Banking in Cyprus has some good points, and some not-so-good.
It's definitely better than it was when we first arrived. Internet banking works pretty effectively, for one thing. Well, mostly. I can't - for some reason - use my usual Firefox browser to pay bills or transfer money, so I have to launch Internet Explorer for that. But it's a minor glitch. This IS Cyprus, after all.
We've got used to the fact that it isn't free. No interest on current accounts, and they charge us for cheque books. They would charge for statements, too, except that I've now cancelled those and just print out online statements once a month. I wrote more about banking in Cyprus in May last year, when we were thinking about transferring large amounts to buy our house.
But then, for our personal accounts, everything was relatively straightforward. Try anything more complex - or even unusual - and the banks don't seem to know how to cope at all. I very much enjoyed 'Tales from the Cyrus Bank' which was posted by another blogger from Larnaka a few weeks ago. All familiar stuff.
And should you wish to start a business account... well, in a nutshell, don't expect it to happen rapidly, or efficiently. It's eighteen months since Richard first tried to start up business accounts for his office. In April this year he thought he had all the paperwork, only to discover that the bank had lost something vital. More letters and communications have passed, since then, until a few weeks ago when he finally was able to open the accounts.
Then he asked if he could access them online.
And... well, he wrote about it here: Internet banking in Cyprus.
When he arrived back for lunch today, he had spent ALL MORNING trying to sort this out.
I do still like the fact that there is no glass between the bank tellers and the customers, and that they're so friendly.
But I hope I don't ever have to set up a business account of any sort in Cyprus!
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Nearing the end of Summer in Cyprus
So, it's nearly the end of August, and theoretically nearly the end of Summer. Official siesta time will end this week, schools will start back within the next couple of weeks, and many people who have gone either to the UK or into the mountains for July and August will be returning to Cyprus. The inter-church youth group has already started after a month's break and they're going to enjoy a long weekend camping at the end of this week.
Summer seems to have gone by remarkably quickly this year. Or perhaps it's just my age. People do say that time rushes by at ever-increasing speeds as one gets older. Living in this house, with air conditioning units in every room, is a great deal more pleasant than living in the other house, where we had only one. I run the one in my study for about eight hours a day, when my computer is on. We only run the bedroom aircon for a couple of hours at night, but it makes such a difference. We've hardly used the living room one, or the kitchen one. But on the days when the heat or humidity has been oppressive, it's so nice to have the option available.
I tend to 'estivate' during the summer, using as little energy as possible. Things seem to take longer, anyway. I do any necessary jobs or shopping first thing in the morning - shops open at 7am during the summer, and I tend to wake at 6am - and then have my shower after I've finished cleaning/laundry/whatever. Since we don't have so much regular laundry during the summer (shorts and tee-shirts take up much less space in the washing machine than jeans and sweatshirts!) I've washed all our curtains in the past few weeks. We've been here a year, after all, and although they didn't look dirty, Cyprus is pretty dusty. They do look fresher now they're hanging up again, and I was relieved to find that most of them didn't need ironing!
As for my 'computer time', I've spent much of this summer updating my home education site - it was originally written in two different pieces of software that didn't produce very good code, and I discovered a couple of months ago that many of the pages were displaying rather strangely in Internet Explorer. I had only checked in Firefox. So I decided to go through all 126 pages, upgrading the code, re-writing where necessary, and ensuring they were all compliant with official regulations. I finally finished yesterday!
I've also been trying to get up-to-date with my book reviews blog. I had kept written reviews of every book I read since the spring of 1999, and have been entering them (with the relevant dates) gradually. I haven't finished that yet, but it's an ongoing project. I also decided, this summer, to make the site look more interesting so I joined the Associates program for both Amazon UK and Amazon USA, and have been learning how to generate links to each, and insert them into my book reviews.
Oh, and we've had guests in the guest flat off and on. Two people came in July, for a couple of weeks, and although they were helping Richard in his office during the daytime, they ate most of their meals with us. Now we have a family of four staying - they arrived just over a week ago and are here until Monday. We didn't know them (they were contacts of Richard's via email) and they've been out and about, doing their own thing, so we haven't seen much of them. But I still had to ensure the flat was clean, tidy, and had beds made up before they arrived. We're really pleased at how much the guest flat has been used since we moved here.
