Out of Cyprus in August

At the start of July, I wrote a longish post about preparing for summer in Cyprus. And that's the routine I followed, more-or-less, during July. I finished our 2024 photobook and had it sent to our elder son's home. I went out for a short walk early most mornings, around the block or to the local shop. And we ate different combinations of salad dishes as our main meal most days. 

We celebrated our 45th wedding anniversary in a fairly low-key way. It was too hot and humid to eat out anywhere, so we ordered food from our favourite Lebanese restaurant. It's theoretically a meze for two. It lasted us nearly three days.

On July 28th we finished all our leftovers, cleaned the fridge, packed our cases... and in the evening, our friend Sheila drove us to the airport for a break in the UK.

I really don't like night flights - this one left, in theory, at twenty to eleven, and in practice about twenty minutes late. I can never sleep on planes. I usually doze for a few minutes, then wake with aching back or neck, or needing to move my legs... it's exhausting and frustrating. But the flight was excellent value. 

Since we arrived in Gatwick around 1.30am UK time (which felt a couple of hours later) we had booked into the nearby Travelodge, as we have done before. I slept for about four or five hours, then we got up for breakfast. We were agreeably surprised to see that the restaurant area had been upgraded and modernised, and looked very smart: 

Revived by food and coffee, we went back to the airport, and the car rental place. We've tried several other car rental companies over the past few years, but decided, this year, to return to Avis. They're friendly, helpful and never seem to make extra charges (unlike other rental companies that may seem less expensive initially, but have ended up causing us problems, and often costing more). 

Despite not having used them for a few years, Avis upgraded us to an electric car which Richard liked driving very much but which wasn't really suited to narrow, winding roads...

Our first stop was my brother and sister-in-law who live about an hour and a half's drive from Gatwick. We were warmly welcomed and given an excellent lunch. It was good to catch up. After coffee, we set out on another ninety-minute drive, to Cardiff, where my sister and her husband live. They also welcomed us warmly, and we had a relaxing evening, reconnecting, and more delicious food. I was very tired, but never seem to feel brain-fogged or jet-lagged when flying out of Cyprus.

We stayed a couple of nights with them, then drove south to see Richard's mother, who moved into an excellent care home a few months ago. En route, we called in to see my one remaining aunt and uncle; it was very good to see them. I was their bridesmaid about sixty years ago...

Richard was able to go to a small family reunion on the Saturday, and we visited his mother's church, St Andrew's, on the Sunday. Then we drove to Birmingham and paid a brief visit to my stepmother. After a night in the Premier Inn nearby, we set off, nearly a week after we had flown, to the main focus of our trip: a week in North Wales, with all our descendants.

The reason we had chosen this area was that, forty-five years ago, we went on honeymoon to a little hotel just a few miles away.  This is a photo we took when we were there in 1980:

And here I am in 1980, looking out over the nearby lake at twilight:

In 2020 - before everything had to be cancelled - we had wondered whether we could go back there. Possibly with the family. But although it was listed online, there was no response to emails or phone calls. And, sadly, it is now falling down although the site is apparently being redeveloped:

So, as we couldn't stay there, we did some research and found a delightful (if somewhat remote) AirBnB a few kilometres away.

There was a very narrow road for about a kilometre off the main road before we reached it. There were brambles and nettles at the sides, and more than once we wished that our rental car was not quite so wide. 

Since one of our party has a lot of allergies, we had asked the owner to remove all cushions and throws, which they were happy to do. It was open-plan, spacious and comfortable downstairs:

This is the view of the living room area from the other direction:

There were four large bedrooms, which was perfect for three couples and two children. 

We had thought about having some organised outings while there. But the railway up Snowdon was very expensive, and fully booked anyway. 

Someone had recommended that we visit Caernarfon Castle, which wasn't far away, and we did consider that. But the children were more interested in running around and exploring wild areas, and Richard had a couple of days feeling unwell. 

So instead we went on lots of walks around the area.

On our first morning we set out on what was supposed to be an easy walk, not far away: 

After a while it became reminiscent of the book 'We're going on a bear hunt', which I'm surprised to find was written in 1989. I thought it was older and more traditional than that. More than one of us was muttering, 'Can't go over it, can't go under it. Oh no! We've got to go through it....' 

Fortunately, there were some ripe wild blackberries available for a quick fruity snack:

It wasn't all that long a hike, from the point of view of kilometres or steps. But there were a lot of steep hills, and some rather boggy patches as it had rained the previous few days. Still, we all managed it.

Another day we decided to drive to a nearby beach:

Nobody felt like swimming, or even getting their feet wet as it wasn't all that warm, and quite windy. But we had a good walk. At one end of the beach was a historic site, so we had to do a bit of hill climbing to get there: 

Another day, another walk... and we found a ruined tower which was much more interesting to explore (from the children's perspective, anyway) than a more organised tour or visit would have been.

I didn't go inside. I don't like heights, and I had slightly twisted my ankle a few minutes before we reached it. So I was happy to sit down on the grass for a few minutes. 

I was amused by the red sign on the side of the building, which reads:

'Visitors are warned to take every care to avoid accidents'.  

Good advice, but I think most people would do this anyway... and those that prefer to take dangerous risks are not going to be deterred by this notice. 

