| |
Our
adventures in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus continue....
   
OK folks give me a chance. I've had four e-mails already by today, which is actually 7th, as to why no update. A guy has to recover from the surplus of Xmas and New Year, anyway things have sort of got back to normal so nothing exciting, yet.
This evening the very depleted Layabouts gathering was held at LDs, some of the others of the gang are still lounging around in UK, enjoying the snow, rain and real ale.
We turned up at LD's to find a special laid on, beef stew and dumplings. Delicious. This prompted me to send George a text message to tell him that were enjoying this washed down with some foaming Carlsberg. He responded that he was eating mince and onion pie in some local English pub, so I had to remind him just how much our food and beer costs against his local fare. He ordered 5 pints of Carlsberg, so we said thank you, drank them and left the bill for him.......I've kept the text message George, just to prove your order.
Joan and I are still eating turkey left over from the 7.5 kilo bird we got at new year. I have stripped the carcass and that has gone in to the soup pot so the left over meat was today spiced up with a Tikka Marsala sauce and with the aid of Pat and her broken wing, Bryan and a bottle of red we enjoyed the last of the beast. Except of course I am going to be having turkey soup for a few days yet.
Prior to this I had spent most of the day getting the final year end accounts sorted, another reason for not having updated this little lot, and making a quick trip to Nicosia to agree things. Everything happens at year end here and the deadline is quite tight.
This morning, being Saturday, Joan and I had planned a few hours in the garden, as the sun appeared to be shining well. Brrrrr, it was quite cold because the wind was strong out there so we soon gave that idea up. You lot think that it is permanent sunshine and warm weather here, but let me tell you, when you have acclimatised to the summer heat, six or seven degrees feels bl***y cold.
Alternative choice now came into play, Chateau Lambousa indoor market. This is a new market, run in one of the hotels here, which no longer operates as a hotel. There were the usual sorts of bric-a-brac stalls, a log fire and hot coffee. We actually bought some DVD's, buy 5 and pay for 4 only, ones that we had not seen previously and at this time of the year make good evening entertainment.
So this evening after dinner, NOT turkey, we settled down with a drink and Richard Gere in "An Officer and a Gentleman". I know it's an old one but we had not seen it before. Anyway at a net cost of 4YTL for the DVD, it was an enjoyable evening.
The first weekend issue of Cyprus Today in the new year to take a look at.
The main headline today being the "Dome rescue bid". A £15 million rescue package is being sought to restore the hotel to it's former glory. This used to be the glory hotel of Kyrenia, where anybody who was anybody wanted to be seen. If any of you have stayed there recently will know that it is now very run down and apparently losing £1 million a year. The hotel was originally built in 1939 by a Greek Cypriot hotelier family and it is currently administered by Evkaf a religious and cultural foundation. They seek a 50% shareholder who can fund a restoration. It would be nice to see this hotel restored, but with so many new 5 star hotels one wonders just ow successful it could be.
A champagne party heralded the recommencement of work on the Amaranta Valley project after almost two years. Lets hope we see another such party when the project is completed.
The first section of the new by-pass is actually going to open this month, between the Ezic chicken restaurant and the Girne American University. The big problem has yet to come, how to handle the linking of the road to the existing Nicosia/Kyrenia road. Officials say they are now planning how to do this. Strange, they have been building the damn thing for two years and are now planning ????? Only in the TRNC.
Another comment about shopping in the south. The writer says that soaring prices and shoddy goods are to blame for people heading south to do their shopping. They also blame the variety of choice, which is something we have been saying. Society here has had an isolated economy for 30 years, so the variety available across the border is very attractive to people. We will have to wait and see if the fact that the south has converted to the Euro from January 1st will have any effect on prices over there.
You know we say that drivers here are not exactly the best, well statistics just issued show that in the last week of 2007, a total of 1,272 motorists were booked. For driving without a licence the total was 110 caught, 92 for using mobile phones and 38 for reckless driving, the rest were speeding etc. Not the best statistics in the world.
President Talat suggests that worsening relations could mean that 2008 is the make or break year for the island. He argues that the February presidential elections in the South could prompt a new drive to end the North's isolation. But he also warns that 2008 could be the last chance for a solution before the United Nations seek alternative ways to resolve the issue.
All this newspaper stuff was followed by a quiet evening in with another DVD, bought yesterday at the indoor market.