Richard has gone out in his little boat almost every Saturday in the past few months - and a few extra days too - and has set up a new blog about sailing. He and Tim have also spent much of their 'spare' time working on the DVD for the musical of 'Esther' which was performed at Kurium Amphitheatre in June. Tomorrow someone is coming to re-record something, and they hope to have it finished by next week.
We've only been to the beach about four times, and only swum twice. Ah well.
At the end of next week, unlike most of our friends who are returning to Cyprus after spending the summer away, we have stayed in Cyprus all summer and will be flying to the UK for just over two weeks in September, then on to Hong Kong to see Daniel on the MV Doulos. Our time in the UK will probably be even busier than usual - as well as seeing friends and family, and Richard speaking at various church events, Tim wants to look at at least two universities, as he's hoping to transfer there in the Autumn of next year.
In our absence, someone will be staying in our home to look after the cats, and some friends will be in our guest flat for three weeks. By the time we return, towards the end of October, Summer in Cyprus should well and truly have finished.
Summer seems to have gone by remarkably quickly this year. Or perhaps it's just my age. People do say that time rushes by at ever-increasing speeds as one gets older. Living in this house, with air conditioning units in every room, is a great deal more pleasant than living in the other house, where we had only one. I run the one in my study for about eight hours a day, when my computer is on. We only run the bedroom aircon for a couple of hours at night, but it makes such a difference. We've hardly used the living room one, or the kitchen one. But on the days when the heat or humidity has been oppressive, it's so nice to have the option available.
I tend to 'estivate' during the summer, using as little energy as possible. Things seem to take longer, anyway. I do any necessary jobs or shopping first thing in the morning - shops open at 7am during the summer, and I tend to wake at 6am - and then have my shower after I've finished cleaning/laundry/whatever. Since we don't have so much regular laundry during the summer (shorts and tee-shirts take up much less space in the washing machine than jeans and sweatshirts!) I've washed all our curtains in the past few weeks. We've been here a year, after all, and although they didn't look dirty, Cyprus is pretty dusty. They do look fresher now they're hanging up again, and I was relieved to find that most of them didn't need ironing!
As for my 'computer time', I've spent much of this summer updating my home education site - it was originally written in two different pieces of software that didn't produce very good code, and I discovered a couple of months ago that many of the pages were displaying rather strangely in Internet Explorer. I had only checked in Firefox. So I decided to go through all 126 pages, upgrading the code, re-writing where necessary, and ensuring they were all compliant with official regulations. I finally finished yesterday!
I've also been trying to get up-to-date with my book reviews blog. I had kept written reviews of every book I read since the spring of 1999, and have been entering them (with the relevant dates) gradually. I haven't finished that yet, but it's an ongoing project. I also decided, this summer, to make the site look more interesting so I joined the Associates program for both Amazon UK and Amazon USA, and have been learning how to generate links to each, and insert them into my book reviews.
Oh, and we've had guests in the guest flat off and on. Two people came in July, for a couple of weeks, and although they were helping Richard in his office during the daytime, they ate most of their meals with us. Now we have a family of four staying - they arrived just over a week ago and are here until Monday. We didn't know them (they were contacts of Richard's via email) and they've been out and about, doing their own thing, so we haven't seen much of them. But I still had to ensure the flat was clean, tidy, and had beds made up before they arrived. We're really pleased at how much the guest flat has been used since we moved here.
Richard has gone out in his little boat almost every Saturday in the past few months - and a few extra days too - and has set up a new blog about sailing. He and Tim have also spent much of their 'spare' time working on the DVD for the musical of 'Esther' which was performed at Kurium Amphitheatre in June. Tomorrow someone is coming to re-record something, and they hope to have it finished by next week.
We've only been to the beach about four times, and only swum twice. Ah well.
At the end of next week, unlike most of our friends who are returning to Cyprus after spending the summer away, we have stayed in Cyprus all summer and will be flying to the UK for just over two weeks in September, then on to Hong Kong to see Daniel on the MV Doulos. Our time in the UK will probably be even busier than usual - as well as seeing friends and family, and Richard speaking at various church events, Tim wants to look at at least two universities, as he's hoping to transfer there in the Autumn of next year.
