children of all ages. We talked with one of these "mothers" who looked after children from the youngest at just over 2 years to one of 15, all in the one house. Every house interior was immaculate and clearly these ladies are a dedicated bunch.
Peter Harrell from Unwins came up with the idea to raise money for this village and approached contractors, solicitors etc with whom they worked and having raised some £12,000 they then found out what the village needed most and then approached suppliers for the best possible deals. Argas Ltd the Bosch importer here on the island offered equipment at cost as to did Technomarkt who supplied computers for the kids to have in their houses. The press were on hand to take pictures of the full group of those involved. A satisfying thing to be involved in.
Today was the day agreed for the installation of our the new gas fire. It took about five hours to complete the installation because of course we needed to have a power flue to the outside world. This fire heated up our huge lounge in no time at all so we can reckon on being all warm and toasty during the winter now. It is just such a big shame that we had to go through all the trauma of having an ineffective fire first and then have to have the whole place re-decorated to cure the problem of black soot. If we had known about this fire in the first place we would have had a proper chimney extended from upstairs and saved the high cost of the power flue kit.
Anyway all's well now and it really is lovely to look at and to sit around.
Minced pies and mulled wine at St Andrews church hall organised by the British Residents Society. Just had to go and sample these and anyway I needed to go and pick up my watch with it's new battery. Guess what I also got wheeled in to the jewellers with a sort of, you haven't bought me anything for Xmas yet, have you message?
Pat and Bryan came down for a few drinks this evening and to sample the warmth of our new fire.
It's gone a bit quiet in the news with reference to shopping in the South. Apart from a warning from the shopkeepers union and others about the proposed new legislation to close supermarkets on Sunday. They suggest that it will cause economic chaos and drive even more people across the border to shop.
Just like being back in UK. A tax hike of 12% on car tax for the next twelve months and then roadside spot checks on emissions, but I guess if you are a local and get stopped by your second cousin twice removed, the check won't apply...... who says I am a cynic.
There is a man called Terry Carter living here, who has raised lots of charitable funding for the ambulance service and it was definitely needed. Now he has written a supposed damming report about the medical facilities at Ercan airport and also being highly critical of the ambulance service in general. He complains bitterly that they don't take notice of him, but why should they, he like most of us came to live here because we love the place and the people and they don't take kindly to outsiders trying to change things.
The lead up to Xmas has produced a bumper week for charities. In addition to the £12,000 SOS village fund which I have already spoken about, there has been a further £14,000 raised for other charities. Something we ex-pats do well and many retired seem to have lots of time for these worthy causes.
A fault in the turbines at the power station last Saturday was the reason we were without electric for many hours and two pages further on in the paper there is an article and picture of politicians being upbeat about a new transformer station in Lefkosia, which once again is going to be an end to all the power problems. Cynic again.....
Over on the Greek side an elderly sorceress has been jailed for 20 days. She planned on breaking a curse involving a young mans relationship with his wife and mother-in-law by using an egg, a spoon, a nail, a cup, some pubic hairs and breaking the egg in his underpants. For this she requested £5,000 for her efforts. There ain't now't so queer as folk.
This evening we went to St Andrew's church for the Carol Service, actually it was called "Nine Lessons and Carols" and afterwards our little group went down to Bayti's restaurant in the heart of Kyrenia. Traditional Turkish food and this place stays open 24/7. Very nice it was too.
It is Barbara Smith's first birthday since Michael died and she felt she wanted a) not to cook herself and b) some company to help her celebrate. So eight of us went to Haci Ali's restaurant here in Lapta and the Birthday Girl was presented with a large platter of fresh fruit for us all to share and enjoy after the meal.
This restaurant is very good and we would always recommend the steak here, probably because Mr Haci Ali owns a beef farm, among other things, but they continue to let themselves down in other areas. For example the plates are cold and we even got served cold chips and when Andrew went and complained we got some lovely hot chips served up on another cold plate. Some you win and some you lose, but the cold plates are a sort of norm over here so you just have to get used to it. Despite this we had a very enjoyable evening.
At lunch time today everything closes down for the biggest Bayram holiday of the year. This is the one where the rich slaughter sheep and goats to give to the poor and if you are really unlucky you catch somebody doing the traditional thing and slaughtering the animal in the street. It has only happened to us once since we have been here, but we have seen the butchering going on close to the road in the smaller villages.
The Bayram lasts until the weekend but most shops etc are only closed Thursday and restaurants don't close at all because it is a big family get together time.
This did give Joan and I a little problem though. A lady arrived from Iceland on Monday evening late, to take over her new apartment. She had e-mailed to say she wanted help with all her furnishing etc and wanted to try to get some of this installed whilst she was here. What with the Bayram followed by Christmas we were losing a whole week. I had taken them round yesterday for an initial look at the stores we use so this morning slightly more refreshed we had to get things organised and she was able to sort out the basics which we should get installed before the New Year. A busy but successful day.
