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Our adventures in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus continue....
Yesterday we were supposed to be doing the annual charity walk across the mountain to Karsiyaka. Guess what, it was cancelled due to more heavy rain and also some serious damage to the roads over the mountains from the recent storms. The suggestion is that it will now take place at the end of March. Saturdays headline is, " Natural disaster is worst flooding in living memory". The Turkish troops were put on alert as the torrential rain continued. The deluge tore down bridges, flooded homes and business premises, breached dams and brought TRNC to a standstill. The amount of rain that fell reached 18cms in the 24 hour period to midnight. There were landslides across some of the highways that run close to mountain sides closing a number of main roads. Guess our little newly created river was small in comparison to the problems of others and at least we were able to divert the flow. Other news includes a heart operation for our chaplain at St Andrews Church, the Rev Michael Houston. We understand that he is recovering well and we wish him a speedy full recovery. The building contractors are still threatening the government with action should their demands not be met. (see last weeks posting). I personally don't see how this government can overcome the worlds financial crisis all on it's own and solve their problem of little or no business. Despite their cries for help they continue to build empty shops, that are far in excess of anything that is ever likey to be needed here, unless the population quadruples over the next couple of years. Does anybody recall discussions about the Treaty of Guarantee signed in 1960 by Greece, United Kingdom and Turkey. This treaty was the agreement under which the island was to be governed and the signature parties were supposed to support and if necessary intervene should things not work out. The Greeks forced a change to the constitution in 1963, then in 1974 they sparked a military coup that ousted President Makarios. The British did their ostrich trick and buried their heads in the sand, which they have continued to do ever since and the finally Tuirkey intervened to allow their own people to live in a sort of peace ever since. Now the Greek Cypriots have passed a resolution in their parliament, that The Treaty of Guarantee, which is still technically effective, should be scrapped. Will somebody please tell me "What chance peace talks" whilst this political stupidity goes on.
The midweek paper is starting to ask, "Who's to blame" for the scale of the disaster, caused when we were deluged with rain for almost 36 hours. OK we had an excessive amount of rain, but the environmentalists are wanting to know who allowed building in riverbeds, or who turned a blind eye to it. President Talat says that greed is to blame, with people building in riverbeds and on flood plains for their own financial gain. One of the most serious consequences was in Lefkosa State Hospital, where seven people died after a power cut caused by the flooding. The basement where back up generators were housed flooded, making these useless also, leaving vital medical equipment without power. The Health Ministry first of all said that deaths were due to natural causes and then later admitted that two buildings on the hospitsl complex were built on a riverbed without any environmental or ground study. The Orams are once again heading back to court, because their legal team is challenging the Court of Appeals decision. So once again we need to watch this space. The mayor of Lefkosa is threatening to resign if he is not given funding and permission to demolish houses built on riverbeds etc. Now correct me if I am wrong, but should the local authority not be involved in agreeing to planning consent! One of the leading poiticians in the south has admitted that the recent resolution, scrapping the Treaty of Guarantee was wrong. He claims that the timing was all wrong and that such intervention could backfire in the event that the current peace talks failed. He said that the blame game, in the aftermath of the talks ending unsuccesfully, could point the finger directly at the South. Is it possible that the South are now finally getting it wrong? Easyjet and Jet2 are set to launch low cost flights from the UK to Paphos this summer. This could be interesting for anybody coming over, but you have to bear in mind the time and cost of the 3 hour journey to Paphos.
Early start for me this morning. Charles and Yvonne needed to be at the airport for 6 o'clock as they are flying to Stansted and then on to Aberdeen, to visit Charles's son, so I went with them and brought their car back home. This reduced the numbers for The Layabouts night out. Pat is also in UK, Andrew and Sue are involved in the Theatre Lambousa show due to be on next week, so five of us went to The Green Palace in Karsiyaka. Worth it all round, my T-bone steak was delicious.