In our absence, someone will be staying in our home to look after the cats, and some friends will be in our guest flat for three weeks. By the time we return, towards the end of October, Summer in Cyprus should well and truly have finished.
Monday, August 27, 2007
Update on plants
Somehow, I have managed to remember to water my patio plants at least three times per week during this hot summer, and have even given them some Phostrogen once a week. Most of them have survived pretty well, to my surprise.
Not that it's all been a bed of roses (so to speak). The bi-coloured bougainvillea, which was doing so well only a month ago, has lost most of its bracts:
I suspect this may be because I had the not-so-bright idea of moving it a little, so that it was directly underneath the outlet pipe for my study air conditioner. I thought this would be an excellent way of saving water, if it went directly onto a plant. I forgot, temporarily, that bougainvilleas like to be pretty dry, or at least to dry out between waterings. Steady dripping through most of the day wasn't good for it.
So I moved it back to where it was, and then nearly killed it by forgetting about it completely for a week - it's not with the other plants - until I spotted the leaves withering and yellowing. But a bit of water has revived it, thankfully.
More puzzling: last year we bought two flowering succulents. They're not mesembryanthems, which have daisy-like flowers, but we don't know what they are. Anyway,they provided a lovely display of colour for a couple of months last summer, then died away somewhat.
I treated them exactly the same through the winter. Then one of them started coming back to life, and the other stayed dormant. Here's the one that survived:
I didn't bother to take a photo of the other one. We should probably replace it, but somehow time has rushed by this summer.
I wrote this post about plants just over a year ago. Of those plants, the lavender didn't survive very long at all. I don't know what went wrong with them. The cuttings (geraniums and bougainvillea) from our old house didn't survive either. Probably it was the wrong time of year.
But the two hibiscus plants, although they looked a bit frail over the winter, seem to be doing well:
And this one - a palm of some type, or perhaps a yucca - is doing amazingly well! It's even producing extra plantlets from the base:
For some reason I didn't post a photo of this one at the time, but it's also doing extremely well. I believe its name is mother-in-law's tongue:
My petunias aren't doing brilliantly - but then again, it's the first year that I've had any petunias survive beyond about the end of May. They're still flowering somewhat, and seem to be producing little baby petunias. It will be interesting (to me, anyway) to see what happens to them:
As for the new plants we bought in April they all seem to be doing very well. The fig tree still has about five small figs, too hard to pick, but perhaps they'll be ready later in the year. Or even next year, since I seem to recall that figs take a LONG time to ripen.
The two larger plants are doing well too, although not much different from when we bought them. The eugenia seems healthy:
So does the other plant, whose name we still don't know.
What particularly surprises me about all these plants is that they're in direct sunshine for most of the morning,including the very hottest part of the day. Yet they all seem to be thriving.
So far, anyway!
Not that it's all been a bed of roses (so to speak). The bi-coloured bougainvillea, which was doing so well only a month ago, has lost most of its bracts:
I suspect this may be because I had the not-so-bright idea of moving it a little, so that it was directly underneath the outlet pipe for my study air conditioner. I thought this would be an excellent way of saving water, if it went directly onto a plant. I forgot, temporarily, that bougainvilleas like to be pretty dry, or at least to dry out between waterings. Steady dripping through most of the day wasn't good for it.
So I moved it back to where it was, and then nearly killed it by forgetting about it completely for a week - it's not with the other plants - until I spotted the leaves withering and yellowing. But a bit of water has revived it, thankfully.
More puzzling: last year we bought two flowering succulents. They're not mesembryanthems, which have daisy-like flowers, but we don't know what they are. Anyway,they provided a lovely display of colour for a couple of months last summer, then died away somewhat.
I treated them exactly the same through the winter. Then one of them started coming back to life, and the other stayed dormant. Here's the one that survived:
I didn't bother to take a photo of the other one. We should probably replace it, but somehow time has rushed by this summer.
I wrote this post about plants just over a year ago. Of those plants, the lavender didn't survive very long at all. I don't know what went wrong with them. The cuttings (geraniums and bougainvillea) from our old house didn't survive either. Probably it was the wrong time of year.