We took hundreds of photos, but I don't want to make this post too long so I'll just include a few more. We found a trail by a river that had a lot of small waterfalls, and this rather attractive one at the end:

We watched several steam trains that went around the area, but were not tempted to have rides. The smoke was not very pleasant.

Towards the end of our week, we tried another local walk that didn't need cars, and we found another sign that amused us: 

This was another walk with steep hills, and once again I decided I would sit down for a while and wait for the younger, more energetic members of the group to return:

And finally. .. an unexpected sight in a tree!

The weather was perfect, from my point of view: warm but not too hot, and with almost no rain. One of my sons did all the grocery shopping and cooking, so I didn't have to think about what to eat. When we weren't out or eating we played a large number of board games, we did puzzles online, and the children spent some time in the 'games' room next door to the house, which had darts and a pool table. 

It was a wonderful week, spending time together with the people we love the most. 

Registering with GeSY, and re-evaluation...

 The Cyprus national health care system (known as GHS or GeSY) was started, after much discussion, in 2019. The health minister at the time was excellent, and when the pandemic hit in 2020, he gave useful advice, and set up a portal for vaccinations. We still had private health insurance at the time, and were not sure whether we were eligible for GESY.  But vaccinations were available free for all residents, so we took advantage of that. 

Richard spent a lot of time trying to discover whether or not he was eligible for GeSY and - as is often the way in Cyprus - was sent around in circles, not getting anywhere. One problem is that we have never had social insurance numbers in Cyprus, as we have never been employed here. Richard's ministry counts as voluntary, since all support (and now his pensions) come from the UK. 

But eventually we were able to register, although we were never able to discover how we could pay contributions. In 2021 we were given access to the GeSY portal, and registered with a local GP. Not that we actually met her; Richard spoke to the receptionist, and arranged the necessary paperwork with her. 

In 2022, we were both asked to submit paperwork demonstrating our eligibility for continued health care under GeSY. They wanted utility bills for the past year, as well as our passports, Richard's Cyprus ID and my residence document. No problem as far as Richard was concerned, but - as explained in this post - I didn't have any utility bills in my name. 

However, they said we could go to the Mukhtar (a historic post, a sort of local 'elder' of the area, a bit similar to a mayor) and ask her to sign a document saying that we lived together harmoniously. We had no idea how the Mukhtar was supposed to know that, as we had never previously met her.  We found her office block fairly easily: 

The notice on the side says:

The first word means 'community leader', and the rest is the district, the name and the phone numbers. We had to sit outside waiting, despite having made an appointment. But eventually the mukhtar arrived, very apologetic for the delay. We chatted for a few minutes in her office, and she must have decided we were genuine. So she obliged with her signature and stamp (stamps are very important here), and I submitted it. Finally, at the end of November 2022, I was told that everything was fine. 

We then applied for EHIC (European health insurance cards) which would enable us to receive health care without additional cost anywhere in the EU, and also in the UK. No problem - we made an appointment at the citizens' centre, showed our documents, and had the cards issued there and then.

Richard had been told that when he reached UK state pension age, he would be eligible for what is known as S1. That means that the NHS in the UK takes over paying for our health care (should we ever need any... and as we grow older, I guess that's increasingly likely). So he had to find the relevant form to fill in, but it was fairly straightforward. The UK government sent him his S1 certificate, and he submitted that, and it was accepted. 

Then, as I said at the end of this post, I received another email from GEsY, early in June, telling me that they needed to verify if I was still eligible. So I submitted most of the documents they asked for, explained that I didn't have any utility bills in my name, and also submitted the extra ones from the insurance company and electricity authority that I had submitted to the bank. 

I sent them on June 9th, and didn't hear anything until I had a reply ten days later. We were half expecting to have to visit the Mukhtar again. But this time they said:

To complete your re-evaluation process, you'll need to apply for an S1 certificate in your name through the NHS. Your husband already holds an S1 certificate, which is why this is necessary.

Once you receive your S1 document, please contact the Ministry of Health in Cyprus to apply for a white medical card.

 

Kindly submit a copy of your white medical card by July 3, 2025.

I looked at the UK government website, and it said I would be eligible for an S1 certificate next year when I reach state pension age, but not yet. So I wrote back, explaining this. 

I heard nothing for over a week. 

Then I received this email:

As a family member of a pensioner, you are eligible for an S1 certificate.

Kindly submit the copy of your white medical card by July 3, 2025.

I had no idea what the 'white medical card' might be. Richard didn't think he had one, and has never needed one. He thought perhaps it was the certificate that the UK government would issue. So he phoned the number on the UK website, and spoke to an extremely helpful person. She said that yes, I was eligible as his spouse, and that they would issue it within 24 hours, and put it in the post. 

Richard explained that I needed it fairly quickly, and that the Cyprus post can be slow and unreliable. So they said they could email it. And he asked for a copy of his one, too, as he couldn't find it. 

He received an email about two hours later, containing a link and code so that he could access, save and print his S1 certificate. And, indeed, it says that family members in Cyprus are also eligible. 

