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Our
adventures in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus continue....
  
Arie had booked to go paragliding today, so we had to wait until 10. a.m. to check wind situation etc and we were pleased to hear that a take off was possible.
The Tandem Para Gliding company is the only one operating over here but it is an absolutely great experience and Arie has been full of the whole flight ever since he had a safe landing after about 20 minutes in the air. He now has the pictures and a video, that is taken whilst you are in flight, as a memory for years to come.
Another nice warm afternoon after his flight so we just sat around in the sun, had dinner at home for a change and then watched Mama Mia on DVD. If you have not seen this film then make the effort, it is hilarious.
We just had to have the full English breakfast this morning as Arie is due to go back on Tuesday morning and would have been very upset if he had not had his bacon & egg, something you don't get in Holland.
Then as his work colleagues needed proof that the weather is still warm we went down to Horse Shoe Bay beach restaurant for a couple of beers at lunch time. Many say that this is a nice place to lunch, we have not tried it, but judging by the number of locals eating there, there must be some truth in the rumour.
The last day of his holiday so we all three went down town, Girne that is, so that he could get one of those genuine fake watches for his mother, who seems to have lost hers, whilst he was away. Then a wander back to Kervansary, where there is a super lunch time restaurant overlooking the beach and the bay towards Lapta.
We had just sat down when I received a telephone call from Mike & Tracey Rodd, saying that Joan was going to get her arm all burnt if she hung around on that chair. Yep, they were at the other end of the restaurant, so we moved up nearer and joined them for a couple of beers. The two kids went down to the beach and in to the water, with their clothes on of course and Joan and Arie, who had come prepared for a swim, joined them. The sensible ones stayed up in the restaurant guarding the beers.......
Whilst we were there, after one or two tense phone calls, Mike and Tracey learnt that their house sale in UK had gone through, so they will become permanent residents over here from about July, after the end of the UK school year. It will be nice to have them over here, but then we may not be here ourselves, who knows how our villa sale will proceed.
In the evening the three of us went to Haci Ali Restaurant, here in Lapta. Arie's treat for putting up with him for the last 12 days. Seriously it was great having him here, just unfortunate that we have to get up at 4.30 a.m. tomorrow to take him back to Larnaca.
Time to look at last weeks Cyprus Today to see if there is news that might interest you.
Obviously they have no real news for you as the headline item is about "Maggot Pete". Do you remember the man who sold unfit chickens in the UK to schools, OAP homes etc and the legged it to TRNC with his ill gotten gains, then was finally collared and deported back to UK, where he languishes in jail. Well he has written to Cyprus Today and claims he is innocent. I get the feeling that the article is sort of tongue in cheek, because even his wife has transferred her share of the proceeds to enable it to be seized by the court.
Now here is a real funny. The Greek Cypriot president has come up with a scheme that will hand all ex-Greek land in the North, back to the original owners so that they could charge rent to those who now reside on the land. Whilst the Turkish Cypriot land in the South would be opened up for development allowing the Turkish Cypriot owners to be compensated by the increased value this will generate. Sounds like a scheme to benefit some but not others, to me.
The Amaranta Valley development appears to be once again in trouble. The government has made it clear to Gary Robb that they are refusing to bail out the scheme. The government is now saying, that they have always been saying just that to Mr Robb, so somebody has been, or still is telling porkies and building the hopes of so many. I don't suppose that in the current economic climate they can afford to bail out any more builders but they are agreeing to lay on water and electric to the site and build a roadway and one spokesman has actually said, "where would the government find £3 million to bail out Gary Robb".
Sunday hunting has started again across the TRNC, despite many protest to have it stopped by environmentalists. They say that the current water shortage across the island has so depleted bird stocks that they need time to recover. It would be nice not to here those guns going off early on a Sunday morning.
Should I mention Liverpool FC and their current position in the league or is that just tempting fate at this stage of the season. Great win for Lewis Hamilton on Sunday, Arie and I were allowed out to go and watch on the big screen. Talk about last minute.....
For those of you who do read the Cyprus Today, there will be a very interesting article in this coming week. We received a call that said.."You are leaving, can we have pics and an interview". I said if you say anything detrimental I'll sue, so they sent Sue round with the camera. Some you win some you lose.
I did say, not yet, but they said no matter we will get the pics with the suitcases when you do actually go. Do I get a feeling that they want to see the back of us?