But the two hibiscus plants, although they looked a bit frail over the winter, seem to be doing well:
And this one - a palm of some type, or perhaps a yucca - is doing amazingly well! It's even producing extra plantlets from the base:
For some reason I didn't post a photo of this one at the time, but it's also doing extremely well. I believe its name is mother-in-law's tongue:
My petunias aren't doing brilliantly - but then again, it's the first year that I've had any petunias survive beyond about the end of May. They're still flowering somewhat, and seem to be producing little baby petunias. It will be interesting (to me, anyway) to see what happens to them:
As for the new plants we bought in April they all seem to be doing very well. The fig tree still has about five small figs, too hard to pick, but perhaps they'll be ready later in the year. Or even next year, since I seem to recall that figs take a LONG time to ripen.
The two larger plants are doing well too, although not much different from when we bought them. The eugenia seems healthy:
So does the other plant, whose name we still don't know.
What particularly surprises me about all these plants is that they're in direct sunshine for most of the morning,including the very hottest part of the day. Yet they all seem to be thriving.
So far, anyway!
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Assumption Day in Cyprus
Many businesses keep going, as I mentioned, during the fortnight's holiday period in August these days. But today, August 15th, is a very important religious public holiday in Cyprus. So most of the shops are closed, our neighbours' building work has stopped, and the dustmen didn't come this morning to collect the rubbish. We even heard that some Cypriots won't play tennis today as it's such a holy day.
As an Anglican for most of my life, I thought the Feast of the Assumption was a Roman Catholic thing, but apparently the Greek Orthodox church celebrates it too, and takes it very seriously. It's related to the death of Mary, the mother of Jesus. Legend has it that when she died, her body as well as her soul went straight to heaven. Someone told a friend that it's the second most holy day of the year for them, although I don't know how accurate that is.
Richard is working as usual, and we're going to the beach tonight with some friends from one of the churches; no doubt we'll find plenty of tourist shops and restaurants open on the sea-front, even if it is a specially holy day.
(PS If you've found this post by searching, and want to know about other religious holidays, one of the pages on one of my websites is about public holidays in Cyprus)
As an Anglican for most of my life, I thought the Feast of the Assumption was a Roman Catholic thing, but apparently the Greek Orthodox church celebrates it too, and takes it very seriously. It's related to the death of Mary, the mother of Jesus. Legend has it that when she died, her body as well as her soul went straight to heaven. Someone told a friend that it's the second most holy day of the year for them, although I don't know how accurate that is.
Richard is working as usual, and we're going to the beach tonight with some friends from one of the churches; no doubt we'll find plenty of tourist shops and restaurants open on the sea-front, even if it is a specially holy day.
(PS If you've found this post by searching, and want to know about other religious holidays, one of the pages on one of my websites is about public holidays in Cyprus)
Monday, August 13, 2007
August holiday period in Cyprus
Traditionally, most businesses in Cyprus used to close for a fortnight at the start of August. Shops have big sales in July (January is the only other time of year they're allowed major sales), then close down for the first couple of weeks of August, to give the owners a break in the mountains, or just at home with their families.
But even in the (nearly) ten years we've been in Cyprus, things have changed. Supermarkets always stayed open during August, but ten years ago - even five years ago - they still shut for siesta time (1pm-4pm) from June to August. No longer. They now open at about 7am and stay open until 7pm five days per week, and until 3.30pm on Wednesdays.
While some businesses continue to take the two-week August break, many more seem to stay open now. Of course, hotels and restaurants wouldn't close at this time of year when there are so many tourists, but there are more shops open than closed, or so it seems. Our favourite art/stationery shop is closed, as are several hairdressers and computer stores.
But whereas building work also used to stop in Cyprus during this period, there seems to be more of it happening this year. Our neighbours are having a huge amount of renovation - they've gone away, and there are workmen ripping out old units, mixing cement and carrying in bricks from about 6am each morning. Perhaps they're builders who are on holiday from another business....
But even in the (nearly) ten years we've been in Cyprus, things have changed. Supermarkets always stayed open during August, but ten years ago - even five years ago - they still shut for siesta time (1pm-4pm) from June to August. No longer. They now open at about 7am and stay open until 7pm five days per week, and until 3.30pm on Wednesdays.
While some businesses continue to take the two-week August break, many more seem to stay open now. Of course, hotels and restaurants wouldn't close at this time of year when there are so many tourists, but there are more shops open than closed, or so it seems. Our favourite art/stationery shop is closed, as are several hairdressers and computer stores.