The good news is that Jeff is back amongst us for the Christmas period, in fact his oncologist has said he does not want to see him again until February. Now that is a real positive result, but have to admit that he has put on a lot of weight as a result of all the steroids he has been taking, so guess the next thing will be the start of a diet, suggest after Christmas Jeff.
Because we knew Jeff was due back late last night we delayed the "Layabouts" weekly gathering round the trough until tonight. A complete change of venue though for this lead up to Christmas period and because of the fact that some of the regulars are quaffing real ale, down at a local English pub, we were reduced to nine in total. We had been hearing about a hotel/restaurant on the road down to the Merit Crystal Hotel, this one is called the Tervetuloa where they say the food is good. Well they were absolutely right, the menu is quite extensive and when you pay for your main course it includes a very good meze starter and then afterwards, fresh fruit and coffee with local brandy. The meals and drinks are very competitively priced and the quality was super. Well worth a recommendation.
Didn't get our usual Sunday lie in with the weekend paper because we wanted to go to St Andrews church for the Children's Nativity followed by the Sunday Eucharist, this time in the presence of Bishop Michael of Cyprus and the Gulf. Afterwards we were all gathered in the church hall for what was termed a glass of wine and a few nibbles. As very many had been recruited to supply sausage rolls, sandwiches etc there was certainly no need for lunch when we got home.
Have to say that the Children's Nativity performance was brilliant all done by the Sunday school kids with a real live baby, borrowed for the occasion, to lie in the manger.
Back home, after doing a few jobs outside whilst the sun was still shinning, I got round to reading the weeks news.
Headline news and obviously a delight to all involved, the "Aga Saga" is drawing to a close. Agreement has finally been reached for completion of the Amaranta Valley development within 12 months. Work is to start immediately and at no extra cost to those who have already invested. This has been a nightmare for many and created financial hardship for many also. At least now although there will be no immediate payment back to investors, they will get a property which they can sell on to recover current loses. The whole stink around this development has also done irreparable damage to the construction industry on a whole and given the South numerous opportunities for propaganda, it will be brilliant when it draws to a close.
There are going to be three modern shopping malls built here in the TRNC, Famagusta, Nicosia and here in Kyrenia, during the next year. These have obviously been well thought out as usual. The one here in Kyrenia is going to be built alongside the not yet opened by-pass, opposite the Ezic Premier restaurant. It is going to contain 24 boutique type shops, a 250 seater restaurant and a car park for 100+ cars. Now I am not a mathematician but I fail to see how firstly, the car park is gong to adequately cover the shops, their staff and the restaurant and secondly, what with the 110 boutique type shops either built or being built for rent, between us and Kyrenia, the whole thing can be a viable proposition. Time will tell no doubt.
Whilst the current retailers are complaining and closing by the day, there is another article which warns of massive hotel and holiday complex closures, many permanent, after the New Year celebrations, due to the downturn in North Cyprus tourism. So why there are so many investors is a puzzle and why is there no effort by the government to try to improve the situation for their people. Maybe the leaders can't see what they are doing, or not doing, to this lovely island, but they as sure as hell don't listen to any advice they might be given.
There has been a large downturn in support for EU membership here in TRNC. The EU are seen to have broken their promises to the Turkish Cypriot people since the referendum and the trust in the European Commission has dropped from 55% in 2004 to less than 17% now. As there is also a downturn in support across in Turkey also, maybe this is another indicator towards a divided island.
Today is Christmas eve for us all. Joan and I are going, together with the other seven reprobates, to The Merit Crystal Hotel until boxing day afternoon. So we would just like to wish you all A very Happy Christmas and a really great New Year.
Back in a few days with some pics of the party.
Well we checked in yesterday evening at around 4 o'clock to find the lobby and bar area full already. This I suppose is understandable when you realise that the whole package is inclusive of all the local drinks. Joan and I found ourselves in a very nice room with a view.
The complete hotel is full of ex-pats, who just like us decided that this was a great way to spend Christmas. We started off well with a very nice buffet dinner last night, after a couple of those all inclusive local G&Ts of course.
This morning after a leisurely breakfast we went home, which is only 10 minutes away, to feed the cats. They looked at us in disgust at being given such a late breakfast. As Pat & Bryan had come back with us we firstly made a pot of fresh ground coffee, drinkable but not that good in the hotel, then we all four then took a leisurely walk along Karsiyaka beach. Early on in the morning we did not think this would have been possible as it has been absolutely hosing it down during the night and whilst we were having breakfast.