It took a bit longer, and a couple more phone calls before he was able to access mine, but each time the person on the help desk was friendly, and quickly found what they needed, and agreed that I was definitely eligible. Eventually I was sent the link to download my S1 document, which looks (at the top of the first page) like this:

So I sent off my S1 certificate to GeSY on July 2nd. This time it only took them five days to respond, and they said: 

Since you have received your S1 document, please contact the Ministry of Health in Cyprus to apply for a white medical card.

The copy of the white medical card should be delivered by July 14,2025.

They gave the email for contact, so I sent an email explaining the situation, attaching my S1 certificate. I have no idea why GeSY and the Ministry of Health are not in direct communication with each other, or why this isn't all computerised... but 'this is Cyprus'. 

To my surprise, I had a response within a couple of hours. It gave me a pdf form which I had to download, print, fill in, scan, and then upload. I also had to supply various forms of ID as well as sending the S1 again. And they said I would receive the white medical card in the post... and that I could use it to register with GeSY. 

So I did all that, on July 7th, with an email asking if they could possibly email a scanned or pdf copy of the card, since I had to submit it by July 14th. I also said that we were already registered with GeSY. 

I heard nothing more. 

On July 11th, I read this article in one of the Cyprus online newspapers: Cyprus health system removes beneficiaries without warning. Apparently a lot of people had been sent the same email as I had, but either hadn't received it, or hadn't noticed it, or had ignored it. If they didn't submit documentation by the given deadline, they were removed from GeSY - and in some cases had no idea until they tried to get medical treatment. 

I immediately went to check the portal to ensure my records were still there, and I was able to log in without problems. I realised that it was important to keep in touch, even if I couldn't submit my documents in time. So on July 14th I emailed GeSY again, and said that the medical card was supposed to come in the post but had not arrived.

They wrote back, telling me I should ask for a pdf copy by email. So I wrote to the Ministry of Health again, and let them know that I did this a week previously, and had done it again.

I didn't receive an email reply from the Ministry of Health, but on Thursday 17th July my white medical card arrived in the mail!  So I duly scanned both sides and sent them to GeSY. 

This is what the outside looks like:

The inside has typed information about Richard (since he is the one receiving the UK state pension) and me, as his dependent. The outside looks as if it's meant to be folded in half, but the inside is not formatted that way. And even if I fold it, it's quite a bit bigger than a credit card, so wouldn't easily fit in my purse. 

It expires in 2028, so I expect I'll have to go through this process all over again in another three years. 

I haven't heard back from anyone, so I hope that everything is now correct. 

Summer in Cyprus. Again.

 I have probably written about summer in Cyprus more than anything else in the past twenty years since I started this blog. And while I've started another couple of posts in the past few weeks, both are awaiting further developments before I can finish them. 

So, in the absence of anything else which I can write about today, here's yet another post about how summer crept up on us this year...

During May, I switched from jeans to shorts. I stopped wearing sweatshirts. We moved from our thin duvet at night to a duvet cover only, and then, by the end of the month were using just a flat sheet as a cover. I started using 'cold' water for showering; it doesn't really get cold in the summer, and the tepid, not-quite-lukewarm temperature of the water that has been in the outside tank is perfect for me. 

We cleaned our guest flat air conditioners at the end of May. We were expecting guests early in June, and wanted to ensure the air conditioners were available for them if they felt uncomfortably hot. We are at least somewhat acclimatised, and don't turn them on unless the room temperature exceeds 28 degrees. It had not, as yet, done so. 

However, by the first Friday of June, the forecast was for weather approaching that milestone. So we decided to go ahead and clean our upstairs a/c units. There are four on the main floor, and three upstairs; it took us perhaps forty minutes to complete the job. The house was pleasantly cool for a little longer, since they have to be run as cool as possible for ten minutes or so after using the cleaning spray.

Some of them, Richard said, looked fairly dirty inside. So next year we'll probably get them professionally cleaned. Assuming, that is, we remember before doing them ourselves...

Since the humidity was still low, I decided that it was an ideal day to start the annual curtain-washing. Up to 2013, this was an essential chore, and should probably have done more often than once a year. One of our cats, Tessie, used to spray. She was female, and spayed, but apparently it's not uncommon. Some of our books on lower shelves suffered, as did the curtains. As the weather got hotter, the smell in the curtains became more potent.

Tessie vanished twelve years ago, but I've continued washing the curtains almost every year in May or June. Cyprus is quite dusty, and I always like the fresh scent that permeates the house after washing curtains and drying them outside.  I say 'almost every year' because last year we flew out of Cyprus to the UK mid-June, and the curtains didn't get washed. After two years, they definitely needed doing. 

We have quite a few curtains, and I can usually fit three at a time in the washing machine. Everything I hung out on the line was dry within about an hour, so the washing machine was on almost continually, that day, and the following day too. 

With the curtains taken down, two or three at a time, I saw how dirty the windows were. It's unlikely to rain again until September or October, so I cleaned all the windows, inside and out. 

Along with curtains, I also washed the covers of our wheat bags, and the thin blankets we use when watching DVDs in the winter. When dry, I folded them to pack away in an airtight bag. We've learned from experience not to leave things like this unsealed, as they attract not just dust, but moths, and potentially other undesirable insects.