But whereas building work also used to stop in Cyprus during this period, there seems to be more of it happening this year. Our neighbours are having a huge amount of renovation - they've gone away, and there are workmen ripping out old units, mixing cement and carrying in bricks from about 6am each morning. Perhaps they're builders who are on holiday from another business....
Friday, August 10, 2007
Water shortages become severe
Our water bills for the last quarter arrived this week.
There was a little insert with the bill, with Greek on one side and English on the other. Presumably saying the same thing - the English is very formal, but then official Greek does tend to be formal, so I guess it's a direct translation. It's an official announcement from the Water Board of Larnaka. It says:
The silly thing is, this law has been in force - supposedly - since the start of the year. Does anyone take any notice? Nope. Well, they do avoid using their hoses during the busy parts of the day, but most people in our neighbourhood use hoses to wash their cars and verandas (yes, and even the pavement outside) during the early hours of the day, or on Sundays, when of course the police and water board won't be working....
I really hope we don't end up with water restrictions again (when we moved here nearly ten years ago, the mains water was only switched on twice per week - the rest of the time we had to rely on our tanks) but I'm beginning to see why they had to restrict water. People in Cyprus just don't seem to care.
There was a little insert with the bill, with Greek on one side and English on the other. Presumably saying the same thing - the English is very formal, but then official Greek does tend to be formal, so I guess it's a direct translation. It's an official announcement from the Water Board of Larnaka. It says:
Dear Customers,
Due to prolonged drought period in Cyprus, the balance between the available water supply and actual demand was pushed to its limits and hence the available quantities of water are not enough to fully cater for our needs until the end of 2007. It is, therefore, required by all of us to take all necessary measures to save water and avoid its irrational waste.
To safeguard against water waste the Water Board of Larnaca is obliged to enforce the requirements of the Water Saving (Special Measures) Law. In accordance with the Law, the use of hose for cleaning cars, pavements, roads, verandas or fences is strictly prohibited. Anyone who violates the Law is guilty of criminal offence and, in case of conviction, can be sentenced to a maximum of three month imprisonment or to a maximum penalty of three hundred pounds or both punishments. Extrajudicially such an offence can be settled with the payment of a £30 fine to the Board, which is expected to increase to £50.
We expect all citizens to contribute towards water saving, otherwise there will soon become a necessity to enforce water restriction measures.
The silly thing is, this law has been in force - supposedly - since the start of the year. Does anyone take any notice? Nope. Well, they do avoid using their hoses during the busy parts of the day, but most people in our neighbourhood use hoses to wash their cars and verandas (yes, and even the pavement outside) during the early hours of the day, or on Sundays, when of course the police and water board won't be working....
I really hope we don't end up with water restrictions again (when we moved here nearly ten years ago, the mains water was only switched on twice per week - the rest of the time we had to rely on our tanks) but I'm beginning to see why they had to restrict water. People in Cyprus just don't seem to care.
Thursday, August 09, 2007
Less heat, less humidity, less swimming....
Visitors to Cyprus (of which there are many during July and August) think it's very hot at present.
Residents of Cyprus are relieved that the heatwave and high humidity seems to have passed. At least, for the past few days.
After last Friday's trip to the beach, we thought we might try and go about three times per week. On Tuesday Tim helps at a Community Church group for students, and on Thursday he runs the choir practice at the Anglican church. On Saturdays he does the cooking, and usually makes us some curry and naan bread, which makes it hard to leave the house for more than a few minutes.
So we thought that Monday, Wednesday and Friday would be good days to go for a swim. Moreover, on Wednesdays in the summer, Grace Church have a get-together on the beach from 6pm with picnic or take-away food, swimming and a game or two of Boules. Being a good inter-church family, we thought it could be fun to join them.
On Monday, the humidity of the previous fortnight appeared to vanish. The weather site no longer said the temperature was 32C, feeling like 40... instead, it said it was 32 feeling like 32. The house didn't feel unpleasantly hot and sticky when leaving an air conditioned room, and there was a pleasant breeze. It was even somewhat cloudy, off and on, during Monday. Most unusual for Cyprus in August.