Well we made it on to page 9 of Cyprus Today. A bit over the top I felt calling us "Internet Icons" but it was a very nice article about us and made it very clear that it was a personal choice to make this move and not brought about because any dislike of things in TRNC. We have learnt in our fairly long life that wherever you live you accept what is best about the place and only grumble slightly about the warts. We shall be keeping the article as a memory of our super life here and I have started a file for all those e-mails we have received wishing us good luck. It is really heartwarming to realise how many wish us well and say they will miss the Cyprus blog.
Other news that is more important.
One couple have been deported last Thursday. Why, they have been here for two years now, have done nothing about obtaining residency, have been working without permits, etc. etc. Clearly they have every excuse in the book for this, but there is NO excuse. The rules are made very plain and we all have to abide by them, organisations such as the BRS can explain the rules to newcomers and government departments are very helpful too, so if you are already here or are planning to come, take heed, if you don't then please don't come near me with your begging bowl asking for financial help to get home, cos I will tell you exactly where to go.
The bypass is still in financial crisis as no money is forthcoming from Turkey to bale out the company doing the work. This is despite a promise made earlier. Me thinks that Turkey is getting a little fed up with hearing the rattle of the begging bowl. They do however say that some approval was passed by the cabinet there, but that it is now a question of when the money may be released. Meantime the bypass section that is usable will be worn out by official opening day.
There is a drive to firmly introduce the smoking ban here in TRNC. However they say that restaurants and bars have until January 2010 (yes you heard right January 2010) to designate smoking and non-smoking areas. No rush then to introduce a total ban.
CTA are to introduce direct flights to Scandinavian countries. Now that's interesting, is this the first little wedge in the scheme of things that will eventually get direct flights everywhere. If this is a lead in then lets hope so and that it brings the cost of travel down as that would be a major boost to tourism.
The EU is at it again. First they agree to allow Greek Cyprus in to the EU despite there being no positive outcome to the 2004 referendum. They accept what they call The Republic of Cyprus in to the EU on behalf of the whole island, now they are refusing to allow TRNC representatives in, as observers, to proceedings. What sort of mentality allows one to become an MEP, probably requires an IQ level below about 10, just enough to fill out expense claims.
An early start today as we had to be across at Ledra Palace by 9.30 a.m. to pick up a bus that was to take around 40 of us in to no mans land.
This is of course the closest Sunday to 11th November, so it is always known as Remembrance Sunday. In the UN controlled buffer zone, between North and South Cyprus, where the UN soldiers are resident, there is a military cemetery known as Wayne's Keep. There are a total of 582 crosses within the cemetery, made up of Navy, Army, RAF and civilian dependents. There are also 8 Germans, from a bomber that crashed on the island during the Second World War.
Every year there is a Remembrance Service organised by the resident regiment and a number of BRS members are given access to attend. The service is multi lingual and is very much like that we know from the UK. At the end there are the usual wreath laying ceremonies and collections for the poppy appeal.
Afterward those of us who attended were invited to lunch at the Officers Mess. We were piped in to the building that used to be the old Ledra Palace Hotel, which is now occupied by the UN forces. A buffet lunch was laid on and of course the bar was open. After about 2 hours we were also piped out, which I think was a polite way of saying, OK folks it's over, now go home. Many officers and their wives were in attendance and during lunch I was able to have a conversation with Michael Wright from the British High Commission and one of the officers present.
Tuesday night and "Boys Night Out". Stewart has come up with another venue to try. Recently the couple who have been running The Farmhouse restaurant in Alsancak, have taken over the restaurant in The Celebrity Hotel here in Lapta. This is to be called The Waterfront and Stewart thought we should give it a try for a few beers, especially as it is much closer to home. Draught Efes is 3 YTL a pint (or almost) so no problem there. The atmosphere was too much restaurant really for our nights out, so back to the drawing board.
Another Stewart idea for the evening out with the ladies. We all thought that would be a good one. Stewart's neighbour is married to a lady from Thailand and she is a good cook of her local fare. She had agreed to do a Thai Nite at The Stumble Inn here in Lapta. Starter and main course for 15YTL per person. When we got there, true enough the blackboard menu said 15YTL. The starter was lovely, fishcakes and spring rolls, this was followed by two different chicken dishes served up with sticky rice. One was very hot the other milder, quantity, just about. Then one of the girls noticed the blackboard being changed to 19YTL per person. When we asked for the bill that's what they wanted to charge, but not what we paid, reasonable food but not really our cup of tea and getting ripped off tends to rule out any return visit.
Today is the 25th anniversary of the TRNC and it will of course be marked by celebrations around the country. Now we know why the flags have been put up in the villages.