Since the weather wasn't yet too hot, I continued my early morning walks with my friend Sheila. On some evenings I went for short walks locally with Richard. In the middle of the month we went to Salina Park to an advertised 'Makerspace fair', which had a lot of booths showing what kind of things are done at the centre for youth.  We were surprised at how many people were there, given the minimal amount of publicity we had seen.

We were also interested to see that the café building, which had been empty since the park opened at the end of last year, was serving coffee. We didn't want coffee in the evening, but it was good to know that it was being used. 

I knew I wouldn't be using my oven much longer, and that we would start wanting ice cream. So I put the inner container for my ice cream maker in the freezer, in preparation. 

Regular June activities included a birthday lunch for one of our teenage friends, and the local Christian writing group last meeting of the season, followed by a potluck lunch. Richard has been assisting one of the members of the group with self-publication of her book. 

We were delighted to host some other friends for a leisurely lunch on June 20th. One of them was my most long-standing friend Anne, whom I met when we were both seven. We managed to stay in touch all this time, and even met up in the UK a couple of times, a few years ago. This time, my friend and her husband were in Cyprus for a wedding. It was the other end of the island, but they made the two-hour journey to visit us, which was very enjoyable.

As June progressed, the weather was slowly, inexorably, warming up. My last morning walk of the season with Sheila was on June 21st. She was going away for a week, and it was already approaching 25C at 6.15am.  My last use of the oven for the season was on June 22nd when we had our twice-monthly get-together with Sheila and her family, and I made a cake for dessert. 

And on Monday 23rd June, we started on our summer salads. Which doesn't mean we limit ourselves to lettuce, cucumber and tomatoes all summer.  In 2020, when we knew we would be here all summer, I scoured my recipe books for salad ideas. I checked the Internet, too. I jotted down some of the most appealing ideas, and - of course - adjusted them to our preferences, and the available produce. I try to make three or four salads first thing in the morning with a balance of ingredients. At least one will have some protein such as canned fish, air-fried chicken or legumes.  

On 23rd June I prepared a salmon (canned), cucumber and avocado salad; a peach, tomato and onion salad (with 'fake' vegan feta); and a wholemeal pasta salad with sundried tomatoes. 

This was our main meal, in the evening, but we only managed about half of it. So we had the same thing the following day, with the addition of some coleslaw with a lemon juice dressing rather than mayonnnaise. 

Another example is this, which we started a couple of days later:

The protein dish at the top is chopped boiled eggs with lightly boiled broccoli and leeks, the one next to it is mushrooms, new potatoes and green beans. Underneath the egg dish is a salad with lettuce, red grapes, avocado and walnuts, and the other one is the what remained of the coleslaw, which lasted us three days rather than two. 

There was rather a lot that had to be cooked in that second example, which is why I prepare these salads in the mornings, around 6.30 or 7.00 usually. The kitchen isn't too hot at that time, and there's plenty of time for cooked ingredients to be chilled in the fridge. 

There's enough variety in the salad recipes I use that I don't have to duplicate anything for a couple of weeks, but I might do so depending on what ingredients I can easily find. Our fruit shop has inexpensive, great quality avocadoes at present, so I've bought quite a few. They keep well in the fridge, for weeks, and give a nice smooth texture to contrast with the crunchiness of some other salad ingredients.

So we're all set for the summer, I hope. First thing in the morning I walk either to the fruit shop or round the block, to get a bit of exercise. Three days a week, I then prepare salads. I'll deal with laundry or whatever else has to be done before it gets too hot, then aestivate in my study with the air conditioning set to 28C. Not that I will actually sleep. I'll work on photos (I still haven't finished our 2024 photobook, and want to order it soon), and deal with any bills, and do some writing. I'll blog about the books I read, and perhaps work on my sites. 

The increasing necessity for ID verification documents...

When we lived in the UK - nearly three decades ago! - we had a joint sterling bank account which we used for all our income and outgoings. We did have a 'savings' account too, but it rarely had anything much in it. And a credit card, which was useful when there was a cash flow problem.

When we moved to Cyprus towards the end of 1997, we opened a joint account at a local bank here. It was originally in Cyprus pounds, but then, seamlessly, moved to euros at the start of 2008. Each month we had an automatic transfer set up from our UK account to our Cyprus account via one of the reputable online transfer places. And the amount we transferred, which was the majority of our regular income, just about covered bills, utilities, insurances etc in Cyprus. Extra generous gifts and donations allowed us to travel to the UK once a year, and a few other luxuries. 

When we arrived here, colleagues told us that we shouldn't have mail sent to our street address, as the postal system was notoriously unreliable. They all used a PO Box address instead. For a while we used that one too, and then we started to lease our own. And we made sure that our bank statements and utility bills went to the PO Box. 

Early in 2004, my last grandparent died. She was 96. Some months later we received a generous legacy from her. That, and other circumstances during that year, and 2005, made us decide that we would sell our house in the UK which had been used by one of the local churches. The lady living there at the time wanted to buy it, so the timing was perfect. And we had my grandmother's gift to use as a deposit on a house here. 