Joan and I walked across the border in Lefkosa today, sort of an obligation on my part as next week is Joan's birthday and so far I had not bought anything. Problem was solved with some new shoes and a new sweater plus a nice lunch in an old town area tavena. Whew, another let off and maybe some brownie points.
Yesterdays newspaper is leading with the very important decision coming out of the ECHR. Greek Cypriots must apply to the TRNC Immovable Property Commission (IPC) for compensation or the return of land, prior to any settlement on the island. The IPC was born out of a call by the ECHR for an effective local remedy to tackle the claims on property in Northern Cyprus. A panel of 17 judges in the ECHR agreed that the IPC is an appropriate domestic body, with access to all the relevant information and was clearly the more appropriate forum for sorting out the very complex matters of ownership etc. and then deciding on appropriate levels of compensation. Already almost £40 million has been awarded in compensation since the IPC was launched in 2005. Now with this decision coming out of the European Court, Greek Cypriots have no option but to proceed through these channels. This decision should radically change the attitude to property issues here and maybe give a much needed boost to the future development of the TRNC. Meanwhile the two presidents are still talking and trying, they say, to reach a mutual compromise solution. These talks will of course be suspended at the end of March when our president will be heavily involved in the elections. Should he of course fall by the wayside then it will probably be a case of going back to the drawing board with any new man, so in short don't expect too much too soon. Lots of accusations of blame for the damage caused by the recent heavy rains being thrown around. In particular the protests are coming from the Cyprus Turkish Building Contractors Union. They are quite adamant in saying that there members could not be responsible for dumping in ravines, building on river beds etc. They claim that it must have been illegal contractors. Interesting to note that 12 years ago this union had 20 members, today there are 460 members. As one of the Opinion journalists, tongue in cheek, suggests, these must all be qualified in architectural design, construction and engineering. So exercise great care out there, the fast buck merchants are still around and the for sure do not have the necessary qualifications.
Big event of this week is Joan's 70th birthday, which is today. We are going to celebrate with friends this coming Sunday so expect some pics etc from this event. So that Joan didn't feel that her real birthday was going to be a dull afair she went off to her Thursday keep fit class armed with a couple of bottles of bubbly. After their exercising the keep fit class gathered together and Vicki, of The Black Olive fame, opened up a drop of sparkling to celebrate. They all seemed to enjoy the extra drinkies at the end of the class and for sure Vicki is sure trying to tell her something, probably to just take me a piece of walnut cake as a consolation, very enjoyable it was too. When she got back from the class I had been up to Bryan's to collect the birthday present which the gang had clubbed together to buy her. A painting by a local artist of three donkeys, which she had admired o a previous occassion. It looks rally good and when we get to France it will be a constant memory of our happy times here. This evening Joan and I went out to The Green Palace for a meal together. Joan's choice of restaurant because the food is so good there.
I have been sent this link to an article in The Parliamentry Brief, written by an ex member of Parliament and a UK barrister. I would recommend this article as essential reading as it really explains the truth of the situation here and wants to be spread around all those doubters and unbelieevers in UK and Europe. http:// www.parliamentarybrief.com/articles/1/new/mag/83/1054/britains-duty-if-no.html This evening we went firstly to Anne's for a delightful pre-theatre supper and then on to the Barons' Theatre at Chateau Lambousa. This evenings performance by the Theatre Lambousa group was set in occupied France during the Second World War. You will all remember the well known TV show set in Rene's cafe in the village of Nouvien. This was hilarious stuff with Edith doing her off key singing to entertain the customers, note the earplugs and a super performance by Helga and Herr Flick, especially the scene with the booby trapped suspender belt. In almost every scene it is I, Le Clerc popped up in some ridiculous disguise, on this occasion as a parrot salesman. Crabtree, the not so good French speaking policeman, also gave a super performance and here we see Rene with Crabtree trying to hide the sausage with the portrait of the Madonna with the big boobies. This was side split-tingly funny. Later we were entertained with the bedroom scene were Edith was caked in cabbage leaves, cucumber, cold cream and hair rollers in an unsuccessful attempt to interest Rene in her beauty. In the final scene we had too many Adolfs all scheming to get their hands on the valuable portrait. The whole evening was absolutely hilarious and we all will be laughing at the antics and the jokes for some time to come. Jan Marsh the producer and the entire cast are to be congratulated on a very professional performance.