On the same day there is a report on a speech by the Prime Minister, where he is warning Turkish Cypriots that they will have to agree to difficult measures in the current economic climate to survive, or accept the alternative, which is Turkey stepping in to take steps to control. Maybe this idea of austerity includes getting rid of many of the family members who have been given non jobs in administration.....some hope
Still the troubled Amaranta Valley development rumbles on and the Amaranta Buyers Committee claim that they expect a decision from government soon. They have actually had a letter from the PM which declares the governments intention to put electric, water and roadways in to the site.
Have noticed a heavy police presence during the last week or so, now we know why. They have stopped 6,820 motorists during the week ending 9th November and fined 1,324 of them. Must be getting near salary date.
Still the warm weather persists. It is mid November and we are still basking in the sun and still desperately needing rain. Joan and I remember the very first time we visited the TRNC, in November 1997, we had two weeks of glorious sunshine and some of the beaches were still operating. Little did we know that that holiday was to be the start of our adventure here.
A couple of weeks ago Richard had suggested that we try Guido's for Sunday lunch. So the three of us sat outside on their front terrace for a three course roast jobby. Lovely Italian style starter with lots of garlic, roast beef in our case with all the trimmings, followed by apple strudel and ice cream. Very nice too, not expensive, but don't be in a hurry, it was 4 p.m. when we got home.
Not many around for boys night out, so Bryan and I decided to take the ladies down to The Ravine for a fish and chip treat. They do have the best cod & chips around. We were joined alter by Andrew and Roger, so the ladies went off home on their own and left us to chinwag for a little longer. Tomorrow Roger heads off to UK until some time in February so the numbers will be depleted even more.
Have heard today, that Steini, our Icelandic friend, is arriving next week, so that should liven up next Tuesday night.
The gang decided that we had not been up to the village restaurant in Karsiyaka for quite some time. Seven of us went up there this evening and luckily booked before as it was very busy. Obviously his food quality together with his prices have encouraged business and it is really good to see as many restaurants are struggling at the moment.
Good night out was had by all.
It is noticeably getting cooler now, time to get out the sweaters in the evening. just as always at this time of the year, as soon as the sun disappears behind the mountain around 4 p.m., it goes quite cool. An hour or so later it seems to warm up a little, the moon beginning to come up we suppose, but clearly winter is on its way, even for us.
Took my car down to the accident repair shop this morning to see about the repair to the front offside wing. Not a serious problem, but some kind person in a car park someplace, put a dent in the top edge and of course they very kindly left a note to say they had done it....Ha Ha. Thank heavens for insurance, although I don't suppose it would be very expensive here anyway. Well the deal is, get the car down there, Monday morning 8 a.m. and collect Monday evening with the whole job done. That is the sort of deal that makes living here great.
Joan and I went off early to Nicosia as Joan needed to resolve something with one of the furniture suppliers there. So having gone that far we then went across the border to do some early Xmas shopping. Easy for us, both of us wanted things from M&S so we were able to sort our personal presents out very quickly. We also noticed that they have expanded their food section, still not anything like you have there in UK, but never mind we were able to buy some starter dishes for our Sunday dinner, Chinese duck and battered prawns with a sauce. Look forward to that, maybe we have to do a stir fry to complement.
This evening we had a super evening out at the Haci Ali restaurant with Andy and Nicki Patterson, relative newcomers to Lapta. Maybe Andy will join the boys night out group.
Bought the paper yesterday on the way back from our trip, so that I could read it in bed with the morning coffee.
They have finally got the car park barriers up at Ercan airport, after about 1 year of promises. Guess what people are complaining. Couldn't possibly be because the free car parking or maybe 5YTL for about three weeks has gone away, even if you know the man on the gate. Even if you leave it for a long time the cost is still only 5YTL (£2.00) per day, they need to try Stansted or Heathrow if they want cheap parking. Maybe not.
Heads are to roll in a Lefkosa school. Why, well apparently somebody was asked to provide some dancers at a celebration event. The person organising it paid 250YTL, but forgot to say he had recruited the dancers from a local nightclub. The dance turned out to be a bit erotic and caused a few raised eyebrows and a few more complaints. Strange, I wonder why?