As Pat is still struggling with her arm in plaster and Bryan is getting fed up with being chief cook, bottle washer and dresser, although he did say that many years ago he would have really enjoyed the dresser bit, we got a call for "how about we go out to eat".
Ezic Premier have been advertising their Tuesday night buffet and this week put in a 10% off ticket in the newspaper. So by mutual agreement we went to give it a try. The deal is all you can eat and one drink, for 29 YTL. The choice was very good and you could have soup, meze, main meal and mountains of chocolate gateau and keep going back for more if you so wanted. It was very good value for money really, but personally as I am trying to lose weight, I could not take full advantage. Even without the 10% off, worth a visit.
This evening Joan and I went to the airport to collect our neighbours, Stewart and Barbara. Joan has been telling their cat Felix, all week, that they were coming home, but I don't think he believed her anymore, but he sure was happy to see Barbara.
Regular visit to LD's this evening despite the fact that we are still depleted in quantity. Stewart joined us to increase the number to eight and the usual quality of food and beer was enjoyed. Derek and Lorraine, the owners of LD's say that Sandra, Derek's wife, is steadily improving and now walking around with the aid of a frame. so that is brilliant news and also that their son is due over next Saturday, so will be a much needed extra hand as the summer approaches.
Today Andrew and his wife, Sue, are due back on to the island, this time it is the permanent move for Sue. Joan and I are collecting them from Larnaca at around 4 o'clock this afternoon, so we had time to do a little shopping on the way.
Happy to see Andrew back as I have spent the whole week trailing up and down to Kyrenia arranging the installation of air conditioners in a 12 apartment block of flats. Great fun, but you can guarantee that as soon as you get back home the engineers call with a problem...
The weekend newspaper has confirmed what we had heard. Cyprus Paradise, one of the big travel companies here, has closed. Mr Suleymen the owner, blames a number of factors, not least of which are cost of travel to and from the island and extensive uncontrolled building ruining this beautiful island. He says that he is looking in the private sector for a backer, lets hope he succeeds.
Motoring is again in the news as they are going to double the number of speed cameras around the roads in an attempt to reduce the number of serious accidents which occur. Sensible driving schools and a serious driving test would help. We spotted two people taking driving lessons this week in left hand drive vehicles. These are registered companies allowed to offer driving lessons and who have government registration.
There has been a blanket rise of 10% on a whole raft of official charges, ranging from work and residency permits to marriage certificates. This government needs money!
On the above note, there is a huge political row brewing this week and the opposition party in parliament is trying to force a general election in 2008. There is a very strong feeling that the current ruling party would lose around 50% of their seats if this happens. Joe public is very unhappy with them and feels that they are just not able to govern. Now I wonder why they don't want an election until next year?
Having read the papers on Sunday morning a crowd of us went to the new Lachem restaurant in Alsancak for "an English Sunday roast dinner", Ugh, small portions, cold plates, cold vegetables and Bryan and I both had water running out of the vegetables into the middle of the plates. Joan had not felt like going out, so when I got back and she said, how was it? I said I was able to save 30YTL because you didn't go.
An interesting mail item received for anybody whose interests lie in Medieval Cyprus. Our friend Hans Doelman is involved in this and has had an interest in the Crusades for many years.
You will find his regular website on www.allcrusades.com
Founding date of the Medieval Cyprus Society: January 01, 2008.
Founders: TRNC-residents Hans Doeleman (Holland) & Jon Duerden (UK).
The "Medieval Cyprus Society"* aims at studying, promoting and helping to preserve the
medieval remains of Northern Cyprus. Membership is open to anyone, whether citizen, resident,
visitor or living abroad, with an interest in the subject.
The Society is non-commercial, and non profit making.
Some of our planned activities include:
• Historical Tours (city walks, castles, abbeys etc) in small groups, with expert guides
• Readings on special subjects, by local and international experts
• Weekly gatherings
• Regular Newsletters, via email
• Investigations and research, particularly on less well documented areas of interest
• Contacts with specialised scientists and students in TRNC and abroad
• Contacts with incoming tourists to promote the many medieval remains in TRNC
• Contacts with "Friends of the Museums" in Nicosia
• Contacts with The General Management of Antiquities and Museums in Nicosia
(Eski Eserler ve Müzeler Diaresi Müdürlügü)
• Notification of other events organised by the above organizations
• Members are welcome to suggest other activities of interest
You are kindly invited to apply for membership (free of charge but subject to approval).