A quick look at this weeks Cyrpus Today as I must get ready for Joan's big birthday party this afternoon. There are now a total of eight candidates for the job as President of the TRNC. Only here in local politics could we have two candidates from the same party, both so called heavy weights, who will clearly split the votes of the faithful, which will maybe leave Mr Talat with a clear chance of retaining his position. But who knows maybe this is just a political ploy to do just that. The EU insistance on Greek Cypriots applying to the IPC for land reclaims etc now probably means that the size of the committee might have to double in order to cope with the expected flood of applications. The Health Minister has now confirmed that the flood damage at Lefkosa State hospital, caused by the blocked riverbed in the area, will cost 2 million TL to repair. It seems that an insirance comapny is picking up the bill for all this work. CTA workers stagged a one day strike last Wednesday in protest at the loss of jobs and the non payment of future bonuses. As the prime minister said to them, were in the world does a bankrupt company pay bonuses. Sort of shades of British Airways staff problems I think. I just hope that they don't have another one day strike next Tuesday when I want to go to France. Thats it for this week, I'm off to the party.
Yesterday afternoon was a really enjoyable event. Joan's 70th party held at The Silver Rocks. The weather held for us but it did get a little cold down by the sea later and we all moved to the warmer sunny terrace. The owners had given us our special terrace and they served up the most tremendous Turkish meze, where the food just kept coming until we were all fit to burst. Joan and I split up among our guests with Joan's table being at the top end, as was only right. After the meal we all were moved up to a warmer spot in the sun for the birthday cake. This was a glorious thing made especxially by Linda Smith. The Tuyrkish Cypriot guests with us were totally overawed by it, but then if you have ever eaten one of their cakes you would no why. We had got some bubbly to wash it down with and this made Tom say OK lets have a picture that says the two of us because he reckons I always manage to dodge getting on the site. All in all a great afternoon, lots of fun all round and there you go it's me again, twice on one page. I have no idea what the joke was, I wish I could remember as it seemed to be a good one, but never mind just happy memories for us. What you might call an interesting day. I was on the way to France today with a very tight schedule. The 0815 Pegasus airlines flight was due in to Stansted at 1210 and the Ryanair flight to Bergerac was boarding latest 1335. Tight schedule OK, but I only had to go through passport control with my fancy new electronic chipped passport, very quick they say. Then the next move would be security which is supposed to be speeded up these days. Plenty of time if you are fit enough to run. Starter was that the flight in was almost 1 hour late so we finally took off from Ercan 45 minutes late. We caught up a bit of time to Istanbul when we were told ground time would only be 30 minutes, but oh no. They started loading boxes and boxes of herbs into the hold, so we were late again. Landed at Stansted at 1255, rush time. First problem my passport was not recognised by their fancy new system so had to revert to the old inspection. Staff there were brilliant, when told of my time limit so they escorted me through the queue jump. Then in security, which was not busy, they singled out my little bag for a hand check. Guess what the problem was, a half tube of toothpaste which I should have put in a separate plastic bag. The end result of this was that I actually made it on to the Ryanair flight with 5 minutes to spare and a little hot under the collar. What was worrying me most was the Ryanair winter schedules, because if I had missed this flight then the next one was Thursday. Guess I would have been ringing friends for a spare bed. Anyway, all's well that ends well and Stewart and Barbara were there to meet me and take me to Ferrensac. they had kindly got me some basics such as milk and bread etc, The other lovely thing was to find that our Saab started up first time, the hot water was on and Gerry had left me some logs for the wood burner. Since I arrived it has been quite warm, around 20 degrees in the middle of the day. Gerry and Sarah are in USA at the moment so it is quiet here around the farmhouse. I have been out to lunch at Stewart and Barbara's yesterday, followed by a look at the superb