In 2006, we sold our house in the UK, after some months of uncertainty, and bought the house in Cyprus where we are still living. And since it was Richard who met the vendor to transfer our utility bills, it was Richard's name that was associated with them. It was still quite a patriarchal society, and he was much more comfortable dealing with utility board officials than I was. 

Fast forward to 2020. A year that stands out in most people's memories, when there were lockdowns, and uncertainties, and nobody knew what was going to happen. Our UK debit cards expired, and they wouldn't send new ones to Cyprus. We had used various family members' addresses in the UK for mailing, and collected them when we visited. But in 2020, no travelling was allowed. International post was either non-existent or delayed. We could access our bank account online, and make transfers, but we didn't have a card to make online payments in sterling. And sometimes we needed to do that. 

Richard had already opened a multi-currency online account for times when he travelled for his ministry, and he suggested I open one too, at least as a temporary measure. The process was easy, and while I didn't use it much at first, I gradually realised that it was quite convenient to have a separate account where I could move money between currencies at an excellent rate, and which allowed text 'notes' added to each transaction, to help me keep track. 

A couple of years ago Richard started receiving his UK state pension. We were able to stop relying on gifts from churches and friends. We found, for the first time in our lives, that we had what is sometimes called 'disposable income'. We give some away, of course, but we also transfer an amount every month to each of our multi-currency accounts. 

Then...

On Saturday morning a week ago, the multi-currency account sent me an email, and also notified me in the account when I logged in, that they needed to verify my street address. They didn't say why.  They wanted me to upload a recent utility bill or bank statement, with my full name and street address. They told me I had until June 28th to do this. 

But I didn't have any of the documents they wanted. As explained above, our utility bills were all in Richard's name, as is our equivalent to council tax. Our Cyprus bank account still had the PO Box address on statements, even though everything now comes via email rather than in the post. 

So I uploaded the annual sewage bill, which, for some reason, is in my name. 

But that was rejected because it was dated November 2024. 

So then I uploaded a recent Cyprus bank statement.

That was rejected because it didn't have our street address. 

Then I uploaded an electricity bill which has our street address, and that was rejected because it wasn't in my name. 

So I emailed customer support, uploading all three of these documents again, plus my 'yellow slip' which has my full name and street address. I explained what the problem was, and asked if a human could put together the information on these four documents, and verify manually rather than relying on the automated requirements.

The customer support person was very friendly, and seemed to understand the issue. They said that what I needed to do was take a photo of the electricity bill next to my husband's ID, and send them that. And they would forward it on to the verification department. 

It didn't quite make sense - I didn't see how that could verify who I am! -  but I did what they asked. They thanked me, and said that if there was still any problem, they would get in touch again, and make some more suggestions.

 
We realised that this issue was likely to come up again, so we decided to change one of our water bills into my name, to preempt future problems of this nature. Since our house is in two parts, we have two sets of both water and electricity bills. So on Monday morning we went into the Water Board. 

It's greatly updated since the last time we were there, which was probably nearly twenty years ago. Instead of queueing, we were given a ticket with a number, and sat down in the air conditioned waiting area. Eventually - after about half an hour - our turn came up. After checking the IDs we took in, and our house deeds,  the helpful lady on the desk changed the account over from Richard's name to mine. 

Not that it was any use for the current issue, as we paid the last water bill and the next one isn't due until August. But she printed out a sort of non-invoice, saying we owed them nothing, but giving my name and the street address.

On Tuesday morning at 8.00am I had an email saying that the latest upload - the one showing Richard's ID next to our electricity bill - was also rejected, though they didn't say why. As before, it gave a link to upload something else. So I tried to do so... 

And saw a rather terse notification that my account was closed. It said that they thought I had been using it in inappropriate ways, whatever that means.

So much for having until 28th June! They did say they would refund all the money, but it has been so very convenient having this multi-currency account. I was not happy. I was, in fact, extremely stressed. I hated the idea that I had done something wrong and didn't even know what it was. 

Feeling frustrated, I opened the 'YouBible' app on my phone, and saw the verse of the day:

'Cast all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you' (I Peter 5:7). 

The verses of the day often seem quite random, but this one felt as if it was specifically for me. Not that it was easy to cast my anxieties, but I did feel slightly more peaceful, and tried to trust that, whatever happened, God was in charge.

 
I emailed customer support again. I sent them the non-invoice from the Water Board. 

I could see that I had the option to appeal my account closure. But when I clicked the link to appeal, the first thing I had to upload was... a document that I didn't have. As I had already explained. 

Given that banks have worldwide reporting, I was also a bit concerned that this might put our other accounts at risk. Although I was doing my best not to be too anxious. 

I didn't hear back from customer support until some hours later, and they said they were sorry to hear that this had happened, they didn't know what had triggered it, and they recommended that I appeal and upload whatever documents I thought might help, including the non-invoice from the Water Board.

I didn't want to rush into it. And Richard thought it would be a good idea to get our bank statements showing our street address. I also remembered that our house insurance bill is due around now, and that has both our names on it. 

So on Thursday morning, we walked to the bank. A helpful, friendly man on the desk examined our documents, understood our problem, and - after filling in a lot of different fields on his computer - told us that future statements would show our street address rather than the PO Box. But nothing will change on statements until the next one is generated... at the end of June.  However, he did print out some of the relevant documentation that showed our names and address. He and Richard were chatting like old friends by this stage, and would probably have continued doing so if I hadn't pointed out that a queue was starting to form behind us. 