Hans Doeleman: hansdoeleman@allcrusades.com (Mobile: 0533 864 5433)
Jon Duerden: jon@jdtrees.net (Mobile: 0533 837 3632)
* The English word "society" emerged in the 15th century and is derived from the Latin societas, a
"friendly association with others".
Today, Joan and I went over the border again, this time crossing at the Famagusta end of the island. This we did because we wanted to go and collect the electric bathroom towel rail that we had ordered, as once again you cannot buy one here. According to all the blurb it costs 6 Euro cents/hour to run so time will tell and the next electric bill. One thing is absolutely sure, the bathroom is much warmer and the towels are dry in the mornings. Heaven.
All this talk of heating which we have had of late, should be a warning to anybody building now and planning to spend winters here, get CH put in, it was not available when we bought so the cost and upheaval of fitting now forces us to take alternative actions. You only need it for around 10 weeks of the year but it sure gets cold in the winter when the sun goes down.
Car service morning. Over to Nicosia to Tasas, where I bought the car and then sit and wait with a cup of coffee. 1 hour later I was ready to go, car serviced and washed and a bill for only 80YTL inclusive of all the bits such as oil and filters etc.
I had a talk with the guys from our Internet company today as since Christmas the whole service has been running like a train. They are talking about upgrading to a higher speed which maybe of interest to us. The problem here in comparison to anything you get in UK, is the lack of an effective telephone service, so everything has to be wireless. If anybody wants to know more then suggest you look on their website http:// www.the-internet-club.net/. I will be putting a link on the TRNC info pages shortly but have to do a little sorting of that area of the site first, hence the plug for them here.
This evening we attended the NCCCT Oriental Experience. This is the North Cyprus Cancer Charity Trust dinner, held at Mr Chun's restaurant in Alsancak. We had an absolutely first class meal with a fair amount of money going to the charity. Joan managed to win a bottle very good quality virgin olive oil in the raffle.
When Joan and I went over to collect the towel rail we called in a supermarket there and spotted a jar of sauerkraut. Long time since we had had any, so worth a try. We asked Pat & Bryan if they had ever eaten this German specialty, as the answer was no and Pat still has her arm in plaster, we said OK come and join us. Luckily they enjoyed it so we didn't have to resort to emergency village take aways.
We served it up mixed with potatoes mashed with lots of butter and some fried small bacon pieces. Then thick slices of smoked ham as we were not able to obtain the proper German sausage that should go with it. Delicious with some red wine and followed with a creme caramel.
Bit of a lazy morning to start with. The newspaper and a mug of coffee in bed.
One headline is "Coming to you by courier: 5 months of speeding fines". The TRNC traffic police have given up and handed the task to the private sector. So we are all sitting around waiting for the knock on the door in case we got caught sometime. As they are busy installing new cameras all over the place they need to sort this out and soon because there is apparently a huge backlog.
A full schedule of road tax costs for vehicles during 2008 has been published. I am pinning a copy to my notice board so if anybody wants to know just ask. The costs are based on fuel type, weight and vehicle age.
There is a continuing argument about unifying the island and much political talk which all seems to get nowhere. Why am I not surprised. One thing that is coming up more frequently is the strong possibility of partition. This article was published during the last week:-
The International Crisis Group ICG has written a new Cyprus report, "Cyprus: Reversing the Drift to Partition" in which it was stressed that a new and major effort, encouraged by the United Nations and European Union, should be made to resolve the so far intractable Cyprus problem, warning that "If no settlement is found, the process referred to locally as 'Taiwanisation' will inevitably speed up, consolidating partition."
In its report, the Brussels-based ICG has said in very clear terms what many Cyprus analysts have been discussing for some time behind closed doors: Cyprus is heading fast to consolidation of partition and if something could not be done after the Greek Cypriot elections to reverse the trend and launch a process that could provide a resolution to the Cyprus problem in a year or so "tomorrow will be too late..."
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown's Cyprus special envoy, Joan Ryan, was in Ankara last week. Together with some colleagues, we had an opportunity to discuss the Cyprus problem with her. It was an off-the-record occasion; therefore I am unable to reveal in full our discussions. The summary was that Britain believed time was running out for a Cyprus solution and together with the passing of time the target of ending the Cyprus problem with the creation of a unified Cyprus was becoming less and less probable...