new house they are going to move to. Then today they had organised a lunch out at a new restaurant they had discovered, together with some friends and local neighbours. As usual the "menu de jour" was chosen and it was just tremendous, five courses of soup, a salad buffet, main course when I chose duck, cheese then a desert and coffee. We had a carafe of rose wine and the meal came to 15 Euros each. When I got back, Sarah's friend was busy feeding the donkeys and the look in her eye confirmed I'm going to be a mummy again, in fact it could be any day they say and Kate is hoping that Sarah will be back from USA before the event. The big naughty fellow is definitely saying and I'm the daddy so don't you forget it. He apparently got over the fence the night before the vet arrived to see to him, one last fling he thought. Spent some time yesterday pricing paint etc ready for doing some work in the farmhouse when I come back from Holland. At least now I will be able to compare prices in Holland and if it is cheaper there, will bring back with me. This morning I got up at 5 o'clock ready to make the drive up to Nieuwkoop, near Amsterdam. The plan was to be on the road by 6 a.m. but as per all good plans, things can go wrong. This morning I found the kitchen sink blocked, so before I could wash up I had to empty the cupboard and clear the U-bend. Anyway only 30 minutes late I set off. GPS programmed to the exact address and a tank full of petrol, so lets see how long it takes. One advantage here on Sundays, is very little lorry traffic on the roads and with this Saab I am able to set the cruise control on the 130 km regulation speed on toll roads and that sure makes life easier. I was just south of Paris by 12 noon so called in to a service station to fill the tank up, get some coffee and sandwiches. The inner ring road round Paris, was as always, very busy, but once round that I seemed to cross the border in to Belgium quite soon, got held up by roadworks around Antwerp, but once round these was soon into Holland. At the border I called Arie and he was astounded to hear just how quickly I had managed to do the journey so he hung in there for me, before sorting out dinner. I parked up at Arie's place at exactly 5.30 p.m.so had covered 1105 kilometers in exactly 11 hours and I have to say I felt quite fresh. This Saab might be 11 years old but it is exteemly comfortable and just eats up the distances. Arie and I had to take his son Michael to Aphen on the Rhine, were he lives during the week, close to school. That done the two of us spent an enjoyable hour or so in a Chinese restaurant before getting back for a reasonably early night. Guess what, Arie drove.......
This morning I went round to see our friend Henny, Arie's mum, who has been almost constantly in hospital since last August. This was of course my main reason for making the journey up here. This lady is a real fighter and although very tired, she is this week trying to do more and more for herself. It was great to see her and I have to say I was amazed at how well she is coping. She obviously tires very easily so will have to be careful with my visits this week as she is so determined to let everyone she how quickly she is recovering. In the afternoon I went in to Aphen, to a big electronics shop, to price up LCD TVs for Stewart and Barbara, as Stewart saw that as an opportunity not to be missed to maybe get one cheaper than in France. How right he was, so guess I will be travelling back with a 40" Samsung in the boot. On my way back to Nieuwkoop, I couldn't resist stopping in a parking area to take a traditional view picture of one of the windmills on the roads in. These are a real tourist thing in this area, but because of the huge lake just outside the village they used to be extensively used to pump water off the lower lands. There is one that has been restored and working and can always be seen turning round when the wind is right.
Today was such a warm sunny day that after lunch with Co & Henny I couldn't resisit a walk across the lake. This area of Nieuwkoop is just a lovely place to live especially around this time of the year with the spring buds coming out. We spent 5 lovely years around here so know the way around. One of the interesting walks is via the path across the lake which goes from close to Co & Henny's house across to the village known as Meije. This is a huge lake with Locks at either end and if you want to know the way then just follow the road signs! The whole is just peace and tranquility and clearly the spring brings that we want to be together feeling among all the wildlife.
