Random photos from last Sunday

We very much enjoyed having our friends Brian and Ruth to stay for a week in our guest flat, with their youngest son. We hadn't seen them for about fourteen years, so it was great to catch up, and hang out together. They rented a car for three days and went out to see some of Cyprus a little further afield than Larnaka; they also managed to get to the beach every day while they were here.

The time rushed by, and all too quickly they had to pack up again and say goodbye:


Richard took them to the airport. Richard was sporting a new bi-coloured face style, apparently developed on Friday when teaching some friends' children to sail. He was wearing a hat, standing in the sea for some time. He did have sunscreen on his face, but apparently not quite enough to keep him from catching the sun. If the line on his forehead isn't clear from this small picture, you can click on it to see a larger version (as you can with all the photos on this blog).


Richard's colleague John is here, staying in the office guest flat. We learned a few days previously that he's a great fan of Settlers of Catan, so our friends Jörn and Sheila invited us all over for a meal and game in the evening:

We have played often enough that we have got used to the same colours for each game. Jörn is blue, and he won this game. Sheila is always brown. Richard is always red, which is his favourite colour, and I - for some reason - am always orange. John was green in this game, and at one point it looked as though he would win.


Playing with five people means we use the 5-6 player extension, which makes it more interesting. We play to 12 points. It was a close game, right to the end. Jörn had his 12 points on the board, which is impressive. John, obviously, had the longest street card, and also had victory point card, so he had 11 points and was very close to winning. I had played four knights, so I had the largest army, meaning 10 points in all. Sheila had 9 points on the board, Richard had 8... but at one point, we all had either 7 or 8 points, so it wasn't until near the end that we had any idea who would win.

A birthday party

Last Friday, I was invited to a birthday party. Of course, it isn't the first birthday party I've been to in Cyprus. But I think it's the first time I've been invited to a party for someone turning four:


Katie is the young lady concerned, sister of my youngest 'best friend' Helen:


It was basically a pretty quiet party. Katie and Helen's two older brothers were there, doing a little organising, and there were four other little girls (although two arrived quite late). There were also various adults, including the mother of one of the guests, and the grandmother of another.

It was too hot to be outside, or to do anything very energetic, but some of the children played a clothespin game:


(you might think those are clothes pegs, but the family are American/German, so in their household they use clothespins. Or possibly clothes pins. I'm not sure if it's one word or two)

After a couple of hours, we had a cooked meal, and this amazing cake which Sheila decorated, with - at Katie's request - a pink monkey in a banana tree.


Despite being relatively quiet and peaceful, I had quite a headache by the time I left. Perhaps it was the heat. A peaceful afternoon at home, in the air conditioned study, left me feeling fine again which was just as well as we - with the guests mentioned in the previous post - went to the beach to meet Katie and her family again for an extension of the birthday party. Actually it should have been a cell group gathering, but none of the others could make it.

The beach is very pleasant in the evenings, even after a hot day, and while the sea temperature is like a lukewarm bath, it's surprisingly refreshing going for a swim and then eating a picnic on the sand.

Alexanders Restaurant in Larnaka

We don't eat at restaurants very often. Perhaps once a month, or so. Of that, we probably only actually pay for meals at restaurants about two or three times per year... on our anniversary, and possibly a birthday, or some time around Christmas. Our other occasions eating out are when visitors decide to treat us.

And while we have enjoyed occasional meals at a local taverna, the Art Cafe, a Mexican place along the Dhekelia Road, and one or two other restaurants around Larnaka, our choice more often than not falls on Alexander's, on Larnaka sea-front. It doesn't look particularly posh; the menus are a bit untidy; indeed, at first glance there's nothing obvious to distinguish it from the many other sea-front eateries.


But we went there on the recommendation of friends some years ago, and find ourselves returning, again and again. Why? Well, it's friendly. The service is excellent - almost too fast sometimes. The prices are reasonable. The choice is large, including the best vegetarian selection we have seen in Cyprus. The food is hot and tastes good, and the portions are enormous. Oh, and they usually offer something 'on the house' when we have almost finished and are pondering whether or not to have coffee.

Oh, and they do the most amazing ice creams.

Last Sunday was our 29th anniversary. We decided to go to Alexanders so we could look out over the sea, and so that we weren't too far from the airport, since some old friends were coming to stay that evening, to be met around 8.30pm. We decided not to have desserts, but cold decaffeinated frappes instead. They were extremely good... and we were then offered 'on the house' small dishes of ice cream, which we accepted and enjoyed.