When we got home, Richard phoned the insurance brokers. They said that, yes, they could generate a new invoice, but for some reason they couldn't email it to him. But if we were willing to go there, we could sign and collect it. So off we went in the car, and eventually found the right office. For the first twenty years or so that we lived in Cyprus, the broker came to our house, and we signed the papers here, and wrote him a cheque. For the past few years, it's all happened via email and online payments. So this was the first time we had actually been to the office.

Once again it was quite slow, punctuated by general chat, and without the benefit of air conditioning. But eventually we left, with an invoice that showed both our names, our street address, AND a recent date. Insurance wasn't mentioned as one of the possible documents that the appeal accepted, but I wanted to upload as many possibilities as I could manage. 

The insurance brokers' office is very close to where the Electricity Board used to be. And Richard thought we might as well get my name changed on one of those bills, too. So we found where the new offices are, and they had a similar process to the water board. Our ticket said we should expect to wait 17 minutes. In the event it was over 40 minutes, but eventually we were seen. Again it seemed to take a long time to do something which seemed quite straightforward to us. But at last it was done. And

they gave me a stamped verification that one of the electricity bills is now in my name. 

That afternoon, I scanned the new documents, and clicked the 'appeal' button. It allowed me to upload up to ten documents, which is good, as I had eight of them to send. There was a brief hiatus where everything appeared to upload, and then crashed. But Richard pointed out that some of the scanned documents were quite large, and the total upload was over 30 megabytes. So I scanned the larger ones again, and this time they were taken. None of the documents was exactly what was asked for, and I didn't hold out a whole lot of hope. It said that they would take up to 15 days to process them. 

Half an hour later, I received an apology email saying my account was reinstated. 

Alleluia!

But... there was still a red notification in my account telling me I needed to upload a recent utility bill in my name, and that I must do so by the end of June. Which, of course, I could not do. 

So I got in touch with customer services again. And I also made sure to download all the statements from the account, and details of exactly how much I had in each currency, and other information which I thought I might have lost. 

To my tremendous relief, about twelve hours later I had another message from customer support saying my documents were accepted, and the red notification should have gone. Which, indeed, it had. 

I was very thankful. 

As Shakespeare put it, all's well that ends well....

Except that, just after my bank account was reinstated, I had an email from GESY, the Cyprus equivalent of the NHS. It said they need to recheck that I'm still eligible, and that they do this routinely every few years. 

The email said I had to print out a form, and fill it in, and scan it, and send it back, along with my ID, Richard's ID, our marriage certificate....and a year's worth of utility bills that show my name.

Sigh. 

Replumbing the mains water

 I check our electricity usage most days. I've done so ever since we discovered that the old meter for our guest flat was faulty. But I rarely check the water. The cost of water in Cyprus seems remarkably low, given how scarce water is, and we just paid the bills, with a quick glance at the usage each time. It was typically between about 20 and 35 metric tonnes each quarter, and never more than about 70 euros, often rather less. 

But then early in February, we received a bill where the cost was a lot higher than usual. And a quick glance at the consumption bar graph showed this:

What, we wondered, could have triggered such a high water usage in the previous three months? We hadn't been watering the garden much, because it was the winter. We had previously had problems with water tanks that led to somewhat higher bills, but never this high. And we hadn't had any problems with our tanks for some time. Occasionally one of the toilets would keep flushing water through, but we usually noticed and it never lasted for long. 

We wondered if the meter was faulty. But thought we had better check first to see if we could work out what was going on. Neither the washing machine nor dishwasher was running, and none of the taps were dripping. The toilets had filled up - there should not have been any water usage. But the little dial on the meter was, albeit slowly, going around. So Richard turned the water off, and it stopped. Apparently not a faulty meter, then. 

What seemed likely was that there was a leak in the pipes running between the meter and the boiler room. Unfortunately, those pipes were underneath the driveway, impossible to access without digging it up. Not something we could do, and we didn't like to think what it might cost, let alone the potential disruption, if we could even find a plumber who might be willing to try. 

But Richard had a better idea. He had been planning to re-plumb the house either later this year, or next year anyway. For the mains water, he wanted to replace the old black plastic piping with a new type that's less flexible as it has an aluminium centre. Apparently the old style pipes are easier to join, but no longer meet European standards, as older pipes can contaminate the water with chemicals. 

So he checked Mr Bricolage, our local DIY shop, and found that it was easy to find lengths of the correct kind of pipe:

However, he had a busy few weeks ahead of him, so knew that it wasn't something he could tackle immediately. Since we didn't want to continue wasting such a volume of water, we got into a routine of switching the mains off for most of the day. It turns out to be a great blessing in this kind of situation that we still have cold water tanks as well as hot water tanks, which supply the water for the shower, sinks, toilets and appliances. The kitchen sink has a special knob to turn to get mains water for drinking.

So, every morning for about three months, after my walk or shopping, I would turn the mains water on for half an hour or so. I would then fill up water jugs with mains water for drinking, while the water tank on the roof filled up again. I also kept careful note of how much water we used each day.  