The sea didn't feel so warm, either. Richard decided it was too chilly for him, so he went to lie on the sand for a bit. Tim and I did swim, and felt quite warm by the time we had been in for five minutes or so. But the breeze was distinctly chilly, so we only stayed in for half an hour.
On Wednesday Richard left the office later than he planned to. It was nearly 6.30pm by the time we found the group. We decided it was too cold for any of us to swim, although some hardier souls went in, even after dark. We thought we would go, with some others, to a convenient fish'n'chip shop, only to discover it had closed down. So we went, by car, to our favourite Souvlaki Express... but by the time we'd done that, and eaten, it was nearly 7.30. There were a few games of Boules, and lots of chat... it was a very pleasant evening, and we'll probably go again next week.
The weather has remained slightly cooler and much less humid, so that we're only air conditioning the bedrooms for an hour or two at night, and the study only when the computer is on. We haven't used it in the kitchen or living room all week.
In the past, sometimes August in Cyprus has been less humid and cooler than July, although it can change any day. In the meantime, I'm very much appreciating it.
Residents of Cyprus are relieved that the heatwave and high humidity seems to have passed. At least, for the past few days.
After last Friday's trip to the beach, we thought we might try and go about three times per week. On Tuesday Tim helps at a Community Church group for students, and on Thursday he runs the choir practice at the Anglican church. On Saturdays he does the cooking, and usually makes us some curry and naan bread, which makes it hard to leave the house for more than a few minutes.
So we thought that Monday, Wednesday and Friday would be good days to go for a swim. Moreover, on Wednesdays in the summer, Grace Church have a get-together on the beach from 6pm with picnic or take-away food, swimming and a game or two of Boules. Being a good inter-church family, we thought it could be fun to join them.
On Monday, the humidity of the previous fortnight appeared to vanish. The weather site no longer said the temperature was 32C, feeling like 40... instead, it said it was 32 feeling like 32. The house didn't feel unpleasantly hot and sticky when leaving an air conditioned room, and there was a pleasant breeze. It was even somewhat cloudy, off and on, during Monday. Most unusual for Cyprus in August.
The sea didn't feel so warm, either. Richard decided it was too chilly for him, so he went to lie on the sand for a bit. Tim and I did swim, and felt quite warm by the time we had been in for five minutes or so. But the breeze was distinctly chilly, so we only stayed in for half an hour.
On Wednesday Richard left the office later than he planned to. It was nearly 6.30pm by the time we found the group. We decided it was too cold for any of us to swim, although some hardier souls went in, even after dark. We thought we would go, with some others, to a convenient fish'n'chip shop, only to discover it had closed down. So we went, by car, to our favourite Souvlaki Express... but by the time we'd done that, and eaten, it was nearly 7.30. There were a few games of Boules, and lots of chat... it was a very pleasant evening, and we'll probably go again next week.
The weather has remained slightly cooler and much less humid, so that we're only air conditioning the bedrooms for an hour or two at night, and the study only when the computer is on. We haven't used it in the kitchen or living room all week.
In the past, sometimes August in Cyprus has been less humid and cooler than July, although it can change any day. In the meantime, I'm very much appreciating it.
Sunday, August 05, 2007
Beaches in Larnaka
Sometimes, when people hear that we live in Cyprus, they wonder if we spend all our time at the beach.
It seems that, when people associate somewhere with a holiday resort, they tend to think that people who live there must spend their time in relaxation and lounging in the sun. This is, of course, not the case. When you live somewhere - anywhere - much of your time must be taken up in day-to-day living: shopping, cooking, cleaning, etc - and many people work long hours. Yes, there's a siesta time in the summer in Cyprus from about 1pm - 4pm, when nobody is supposed to make any noise, and when a lot of people sleep. But shops and offices which close for siesta time often open at 7.30 or 8.00am, and then remain open until at least 7pm, after the siesta.
As for the beach, we find we spend very little time there. In the Summer, it's packed with tourists, many of them getting serious sunburn. In the winter, it's chilly and empty. I don't do well in heat or sunshine, so the only time I can go to the beach in the summer is either before about 8am or after 5pm. So far, I've been once this year. On Friday, since there was no youth group for Tim and no house group for us, we decided to go for a swim; it was the first time I had been in the sea since last Summer. We do try to go two or three times per week during July and August some years, but somehow didn't get around to it at all during July.