Our visiting friends wanted to take us out for a meal last night. Brian and Ruth are vegetarians, and liked the idea of being by the sea-front. So once again we opted for Alexanders.


I had the excellent veggie moussaka, Richard had pork souvlaki. Brian had an omelette, Ruth (who eats fish) had the snapper. Their teenage son Oli had a large pizza. All very good indeed.

Then four of us decided to have desserts. Oli had the banana split:


Richard and I had no hesitation - after prior experience - in ordering Negrita ice cream sundaes:

... and the final choice was banana crepes for Brian:

All very tasty, and an enjoyable evening out.

The one problem with restaurants in Cyprus is that so many people smoke. We always try and get there by about 6.30pm since most Cypriots don't eat until at least 8pm. But there are always some smokers around, unfortunately. Inside Alexanders is non-smoking, but who wants to eat inside when one can look out over the sea, in the relative cool of the evening?

So we left by about 9pm, after two people opted for de-caff frappes 'on the house', and walked down to the marina and back in the hope of walking off at least a few of our excess calories...

Pervolia beach in Larnaka

It's nearly twelve years since we moved to Cyprus. And while we haven't exactly explored the island widely, we thought we knew Larnaka reasonably well. Or, at least, the available beaches.

Apparently not. The local informal group of home educators has decided to meet every Wednesday evening during July and August for a beach get-together. We gather around 5pm, armed with swim-suits, towels, picnics, spades, beach games and whatever else anyone wishes to bring. We swim, or dig, or just hang out and chat. The children do their own thing, and then - when we start to feel hungry - out come the various styles of picnic, mostly salads and/or sandwiches.

Each week, a different family chooses a beach. And so far, two of three have been new to us. Last week we went to one of the Pervolia beaches, and this week another, slightly closer to Larnaka. I had actually been, a couple of weeks before, with friends - but Richard had never seen this one before. It had both sand and stones, and - of course - warm water which was pretty shallow for a long way out.

So we swam a little, and chatted, and ate, and enjoyed the relative cool, fresh feeling of being by the sea. I forgot to take any photos until the end, when we had packed up and were leaving, around 8.15 pm as the sun was setting:

By the time we'd packed the cars and said our goodbyes, only about ten minutes later, the sun had almost gone:

.. and I took a final photo, looking towards the lights of Larnaka:

A week of board games

If the previous week was a week of beaches around Larnaka, I think this past week would have to be categorised as a week of board games.

Yes, if you thought that board games were just for small children, you are mistaken! I grew up in a family that enjoyed games at weekends ... mah-jong being a favourite, with the occasional Scrabble, and a few card games such as Canasta. As adults, we continued playing games together when we gathered. And, naturally, we introduced our sons to games at a fairly early age, continuing into the teenage years. Rummikub was probably our family favourite.

In the past few years we have got together, a few times, with friends who enjoy Scrabble evenings. My strategy has improved significantly; I'm not particularly competitive, but enjoy the challenge of getting the best possible score out of my hand, whatever it happens to be. Playing online at Facebook has also helped, of course!

But it's only in the past four months or so that we've started to enjoy playing Settlers of Catan, which seems to be quite a 'cult' game in various parts of the world. We heard, only yesterday, of people who play it avidly in Egypt. We first came across it when Daniel introduced us to it, on the Doulos. Tim has a set, and plays with friends in Birmingham. And we now play with Jorn and Sheila, new friends who live just a few minutes' walk away.

Last Sunday, we had a Settlers evening. We finished the first game by about 9.45, and - for the first time - decided to play a second. Possibly a mistake, since I'm not a night owl (and, indeed, I was extremely tired on Monday). To our surprise, Richard won that second game; his first win in Settlers. There's some luck in the opening placement order, and more in the throw of the dice, but there's also a lot of strategy. Evidently we are improving.

On Monday afternoon, I went over to the same friends to play Risk with the three older children and Sheila. I'm not a huge fan of Risk, although I can remember playing it late in the evening with friends when we were in our twenties. I don't really like the idea of world domination... and everyone seemed to find it amusing that I apologised when I took over someone's country in the game.

Risk is mostly luck, and I was very lucky in my initial cards, which gave me most of Africa, and other countries nearby. I was also lucky in that siblings like to attack each other, and mostly left me alone... so that within about an hour, only two of us remained in the game. I was much stronger, so would probably have won, but couldn't face the thought of another half hour or more of dice-throwing and gradually taking over the world, so I suggested we declare a draw.

