On the road on the way to the beach we drive passed a road sign in Greek and translated into English.
Glancing at the sign, at a distance, it’s clear that there are supposed to be some traffic calming measures ahead. Actually, we’re pretty sure there aren’t any but that’s another issue.
On closer inspection though the English translation just doesn’t work!
Earlier this week we were walking up in the hills not far outside Larnaca.
The reason for the hillside trek is a post for another day but while we were there we stumbled across the ideal property for us …
… quiet location … no neighbours … good views … potential for improvement … room to expand …
What more could we possible want from our next house?
Ok, a door and a roof would be good and more than one room might be an advantage but still, just look at the views!
Looking south towards Larnaca & the coast.
The light area in the distance on the right is the dried Salt Lake
Looking west into the hills
While we were looking a pair of eagles soared above, presumably checking up on what we were doing in their neck of the woods. A friend saw them a week or two ago and thinks they are Imperial eagles, sadly they didn’t come close enough for us to confirm that.
Maybe next time :-)
The house next door has been part-built for at least a year and a half now. A father is building it, on weekends only, for his daughter as part of her dowry. From time to time she turns up to inspect the latest work, or to deliver boxes of tiles she has selected for the bathroom, or to compare paint colours for the outside of the house.
Over the last few weeks things have been getting a little busier particularly with regard to the external electricity box.
It has been made, measured, removed, extended and measured again. Then someone appeared on Saturday morning to chip out the concrete directly above the box – it seems the measuring might have been an important part. Next someone came along to measure out the newly chipped section, and noticed that it was neither square nor straight. He was followed by someone to fix a holding piece of timber to the back before the frame was fitted and then removed, and then re-fitted by someone else before the door was finally hung.
Surely, in the whole history of house-building, an electricity box has never had such attention?
Aradippou’s most pampered electricity box
We saw a dozen people on eight or more occasions working on this. Then we decided life was too short so we stopped counting and went to the beach instead.
Anyway, with all this activity we knew that it was only a matter of time before the electricity board appeared to connect the house to the local supply. On the plus side this would mean that the builders would no longer need to ask to plug their kango drill into our supply – yes, we were a little surprised by that one too. On the negative side we expected to lose our power supply while they hooked the other house up and since we didn’t expect to get any notice we envisaged problems in that the washing machine or something would be bound to be on when that happened.
Well, it turns out we were wrong. Why bother turning off the supply when you can just shimmy up the nearest electricity pole and add a new connection. Why fuss when you have all the protection that three pairs of gloves can supply?
Putting on the second pair of gloves. Are they marigolds??
When we saw the palm-tree trimming going on we thought that was mad. Obviously it was just a warm-up for the main act.
Safe to go with three pairs of gloves protecting him against electrocution
Some friends have become heavily involved in fund-raising for a local charity which is setting up a hospice to give local care to local people. All being well the first three beds should be available within the next month providing end-of-life and respite care to the terminally ill.
In cultural terms the island has, traditionally, had a slightly different approach to countries such as the UK or America. Until recently the expectation was that the terminally ill would be treated at home, by relatives, or would be hospitalised and treated even if the only point of the treatment was to make everyone feel that something was being done even if the treatment was futile. As a result hospices, respite care and even palliative care are much lacking here.
As in most places, providing such care is expensive. Each of the three beds will cost tens of thousands of Cypriot pounds to maintain each year so effective fund-raising is an ongoing challenge.
As part of the fund-raising the charity runs a shop in Limassol which does a roaring trade in clothing, books, bric-a-brac and some less obvious items. The friends concerned are currently spending large amounts of time driving around the area and collecting items that have been donated. Over drinks recently we were regaled by stories of the strange things that people offer them and the oddities that sell such as …
…. a three foot high yellow stuffed tweetie-pie which was bought by a Filipino. Why? Seems to be the only reasonable question here! Sadly they didn’t get the chance to ask so we’ll all remain baffled for the rest of time.
… a huge old-fashioned electric typewriter taken away by an elderly local last seen cycling through Limassol with it perched on the hand bars of his bicycle …
… and a large Italian glass drinks bar.