Resumption of Cyprus peacemaking - as Ryan, the ICG, the entire international community, Turkey, Greece... that is everyone has full consensus on - must be with the "mutual political will" of the two sides on the island. Turkish Cypriot leadership has been stressing its commitment for a "pro-settlement resolution." The Greek Cypriot side has been stressing that its target remains to be a united Cyprus. But, the problem remains to be "what is a united Cyprus?"
Political equality "An answer to that question requires an answer to the question of "political equality" first. That term, which after years of struggle by Turkish Cypriots finally has become part of the U.N. jargon related to the Cyprus problem, has different meanings for the two sides on the island.
In our discussion with Ryan it was apparent that Britain was not at all against "political equality" of the two sides on the island becoming one of the pillars of the new peacemaking effort, but we understood as well that what Britain understood from the term was far more different than how the term is perceived in Ankara or in northern Cyprus.
For Turkish Cypriots and for Ankara political equality means nothing less than acceptance of "two founding equal states" and "two founding equal peoples" who in the new "united state" established on the island will have a relationship not based on minority and majority but one of two equals.
Any effort to resolve the Cyprus problem is doomed to fail as long as Greek Cypriots continued to approach Turkish Cypriots as a minority demanding some privileges.
Lets wait until after the presidential election in the South next month. The result could influence any further developments.
A centre page article says that there are 216,000 registered cars in the TRNC, which means that 82% of the population are car owners. The article also says that whilst we top the lists for car ownership, we also top the lists of worst offenders for accidents.
Things look like being quiet this week until we start putting the air conditioners in to the Sydney Construction Ozankoy apartments; and the weather forecast is promising, so I started a much needed task, painting the outside of the villa. It is only the walls at the lower level, so working around as the sun moves round is a pleasant task and the old place looks much nicer for the effort.
It is really nice doing this in the warm winter sun, but we desperately need lots of rain soon.
Boys night out this week was held at The Ravine bar and with a compliment of five. Next week George and Roger should be back so we should then have a full house.
The plan was to go down to LD's this evening but then we got the bad news. Alec their chef has had his renewal of residency turned down. Alec has been here three years now but suddenly the authorities have decided that he is too young and I understand that he is not the first person to have his renewal refused on that basis. We think that what they are trying to do is to say, young local Turkish Cypriots should do the work. Now this is not such a ridiculous idea except for one thing, the locals are such lazy buggers that they would not do the work. It is unfortunately a fact that the locals have been feather bedded for so long that they do not have any work experience and need usually three or four people to do the work of one Brit. We will have to wait and see what happens from now as Alec is trying to go over to Turkey, come back on a 90 day visa and try to work things out.
The alternative place we decided to try is "The Hillside". A new restaurant ownership situation in Lapta. This was quite good and value for money but not quite LD's standard.
We all went out to welcome George and Susan back to the island after their Xmas and New Year in UK. We were a little surprised to hear George say that they had been broken in to whilst they were away, the only things stolen were their DVD and CD collection and a couple of pieces of jewelery that Susan had forgotten to put in the safe. Oh yes and Susan's hairdryer and the bathroom scales, strange. Whilst they were away I had been sticking my head in every 5/6 days and nothing had been visible regarding a break-in. There was even his laptop lying around in the lounge so one would not think that would still be there if somebody had broken in. Andrew and I had discovered that the shutters on the rear terrace were open, but having both walked around we deided that it was the wind that had caused the problem. We repaired the shutters and secured them again, so were very surprised when Susan discovered all the CDs etc missing. There have unfortunately, as previously reported, been an increase in break-ins of late usually when people are away so we need to consider our security. Sad really because that has never been a problem here.
Joan and I took Anne over to the South with us this morning. Joan needed to call in to one of her suppliers in Nicosia, so once there it is easier to nip across to one of the Hypermarkets, for the wider choice presented to us.
This was followed by an early dinner at Pat & Bryan's because the girls were going out to a rugby club, "Girlie's Night Out". Louisa Mehmet, a friend of ours, called Joan and asked if she wanted to come and enjoy a girls only night, Louisa and her sister seemed to have been involved in the organisation so Pat, Sue and Joan decided that an evening in the company of some fit rugby players sounded a good idea. The idea of the whole evening was to raise money for The Pumas Rugby club which has recently been formed here in TRNC. Apparently, I am told, because we were not allowed in, apart from a DJ Three of the Pumas entertained by dancing on the bar top to some very discreet stripper music. Later in the evening the same three guys dressed up as cowboys. Some cowboys!, they were dancing to the music of "The Full Monty". Cameras to the ready said the girls for the Full Monty, well almost and even the climax of some place to hang your hat! was really only hiding their underpants. Very discrete and I'm told a real fun evening.