On Thursday evening,we went for another round of Settlers. Yes, that's twice in one week! But the evenings in Cyprus summers are hot and humid, so we don't want to go for a walk or do anything else energetic. We don't watch TV, and I can't manage watching more than about one DVD per week, at most. Sitting at our separate computers is fine sometimes, but we don't want to do that every evening, so an evening out with friends playing a game is a great way to socialise without being too active.

To my utter amazement, I won the game. I was so surprised, I took a photo of the final board:

My pieces were the orange ones. I had five settlements, two cities, the longest street, and an extra point from a development card. It was a very strange layout, with resources grouped together mostly. I remembered a hint I'd read, to ensure some clay... and as I was the first to play (by lucky throw of the dice) I did exactly that. Evidently a good hint.

Then last night, some other new friends decided to hold a games evening, with seven adults and six older children. We chatted for the first part of the evening, then got organised into two games of Rummikub, and one of Scrabble. I played Scrabble, and managed to win by a few points... it was a good game, and again I was lucky with my tiles. As well as having had a lot more practice than the others playing with me!

We didn't leave until about 9.45pm, by which time our hosts' youngest child had dozed off on the floor with their dog....

Shopping in Cyprus

I must start by stating that I'm not a fan of shopping. Large malls, bright lights and rows and rows of things to buy are of little interest to me.

On the other hand, I don't utterly loathe shopping. Sometimes, it has to be done, after all, and I'm thankful to be able to buy what's needed so easily. I'm also glad to be living just a few minutes' walk from a smallish supermarket, an excellent fruit shop, and two or three very good bakeries. Then there's a local gift shop (of sorts), a shop that sells coffee beans, a couple of pharmacies, and - just around the corner - a useful small hardware shop. Now we've lived here three years, I can usually pop out (preferably at about 7am at this time of year), buy what I need within five minutes or so, and return home promptly. What more could anyone want?

(I should, for the sake of transparency, probably add that bookshops are not categorised in the same way as regular shops. I can spend a LONG time browsing in a bookshop. Second-hand bookshops, if well-supplied and reasonably well-organised, are even better. I like charity shops too, and car boot sales, and even jumble sales so long as they have book sections. And I LOVE online bookshops)

Summary of the rest of the post, for those who don't like long-winded rambling: we did some shopping this morning.

Long version of this morning:

When the boys lived at home, Richard (who, strangely DOES like shopping) and I made a once-a-week trip on Fridays to Metro supermarket, where we usually filled a trolley easily. Since they have both left home, we now go once every two or three weeks. I would much rather pop out a few times per week to the local supermarket anyway, unless we need really heavy things such as cat litter.

We didn't need to go to Metro today. But I did realise, yesterday, that I needed a new photograph album. A few years ago, I spent a lot of time searching Larnaka for suitable albums (I prefer the slot-in variety that holds about 300) but I now know exactly where to buy them - at Estia. Which doesn't open at 7am, as far as I know, and - worse - is near the sea-front. Not five minutes' walk from our house, but about twenty. No problem at all in the winter months... but I didn't want to wait four months before filing away the last few photos that arrived recently.

Richard also realised, yesterday evening, that we needed a few items for our guest flat. A fluorescent tube had blown, and the bathroom door wasn't closing or locking properly. So we decided to go out, with the car, to do a little shopping. Or, as they say in the USA, to run a few errands. This might not sound like anything remotely interesting (or worth blogging about), and perhaps it isn't. Except that it's not something we do very frequently. Estia is in the town centre, and we prefer not to go there by car.

Still, since we were going anyway, we called by the PO Box to collect mail, and for me to post another small parcel (containing almonds, chocolate and herbal tea-bags, just under 300g) to send to Daniel on the Doulos. I send these by SAL, a special Cyprus style delivery standing for 'Surface Air Lifted'. As far as we can gather, it means airmail speed at surface mail prices. I'm not entirely sure why anyone would use any other method of posting parcels internationally... but I suppose that's how they effectively tax newcomers to Cyprus more heavily.

Richard was able to stop outside Estia, so I dashed in. Last time I went there (probably 18 months ago) they only had one album of the sort I wanted. Today there were about ten, so I decided to be extravagant (they were marked at 9.75 euros each), and picked up two of them. I took them to the elderly woman at the counter, who speaks almost no English but is very friendly.

I handed her a twenty-euro note.

She smiled at me, then pulled our her calculator. DEE-scount', she said. Of course. I was buying two albums, so naturally they wouldn't charge me full price...

She clicked away on the calculator, then turned it around so I could see. 1.75 was showing. Was that my discount? Was it a percentage, perhaps? The change I would expect from my twenty euros?