When we got back to the hotel to get ready for our Christmas lunch we found that housekeeping had dressed up bed for us to get us in the mood for Christmas, a nice touch and probably guaranteed our girls a good tip at the end of the say.
Christmas lunch was again a buffet meal and there was no shortage of anything, except for the Turkey. I think they had underestimated the English desire for Turkey on Christmas day. Either that or the early birds down to the dining room had been a little greedy. The food was otherwise excellent and included things like smoked salmon and freshly cooked ox tongue, with plenty of the local wine available to wash it all down.
As the evening meal was not planned before 8 p.m., Joan and I had time to nip home again and feed the animals and make sure that everything was secure. We also made a couple of Xmas phone alls to friends in UK before going back to the hotel.
We had agreed to meet up in the lobby for the Champagne before dinner and all managed to turn up well scrubbed up for the occasion. A lot of effort had been put in by the staff to ensure that the dining room was all decked out for the Xmas Day Gala Ball . Dinner on this occasion was served up by the staff rather than the previous buffet style meals and the main course was Beef Wellington. We were entertained by a group during and after the meal so that we could all get a chance to dance during the evening. Stewart and Barbara have been quietly going to dance classes recently, so could be seen strutting their stuff a couple of times, Stewart reckons that the rumba is their best dance so he can even do it to songs like Happy Birthday.
Part of the entertainment laid on by the hotel was a belly dancer. Strange choice for Christmas but then they don't have much else in local dance styles.
All in all a good day enjoyed by us all and tomorrow we get breakfast and lunch before checking out.
A time to recover from the excess of the Christmas holiday period and to prepare ourselves for the New Year's eve party, which will be at our house again this year.
Thursday and Friday were spent getting the kitchen equipment, air conditioning and some furniture in to Solrun's apartment in Alsancak. This is another Icelandic visitor who very much wants to be in her own apartment for the New Year. Well we succeeded, with the aid of a spare gas fire from us to give them some heat, as there is still only temporary electric to the apartments.
Oh yes. No weekly newspaper this week as they traditionally have this one weekend off.
Today we needed to go into Nicosia so took a quick nip over the border to get a few extra bits for the New Year party. Before we went across we called Pat & Bryan to discover that Pat had fallen yesterday, whilst out walking with her son and daughter in law, visiting at the moment. She has now got her right arm in plaster from the wrist to the elbow as the wrist is cracked and the doctors don't want her moving it in case she gets a full break. Apparently she is going to be like this for the next 5 weeks, so looks like Bryan is the chief cook and bottle washer for a little while.
We had actually put on the slow cooker before we left home, with some beef, onions, carrots etc to simmer slowly so we were able to invite them over to eat this evening. As Bryan had been up at 5 a.m. to take their visitors back to the airport, it was doubly welcome.
p.s. Pat, take more water with it........
Party night to bring in the new year. Question; Where did the last one go?
Joan had spent some time preparing food for tonight and the guests also contributed with things like a very intoxicating sherry trifle and of course a supply of booze. We had been out and bought a locally reared, 5KG turkey from Chapter 1, an Alsancak restaurant. This actually turned out as 7.5Kg so we will be eating it for a little while yet. Have to say though that it was extremely nice and moist, so this is something to remember if we want one next year.
We started off the evening with some drinks and some games. The first was Tumble which you all probably recognise. The tower was looking quite precarious when Christopher finally pulled out the fatal block. Sandy had also brought her Champagne tower game, which thankfully uses plastic glasses. I think we should play this outside on the terrace table in the summer, then we could fill the glasses with champagne or maybe vodka so that each successful pull from the tower means you have to down it in one and if the tower falls you have to down the leftovers. Could be a good recipe for a very happy party.....anyway well done Sandy for tumbling the last few glasses.
The next game, after we had lined the stomachs with lots of good food, was skittles. By opening up the doors to the hallway we managed to create Skittle alley with the basic rule, no throwing, we value the glass in our front door. By the way, not everybody has a slight lean to the right in this pic. maybe just the camera man!
At midnight we all went outside to hopefully watch all the fireworks, which we usually see from the Merit Crystal Cove hotel. They must have been on an economy drive this year as there were none. Joan and I had bought some huge half meter long party poppers, so we let these off around our driveway. Who needs the Merit fireworks. What we do need though is a small gang tomorrow morning to clear up the mess outside.
By around 1 a.m we had sort of got to the state of Oh dear! in some cases, but a great night was had by all.
TO ALL OF YOU OUT THERE READING THIS. HAPPY NEW YEAR AND MAY 2008 BE EVERYTHING YOU WISH IT TO BE AND ABOVE ALL BE HEALTHY AND HAVE FUN AND JOY TOGETHER WITH FRIENDS.
See you in 2008. Frank and Joan.
|
|