I don't know what time the girls came home as I was well tucked up in bed by that time.
Joan and I went to church this morning because we especially wanted to hear Canon Andrew White, visiting from Iraq. He said that he was used to seeing bad things and carnage, but what he has been witnessing over the last months is like nothing he had ever seen before. His life there must be quite horrendous since the targeted campaign against Christians. He said that his congregation is made up of 95% women as all the men have either been slaughtered or kidnapped. We read all the reports in the press but only when listening to somebody who is actually there on the ground do we possibly appreciate the horrors of it all.
There is an article in the press this week about an extra tax on property purchases. Can I suggest that anybody wanting more information take a look at The Home Buyers Pressure Group site. http:// www.hbpg-trnc.net/
Another uproar about price increases, this time it is electricity, going up by up to 21%. The government is being accused again of mismanaging the countries finances and trying to cover shortfalls by every means possible, without of course considering the consequences. Somebody has pointed out the obvious, price increases in this area will have a knock on effect. The electricity company says that it is losing money every month, due to prices being below production and investment costs. The people find it difficult to see how an energy system full of defects can increase its prices. Think this one is going to rumble on for some time.
Roadside spot checks have begun on vehicle emissions. The cost of an emission test is only 19YTL and there are now 76 testing stations, so really no excuse for not having your car tested.
According to reports the Amaranta Development is on schedule at the end of the first month of renewed construction. Some of the partially completed bungalows have needed to be demolished, due to exposure to the weather over the last two years. At this time the schedule is for final completion in January 2009.
The changes to legislation to reduce hopping hours here has been delayed. Many of the unions involved have pressed hard for the government to think again before making these changes. So for the time being the shops, in particular the supermarkets, will remain open on Sundays.
Many politicians are pushing hard for an early general election due to the major dissatisfaction of the current government coalition. The Social Democrats have this week made a scathing speech about government expenditure, highlighting the nepotism that exists here, such as an increase of 3,000 new employees, creating a need for higher taxes to cover the wage bill etc. We have said for a long time that this is the route of all problems, too many untrained people sitting around drinking coffee or just watching others work. My favourite people, CTA, are a typical example, 1,200 employees and only 6 planes, begs questions.
The next milestone possibly in the solution to the divided island approaches. The presidential elections next month in the South. It is suggested that it is a close call with the current president just ahead by a nose.
Well things have changed today.
Firstly the sky is black and in the evening we had lots of thunder, lightening and heavy rain. Wouldn't you know this would happen, just as the tiler started work on our pathways surrounding the villa and the circular terrace we wanted in the middle of the back garden area. The circular base they had made to form the foundations of the terrace, filled with water overnight, so now we have a temporary duck pond. We desperately need this rain but guess that the tilers will not be working tomorrow as we are promised that this weather will continue for a couple of days yet.
Secondly, I have acquired a wonderful head cold, so in true masculine form I will be dying for the next couple of days and have to resort to the whiskey and hot water cure before bed. What an excuse. The most serious thing about this is that I will miss "Boys Night Out" this evening, which is quite serious because we now have a full compliment of normal attendees.
The weather held reasonably this week for the tilers to get all the base work done around the garden. Only one day completely written off with heavy downpours. Unfortunately, in true local style, the delivery of the needed tiles for the circle has been delayed, they say due to the weather, so completion will have to wait until next week.
All of the "Layabouts" are back from their extended UK visits now so a full meeting was organised this evening at the Karsiyaka village restaurant. This restaurant is a favourite with both locals and villagers alike, so with such a large crowd we forward booked which enabled the owner to get some extra staff in and we all enjoyed a super meal in good company.
Speaking about eating out, I have recently mentioned the Sunday lunch we had at La'chem and the evening meal last week at the new Hillside in Lapta, which I said was good value for money when we ate off the regular menu. Well I have had a phone call from a friend who went for Sunday lunch and he was fairly disgusted, I have come to the conclusion that all these local restaurants try to do English Sunday roast because they believe that is what we want, but in actual fact they don't know how to do it properly, so would be much better sticking to their own food style and from a a personal point of view I prefer that anyway. So there you go folks, maybe it's just us, but next time you really fancy having the traditional English, go to an English owned and run restaurant, or DIY.
|
|