There are several bits of beach in Larnaka. The one that the tourists know best is the Finikoudes - or palm-tree promenade - seafront, right by the town and many of the hotels and apartments. It's convenient, with plenty of shops and restaurants just over the road, ice cream booths nearby, and a useful toilet block. You can go a long way out before getting out of depth, so it's ideal for children. It's also rather commercialised, and not very interesting.
Cypriot families and resident foreigners like ourselves tend to go to McKenzy beach, near the airport, which is by a whole load of restaurants and a shower block, with a big car park over the road. Aeroplanes fly low, right overhead, as it's the flight-path into Larnaka, so it can be a little noisy, but there's more sand than there is at the Finikoudes beach, and less seaweed. It also has a long, shallow slope meaning it's safe for children, other than one place (usually marked by buoys) where there's an undertow.
However in the last couple of years, the car park prices at McKenzy beach have shot up - it used to be free after 6pm; last year it costs £1 even for a short stay. Not too bad if you're spending the day there, but rather steep if you just want a quick half-hour swim in the evening.
So these days we usually go to a small bit of beach accessed from the main road, which isn't quite as far along as McKenzy beach. There's a field nearby where people park, one or two restaurants, and this year, for the first time, there's a porta-loo setup on the beach. It's not particularly attractive, and there tends to be some seaweed... but more and more people are starting to go there.
Oh, and in the other direction, beyond the marina and towards Dhekelia, there are more small beaches, many of them attached to hotels.
Beaches in Cyprus tend to be clean, safe and friendly, and the water is very warm during the Summer. So they're ideal for swimming... even though we go there so rarely ourselves.
It seems that, when people associate somewhere with a holiday resort, they tend to think that people who live there must spend their time in relaxation and lounging in the sun. This is, of course, not the case. When you live somewhere - anywhere - much of your time must be taken up in day-to-day living: shopping, cooking, cleaning, etc - and many people work long hours. Yes, there's a siesta time in the summer in Cyprus from about 1pm - 4pm, when nobody is supposed to make any noise, and when a lot of people sleep. But shops and offices which close for siesta time often open at 7.30 or 8.00am, and then remain open until at least 7pm, after the siesta.
As for the beach, we find we spend very little time there. In the Summer, it's packed with tourists, many of them getting serious sunburn. In the winter, it's chilly and empty. I don't do well in heat or sunshine, so the only time I can go to the beach in the summer is either before about 8am or after 5pm. So far, I've been once this year. On Friday, since there was no youth group for Tim and no house group for us, we decided to go for a swim; it was the first time I had been in the sea since last Summer. We do try to go two or three times per week during July and August some years, but somehow didn't get around to it at all during July.
There are several bits of beach in Larnaka. The one that the tourists know best is the Finikoudes - or palm-tree promenade - seafront, right by the town and many of the hotels and apartments. It's convenient, with plenty of shops and restaurants just over the road, ice cream booths nearby, and a useful toilet block. You can go a long way out before getting out of depth, so it's ideal for children. It's also rather commercialised, and not very interesting.
Cypriot families and resident foreigners like ourselves tend to go to McKenzy beach, near the airport, which is by a whole load of restaurants and a shower block, with a big car park over the road. Aeroplanes fly low, right overhead, as it's the flight-path into Larnaka, so it can be a little noisy, but there's more sand than there is at the Finikoudes beach, and less seaweed. It also has a long, shallow slope meaning it's safe for children, other than one place (usually marked by buoys) where there's an undertow.
However in the last couple of years, the car park prices at McKenzy beach have shot up - it used to be free after 6pm; last year it costs £1 even for a short stay. Not too bad if you're spending the day there, but rather steep if you just want a quick half-hour swim in the evening.
So these days we usually go to a small bit of beach accessed from the main road, which isn't quite as far along as McKenzy beach. There's a field nearby where people park, one or two restaurants, and this year, for the first time, there's a porta-loo setup on the beach. It's not particularly attractive, and there tends to be some seaweed... but more and more people are starting to go there.
Oh, and in the other direction, beyond the marina and towards Dhekelia, there are more small beaches, many of them attached to hotels.
Beaches in Cyprus tend to be clean, safe and friendly, and the water is very warm during the Summer. So they're ideal for swimming... even though we go there so rarely ourselves.
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