Apparently some of the stock is too big to put in the shop or even to hold in the storeroom so one of the volunteers has taken to using his apartment storeroom as a temporary home for large items. Things like the bar – which was offered and seemed too good to refuse – is now causing some scratched heads. If it’s too big to display in the store then how do they make people aware that they have it? Is there a ready market for a custom built Italian glass bars, professionally packaged and shipped to Cyprus and still in it’s wrapping?
We’re not sure the photo does it justice but if there is anyone reading that has a (large) corner of their home that is crying out for such a thing and has a couple of hundred pounds to spare? Oh, and doesn’t mind a trip to Limassol to collect the thing. If you are interested, or know someone who needs such a thing, then drop us an email via our About page or leave a comment on the blog and we’ll put you in touch with the current owners of the bar.
Here in Cyprus we seem to face pretty much the same problem we did in the UK with a stream of utilities, and others, digging up any given stretch of road in a random fashion. Eventually the surface becomes such a mess of laid and relaid surface that the whole road has to be closed for a complete resurface … and then the merry-go-round starts again.
Needless to say, in Cyprus there is an added nuance – laying a new road around any existing impediments …
A very large senior school is being constructed just up the road from us. Aside from it seeming to include the removal of a zillion cubic metres of hillside and a semi-permanet dust storm it, of course, needs a brand new access road. The pre-existing road, from which the new access road to the school is now built, leads to a major Police Station and a cluster of houses. It is common practice, a bit like the US, for electricity to be supplied via overhead cables on a network of telegraph poles and mini-transformers.
So what do you do if the new road plan says “build it here“, and the local electricity system is in the way?
Well … it’s obvious isn’t it? You build the road around it …
Apparently IKEA had about 15,000 on opening day. The few reports we’ve heard all said good things.
The peace talks went nowhere apart from giving the two sides a chance to trade fresh insults. No surprises there then.
And, we’ve tweaked the blog a little and given it a small face-lift. Hope you like it :-)
Well, we must finally have arrived. Last week we had our first unsolicited financial services call. The company called on the home phone number and wanted to speak to Ian, inviting him to meet with one of their representatives to discuss ways to maximise his income. Mands took the call and did a small double-take when she recognised the name of the company.
Calling them a boiler room would be a little strong and would, in all likelihood result in some unpleasantness as the company are known to be particularly litigious especially with regards to defamation. It’s probably fairer to say that they have a reputation for hard selling over-priced inappropriate financial products to people who might not be financially savvy or might lack key information because they are overseas. Financial and ex-pat forums are full of tales of woe from people who have bought shares or made investments via companies like this only to lose tens of thousands of pounds.
The company that called us apparently have the dubious distinction of being the only financial company ever to be kicked out of Panama for dodgy dealings. Come-on, Panama? Surely you really, really have to go some distance to get thrown out of Panama for misbehaving?
Anyway, we won’t be calling back any time soon to make an appointment with their advisor but should they call again we might just have a little fun on the phone with them. Meanwhile, if you ever get an unsolicited phone call like this then make sure you check the FSA’s lists of Unathorised Firms and Individuals which is part of their Scams page.
This week the island is due to get its first IKEA store. For months, no years, there has been speculation that the company was going to build a store but nothing appeared. Two months ago there was still no mention of it on IKEA’s list of stores due to open this year and then, suddenly, a huge blue building with the traditional yellow logo popped up on the outskirts of Nicosia.
Now, they are ramping up for the opening. Every single house in the area has had an brochure hand-delivered. The police are trying to work out how they will cope with the volume of customers and traffic expected at the opening. Apparently the store has capacity for 4,000 customers and the car park space for 800 cars. A quick back-of-a-fagpacket calculation says that those numbers don’t stack up. Are the hoping that each car will arrive with five people? If so, where will they stash their purchases for the return journey?
Before we left London a store opened in Edmonton. The store is on the North Circular, the inner of two roads circling Greater London. Initial interest was a little more than the company expected and they were forced to close the store after just 30 minutes after customers stampeeded into the store in search of opening day bargains. When the car park was full people abandoned their cars on the road.