The water bill states (in Greek) that each person in a household, on average, typically uses about 11 cubic metres of water per quarter. So that would be 22 cubic metres (or metric tonnes) per quarter for two of us, and dividing that by 90 days, works out at around 244 litres, total, per day. I was pleased to find that we used between 190 and 250 litres per day, with the higher ones being days when we ran the washing machine, the dishwasher (sometimes twice, if we were entertaining), and also watered the plants.

However, on one day when I somehow forgot to turn the mains water off again until late afternoon, we used over 500 extra litres. The leak underground, if that's what it was, was getting worse. 

When our next bill arrived, a couple of weeks ago, I was pleased to see that it was around 50 euros, with a quarterly consumption of 21 cubic metres. Just under the expected 'average', despite the wastage at the start of the period, and on the day when I forgot to turn it off. I had become quite accustomed to my daily filling of jugs, but Richard decided that the time had come to replace the pipes. So he measured carefully, bought the pipes and fittings, and one of our local teenage friends came to help.

It was more complex than they had expected - as tends to happen with this kind of project - but this is just after the meter was disconnected from the old underground pipes and connected to the new ones:

I'm no good with that kind of thing, and our young friend is strong, and flexible. She is also very interested in this kind of thing, and, being considerably younger than we are, has no problem getting up and down, attaching the new pipes neatly to the wall. 

They worked for about three hours on Tuesday afternoon, and another three or four hours on Wednesday morning. There were a few glitches when one of the fittings in the boiler room wasn't quite right, but eventually all was done. It seems very strange not turning the water off each morning, and I am still checking the daily usage... but it seems to be as it should be. Richard was evidently correct in his surmise that the underground pipes were leaking.  

In the next week or two, they are going to replace the guest flat piping in the same way.

Family visiting us in Cyprus

 The family departed on Thursday evening. As always, we were very sad to see them go, but I think it's been an enjoyable visit, albeit shorter than the one two years ago. Just twelve days in all, but we managed to fill them pretty well. 

Before they came, we had made a list of all the places we might go to, and things we might do, including 'ice cream every day', although we didn't quite manage that. We were extremely thankful that some friends who are out of Cyprus at present were willing to lend us their seven-seater vehicle. That meant we could plan outings that needed a car easily without having to leave one of the adults behind, or borrowing an extra car and then having extensive discussions about who goes in each one...

We had also decided to have a basic, simple menu for evening meals rather than anything that would require a lot of time and effort. Last summer my granddaughter (seven and a half at the time) wrote this, as her ideal main meal menu for a couple of weeks:

I didn't follow that - I rarely cook any kind of pasta, for instance, and I don't think I have ever bought chicken nuggets. A casserole seemed an over-complicated thing to do, too, when out of six people there's one vegetarian, one dairy-free person, and two who don't like any cooked vegetables, or hot spices. 

But still, we bought some dairy-free milks rather than me making them; we bought some jarred sauces, and ready-made burgers. We even had a bag of oven chips (fries) which someone had left behind in our guest flat. Then we planned to have at least two take-aways (one of them pizza), and a meal out. 

I love being able to watch a flight path online when we're expecting visitors: 

They arrived on a Saturday evening, quite late, and were tired Sunday morning. We played some games and the children found plenty of books to read. I had put on food in the slow cooker for lunch - my slow-cooker has three separate compartments, so I could make one chicken dish with chopped onions and a little hot spice, one chicken dish without onions and with less spice, and one chickpea version (with onions and hot spice). This would account, I hoped, for all preferences. With roast potatoes.  I made sure I had cut up plenty of carrots, cucumbers and red peppers for each meal, as well as cooking other veg for the adults. 

After lunch we took them for a short walk to the newly-built local 'Salina Park':

Later in the afternoon our close friends came over - our grandchildren call them their 'Cyprus cousins' - for games and a film followed by a shared meal. They also brought their turtle, Jabba, since our  granddaughter is passionate about turtles, and wanted the opportunity to look after one. Since our friends were going away a week later, this worked out perfectly. 

We didn't go out for ice cream on the Sunday, but I had made some pineapple/coconut (dairy-free) ice cream, which was part of our dessert in the evening. 

On Monday, as described in more detail in a longer post, we went to the Camel Park in Mazatos, followed by a picnic near the Angeloktisti Church.  Then we came home to play a board game, followed by ice creams at our local (excellent) Italian gelateria. We all decided to be a little adventurous, and I selected a scoop of the forest fruits yogurt ice cream. It's one of the best I had ever tasted.

On Tuesday morning, the 'Cyprus cousins' came over, as they do every Tuesday, for a games morning. In the afternoon, we went into the town as the children wanted hats and sunglasses.  We also took them to have a look at the ice-age exhibition that was on display in Zouhouri Square:

Then we walked along the sea front, and bought some ice creams from one of the little booths. It was okay, but nowhere near as good as the ice creams at the Italian shop. 

On Wednesday we had our longest trip, to the Paradox museum in Limassol, as written about in detail in another post.  We then had our picnic in the Limassol municipal park, which was huge. 