The weather has been so nice this wee, so after going to Alphen again to but Stewart and Barbara's LCD TV, I decided another walk around this village was called for after lunch. Because of the huge lake with entrance locks and channels at either end, Nieuwkoop is full of boats and more boats. They are in fact talking about making a big tourist marina just off the town square. On Saturdays this square is full of market traders and in fact on the Saturday I walked around and recognised many of the same traders who were around in 1982, when Joan and I left the village. This evening I spent with Arie and we took the easy way out and sent for a donna kebab with extra filing and garlic sauce. delicious. Spip, Arie's cat is never far away from the action but in the evenings seems to prefer to show you that it's an upside down world, whilst she gets her tummy tickled of course. Back in TRBC, Joan has been off to a piano and flute recital in Bellapis Abbey, with Pat & Barbara. Her e-mail tells me that it was a very good concert in aid of the Hemitage Restoration project. Joan's friend Anne Lloyd one of the organisers had got them tickets. Saturday morning and here you see a masterchef at work. Arie had insisted that I cooked the full English breakfast before I went back. The most difficult thing here in Holland is to get the ingredients. It is difficult to buy a good English sausage and because of the fact that it is a strange world, you buy bacon in UK, made in Holland, but you can't buy it here easily. Whatever we succeeded and had a very enjoyable brunch really. Last night, after dinner with Co & Henny, I had gone round to Kitty and Theo's for the evening. Kitty is Arie's sister and they like her parents wanted to see the pics of the French farmhouse. Guess this might be a prelude to a visit, when we get there finally. Left Nieuwkoop early this morning, around 7 a.m. and got back to Ferrensac 11 hours alter, The roads were again fairly empty as you could see all the trucks parked up for the Sunday break. I did have some quite heavy rain around and to the south of Paris but it didn't last too long. Spoke to Joan when I got in as we are both quite concerned about Tiggy, She seems to be calling for food all the time but then not eating and Joan tells me she is losing weight again. She is gong to take her to the vet tomorrow and get her opinion. Maybe we have given her about an extra year of good life with this chemo treatment, but if she is going to start suffering it is time to let go. Lets wait and see.
Had my first lesson on how it all works here in France. Yesterday morning, after my trip down from Holland, my car just would not start, in fact I could not even get in to it. This Saab is full of security measures and special starting procedures, it's a bit like the old RAF cockpit checks before you go anywhere. I sort of struggled with it all day as had to get the TV over to Barbara and then do some shopping for myself, after numerous tries I could eventually get it going but this was going to have to be fixed. Sarah came up with a battery charger which I left on all night, in case that was the problem, but oh no, the damm thing still wouldn't go this morning. Sarah rang her friends Clive and Francis as he seems to be knowledgable about the garages around here, when he heard the problem he thought that a Saab dealer was the only option as the Renault and Peugeot guys wouldn't know anything about Saab. He also knew another Saab owner in the area and gave me her phone number, but unfortunately she did not answer. So Sarah put her best French in to practice and called the Saab dealer, who just happens to be almost 2 hours away in Bordeaux. Now here we come up with the French system of casual working. Everybody is easing down for Easter, so the first appointment I could get was April 7th, however Clive had also suggested a diagnostic man in Bergerac so I set off to try to find him. On my way through Castillione I spotted the Saab belonging to Janet Webb, so pulled in to try to call her. This lady explained that she had also had a problem with hers, but with the roof mechanism and she used an English guy called Glynn, who has a garage in Miramont, so I called him. He is a Mercedes specialist but listened very carefully to the symptoms. He said that the batteries in my key fob were run down and as the Saab needs you to unlock the security system by this method it would not start. I said, but I have 2 key fobs and neither works, he said if the second one has not been used much it might just be buggered. So I went with Sarah to the local Renault garage, he fitted 2 new batteries and lo and behold everything now works. Super result but it took the whole morning and now I have to cancel my appointment on the 7th, but think I might just wait to make sure, until after Easter. |
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