According to Mr Downer, the UN Special Cyprus Adviser the talks are going well between the two sides. Guess he must be listening to a different set of talks to everybody else. The Greek Cypriots are dedicated to peace, so why have they just spent $20 million on Russian arms. Why have they also increased their propaganda budget from 2 million to 3 million Euros, this is specifically used to influence world opinion on it's version of the Cyprus problem. Somebody should tell this government, here in TRNC, that any budget would be better than the current big fat zero. As Chris Howland of Karsiyaka pointed out in the press, in this current world of Internet usage to disseminate information, we are currently lagging badly behind.
Liverpool 0 - Fulham 0. What is going on, thank goodness that Chelsea managed a similar result.
We have had a short visit from Steini and his son-in-law Gummi, our friends from Iceland. They arrived last Saturday and are rushing off back again this coming Saturday. They only came over to fight with the solicitor and local developer about the apartments and electric connections. So far they are still being frustrated but have the rest of the week to sort things out.
This evening we had the regular Boy's Night Out" and went to the Ravine Bar, that's were we always get free chips, but please don't say that's why we go there.......
We included our two Icelanders as they always enjoy the banter at these nights and we had also asked the new kid on the block, Andrew Patterson, to join us. We hope he enjoyed his night out, but here he is going to UK next week, so maybe he is trying to escape already.
The evening gave us a great opportunity to take the mickey about the value of the Icelandic Krona, all in good fun but the situation over there is quite serious.
Thursday and the gang night out to a local restaurant. By special request from Steini we went back to the village restaurant in Karsiyaka.
As usual it was the same good quality of food but we were a little surprised to find that he had added exactly 3YTL to every price on his menu, since last week. We are well aware that costs are up here but still find the local attitude of, "we are not making any money, so lets put up all the prices" something that is hard to understand.
They all do it over here and ultimately we find that we and everybody else goes less often, so turnover goes down. Back to the old saying....this is Cyprus.
Joan went off to the Christmas Fair at St Andrews Church this morning, leaving me to my non-favourite task of hedge cutting. She said that the fair was quite well attended and they apparently managed to raise a reasonable sum of money. Usually the sale of home made cakes etc ensures that money comes in, unfortunately as Joan had other things to do on the way, I got no cakes.
One thing that was arranged during this fair was the sponsored bike ride by Peggy McAlpine. Peggy was 101 years old recently and had hoped, during a trip to UK to have had a flight in a vintage aircraft, but this unfortunately fell through at the last minute. Last year she got herself in the Guinness Book of Records, for being the oldest person to go tandem paragliding, which she did here in TRNC. The offer to ride pillion on a Harley was made to her and then came the idea to set up sponsorship in aid if the SOS Children's Homes here in the North. She is being sponsored for every mile she does on the back of the bike, no doubt we will get a report of how much she raised next week.
Oh dear, peace in our times. The lead story in Cyprus Today is about Turkish Gunboat Diplomacy. According to the Greek Cypriots on 13th November and again last Monday, a Turkish warship is alleged to have threatened two ships crewed by Norwegian research teams in the Greek Cypriot Exclusive Economic Zone. Turkish sources of course say that the warship remained in their EEZ. Strange that these sort of incidents are suddenly happening whilst the world watches the eventual out come of PEACE talks between the two sides of the island.
Once again the UK is showing it's ignorance of the real situation here on the island. Apparently the House of Lords is demanding answers as to why British expat buyers in South Cyprus are having to wait up to 15 years to get property title deeds. Lord Jones of Cheltenham, who tabled the question in the house should be enlightened about the situation here also.
Added to all this going on, now there is a legal threat to UK because it is claimed that the UK did not do it's job as a guarantor of Cyprus in 1974. A number of organisations are threatening to take the UK to the European Court of Human Rights. Maybe the next move will be for somebody to take Greece to the same court, as they were also a guarantor state. Smells of more political propaganda from the South, whilst this side just sits back and hopes it will all just go away.
The two presidents have had their 10th meeting last week. There is considerable gloom after this one, which turned out to be the shortest meeting yet and is believed to have been fairly heated. The argument is believed to be about Mr Christofias signing a memorandum of understanding with his Russian counterpart. When Mr Talat complained, his response was that he was head of an independent country and would sign agreements with anybody he wanted. Oops!
The number of speed traps around the North is on the increase. This is especially noticeable recently, the police seem to have received a new batch of hand held cameras and are making good use of them to control speed on the roads.
The government is seemingly bowing to pressure from the Casino owners and considering allowing access to Turkish Cypriots on special days. Many of the locals are struggling financially now, this will only serve to make things worse and it will be their families that will suffer when the addiction kicks in. There are currently 22 casinos on the island and more licences issued.
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