We were all quite tired when we got home, and didn't manage to get out for ice creams. But after our evening meal, we got out our sorbet-maker, a gadget we haven't used in several years. We had bought some bags of ready-frozen fruit, and it made an excellent dessert.

On Thursday, we were invited to a cooked lunch at the 'Cyprus cousins', which was very enjoyable. And we were quite full afterwards. But after a little break, we did manage more ice creams at 'Milk and Honey' by Mackenzie sea front. 

On Friday, we had our third (and last) full morning trip out, this time to Cyherbia, as described in this post, followed by a picnic in Rizoelia park.  I don't think we went out for ice creams that day, but in the evening we finished up the ones in the freezer. 

Saturday was more of a lazing around day; we find it important not to rush around too much, and we were all quite tired after an enjoyable but quite busy week. In the afternoon we went for a walk in the Salt Lake trail, including climbing up to the bird-watching place.

We didn't see any flamingoes, but it was a pleasant walk, and we came back through the park area. Near the main park entrance where we came out is a small corner shop that sells speciality nuts and dried fruit.  Friends had told us that they also did ice creams, so we went in there, only to be told that they no longer sold ice creams. So much for eating at a different place each day - over the road is the Italian place we like so much, so it didn't take much persuasion for us to go there again. 

Sunday was another relaxing day, the one where we had planned to go out to lunch. So after some board games in the morning - nobody felt awake enough to go to one of the church services - we drove to town, and had an excellent lunch at Alexander's. It's family-friendly, the menu is extensive, and it's pretty good value. It also offers something 'on the house' after eating, and three people opted for ice cream. 

Since the family would be leaving before Easter, we decided to give them the Easter eggs we had bought a week early. So there was plenty of chocolate for the afternoon, and I had made some more ice cream at home for our evening dessert. So we didn't go out for any more ices that day. 

On Monday, we thought we might look at the 'Alice in Wonderland' themed Easter fair which had been advertised for Salina Park.

No times were given anywhere, but we had seen the decorations with streamers and cards and 'Alice' figures. We assumed it would be open by ten o'clock, so around 10.30 we got there. There were some deflated bouncy castles in a corner, and several closed booths that were evidently intended to sell things. But nothing open. 

So we walked a little further to the Municipal Park, which our grandchildren had very much enjoyed in previous visits.  And we knew that there was a little cafe there selling ice creams, (and other things) which we had never been to. So we bought ice creams there, and liked them very much. They were less expensive than other places we had been to, too. 

The children particularly like the zip-line, and since there were almost no other children there, they had it mostly to themselves.

We wondered if the Salina Park fair might be opened when we returned home for lunch, but there was still no sign of any activity.

In the afternoon we stayed in for more board games, and our granddaughter took Jabba the visiting turtle outside for a swim in the lid of our sand box.

In the evening, around 7.30pm, Richard and I walked back to the park, wondering if the fair was open in evenings only. Evidently something had been happening, as there were a couple of booths closing down, and a few children on a bouncy castle. We saw a caravan with an office, so he went in to ask when it was open. We were told 4pm-8pm on Tuesday, and 10am-8pm Wednesday. 

The family had been here for nearly ten days and we hadn't yet been to the beach. So we determined to rectify that omission on Tuesday. Our daughter and son-in-law went out on a lunchtime date in town, while we looked after the children, then we met on one of the local beaches in the afternoon. It was perfect weather, and although I mostly sat on my own in a shady spot, everyone else had a lot of fun.

Afterwards, we walked to another of the Makenzie beach ice cream places, Dolce. Most of them, slightly to our surprise, were closed. We all liked the Dolce ices very much, and the ambience of the cafe too. 

On Wednesday, three of our party went sailing. Our granddaughter adamantly didn't want to, and wanted her mum to stay with her. So the three of us remaining at home thought we might wander along to Salina Park; after all, we had been assured that it would be open from 10am.  Knowing that things often don't start on time, we waited until nearly 11am. 

And nothing was happening. The bouncy castles were still deflated, and the booths were still empty. Still, the playground was, for the first time, open for use:

So we spent some time there - there were almost no other children about, even though the Cyprus school Easter holidays had now started. There isn't a lot of equipment there, but enough to keep an eight-year-old occupied for fifteen minutes or so. 

Then we walked around the park again, looking at the empty booths.... 

By this stage, the bouncy castle was being inflated again, and we saw one table where someone was putting out board books in Greek.... and there was a popcorn stand open. But nothing else. And no signs of anyone else doing anything, even though it was now nearly two hours after the fair was supposedly open. 

In the afternoon, when the guys got back after a good sail, the popular vote went to the Italian place on Fanoroumeni, for the third time, for the day's ice creams. And yes, it was very good as well as conveniently close. 

Thursday dawned all too quickly, the last day of the holiday. Our son and daughter-in-law were treating us all to a meal out, at one of our favourite restaurants in town, Al Sultan (Lebanese). The four adults shared an excellent 'grand mezze' intended for two people, and the children had halloumi in pitas with chips. 

And we were all so full by the end that we decided against ice creams. There was still pre-Easter chocolate to be finished anyway before they had to be at the airport for their flight back to the UK.

It was a really good break for us all; I felt relaxed afterwards too, after time with people I love, outings to different places, minimal cooking... and lots of ice cream.