The Telegraph Battle of Ikea: 20 hurt as frenzied mob fights over £49 sofas on opening night
As it turned out once the store had settled down a little (or rather the customers!) it became our ‘local’ store as we could drive around the North Circular and be there in under half an hour. In fact, Mands once came home in sitting in the boot of the car as we’d bought a little too much that day.
It will be interesting to see how things work out with our new ‘local’ store. Hopefully the grand opening won’t cause quite so much trouble as our last local store. That said, we have heard from one person that they are planning to visit on Friday, the second day of trading ;-)
We never intended to cover politics in the blog but it’s nigh on impossible, and rightly so, to live here and not be aware of ongoing rumblings regarding the Cyprus problem.
Today the UK Foreign Secretary has, again, backed entry to the EU by Turkey. As part of his statement he welcomed fresh talks for peace on the divided island of Cyprus.
“I understand that there are talks opening today that are potentially very important for the Cyprus issue”
For clarity, the Republic of Cyprus is a country in its own right and has full EU membership. The northern part of Cyprus is currently occupied by Turkey who declared the area to be the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC). This is recognised only by Turkey and North Korea.
Mr Papadopoulos, the Republic of Cyprus President, said of the talks starting this week;
“our purpose is to break through the deadlock and expeditiously move forward with the implementation of the 8 July process.”
Mr Talat, the Turkish Cypriot leader is quoted as saying;
“Turkish Cypriots have ruled themselves since 1963. Today, they are the owners of a state, a fully functioning administration. They will not sacrifice this,”
He also warned that Turkish Cypriots would not accept the removal of Turkey’s right to intervene militarily on the island from any potential agreement between the two communities, contesting that “apart from marginal groups… not a single Turkish Cypriot sees the Turkish army as an invader”.
So, the odds of any progress seem somewhat slim to say the least.
This previous blog post has some links to the background on the issue.
The local post system is, well, a little interesting. Before we arrived we rented a post box at one of the larger Larnaca post offices and, for the main part, use that for our mail. A couple of times a week we swing by the post box and check for mail.
It’s surprisingly how that changes the perception of getting mail. Instead of it arriving at someone elses convenience we now get mail when we want it and have time to deal with it. And, instead of it arriving in dribs and drabs with a letter or two each day it eventually arrives in batches which makes actioning it that much more efficient. These are unexpected, but useful, benefits.
The real reasons for having the mail box are to give us some continuity until we get settled in our own house and to bypass the relaxed nature of the post delivery. We have a postman and he swings by a couple of times a week or so. Here in Cyprus they have solved that age-old problem of long post rounds and tired posties. Postie here has a scooter and, instead of being weighed down with the mail and getting a bad back from carrying a heavy mail bag instead he has a cardboard box sitting between his feet. He rides the scooter, along the pavement obviously, and stops at each house in turn. He dips into the cardboard box and finds the mail and then drops it into the mailbox attached to the outside wall of the house. If there’s no box then the post is thrown onto the front step, or left with a neighbour, which ever is most convenient for him.
So, a couple of times a week he drives by with the post and then on the rest of the days he delivers the junk mail. No, we don’t know why he does them separately. Different employer or strange local laws maybe? Whatever the reason the process is the same; scooter on pavement, cardboard box between feet, no uniform and certainly no helmet. The junk mail is often shrink-wrapped so, presumably, anyone needing something delivering to the whole village drops it off at a central point, pays their money and everything is then collated and delivered.
This is the latest batch we received;
It had the usual contents; fliers from the municipality which we don’t understand as they are all in Greek, latest offers from the supermarkets, details of a couple of new dance schools that have recently opened, a few wedding invitations from total strangers …
The first time we opened the junk mail package and discovered the invitations we were, well, baffled. Why on earth would people want strangers at their wedding? Well, the locals are sociable souls and enjoy a good party and, frankly, the more the merrier. Huge weddings are very much the norm here and the wedding sector is a thriving industry. Within ten minutes drive there are probably a dozen or more wedding dress shops who are all doing a roaring trade. Anyway, back to guests-you-don’t-know at your wedding. The local tradition is for guests to give cash as a wedding present so the more guests, the more cash which usually translates to the deposit on a house.
As yet we haven’t been to one of the weddings but this latest batch of post had three invitations in it. Maybe one of these days we might venture along to one!
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