She then opened the till, and removed a one euro coin, which she handed me with another beaming smile.

I wasn't going to query it. Richard probably wasn't parked legally, and since I had only been expecting fifty euro-cents change, I could hardly quibble at being given twice as much.

Next we went to the shop that sells fluorescent tubes. We needed one four foot long... and Richard found it quickly, for 1.58 euros, while I sat in the car.

This, I thought, is my kind of shopping. Go to the correct place, put the car outside leaving one of us inside in case it's not a legal parking space, pop in, buy the item, return to the car.

Finding a fitting for the bathroom door wasn't so easy. First we went to EOL, Richard's favourite hardware shop, knowing that if they didn't have it they'd suggest places that might. As indeed they did: Mastris and NEC.

Mastris was not far away, so we went there first. They told Richard that the door fitment was too old - that they didn't make it that size any longer. They suggested a shop called Capella.

So Richard tried NEC, and again was told they didn't have it. So he walked the short distance to Capella, and was successful. Something else we'll know for next time, if another door closing mechanism fails.

By then, we'd been out for nearly 40 minutes, but the car has air conditioning and we were, at least, buying what we needed without too much difficulty. All that was left was to buy some diesel for the car, and then call into the fruit shop. I could have walked there, of course, but I wanted to get a watermelon and even the lightest ones are several kilograms. And by then it was 9.45 and getting rather hot out.

So we got the diesel, then I bought slightly more fruit and veg than I would normally, knowing I didn't have to walk home with it. Richard chose the smallest watermelon, which was still nearly 7kg (and cost us the grand total of 1.50 euros).

All in all, a successful shopping trip. Definitely preferable to the ones where one doesn't find anything one wants - or (worse) the 'window shopping' kind where one doesn't know what one wants anyway and doesn't necessarily expect to buy anything at all.

More beach evenings at various spots around Larnaka

I wrote a long post about our short visit to the beach on Tuesday.

I wasn't sure when we'd get there again. Richard had to travel to Jordan on Wednesday, and was returning Friday. I did know of two beach scheduled beach events to which we had been invited, but wasn't sure about going alone... and would need a lift, as I don't drive.

After some deliberation, I decided I'd like to go to the gathering of Larnaka home educators on Wednesday, at the main strip of McKenzy Beach. Not my favourite place to go - it's too crowded, usually, and very noisy with incoming planes - but I thought it could be fun.

I was easily able to find someone who could take me, and enjoyed chatting to other mothers while half watching the various children (ten older ones, from 13 down to almost 4) playing, mostly co-operatively without more than a few minor squabbles. I do like the way that home educated children tend to get along with each other, at least most of the time.

There were also two crawling babies, who mostly played nearby. Helen, my ten month old little friend, went into the water with me for a while:


A little later, slightly to my surprise, she fell asleep on me. She hasn't done that before.

On Thursday, I didn't expect to see anyone. But had a phone call shortly before noon, from Sheila (mother of Helen, and a few others...) who, incidentally, also has a blog about living in Cyprus. Her son Jacob had been in the two-week summer school for Antidote Theatre, and wondered if I'd like to see the show the children were doing at the end.

My natural response to impromptu invitations or suggestions is often to say 'no thanks', and then regret it later. So after hesitating a moment, I said yes. After the show they asked me to lunch... that didn't take much persuasion. Then, when I was about to leave (they only live a few minutes' walk away from us), asked if I would like to go to Pervolia beach with them in the evening. I was pleased that I managed to say a third 'yes' in one day!

Pervolia beach is further away, on the outskirts of Larnaka, but has the advantage of some shade, and also quite a few stones, meaning that picnics and mats don't get so sandy.

I remembered to take photos on Thursday, too. I think this is probably my favourite - Helen, pondering the water having crawled down the beach in just a nappy:


Here she is again, a little later, thoughtfully chewing on a large stone after changing into her sparkly black swimsuit:


Here are Katie and Lukas playing in the water - it really was delightfully warm:

.. and Jacob, having buried his arms in the sand, doing a headstand (with a little assistance):

Richard came back from Jordan fairly early Friday morning. He took a couple of youngsters out for a sailing lesson in the morning, and still managed to get home from the office by about 4.30pm so we could go to yet another beach event - this time a gathering of some of the non-congregation-affiliated house/cell group which we are now part of. It only meets every other week, and was meeting near the place where Richard and I went on our own on Tuesday.

Very enjoyable, again, but I didn't remember to take any photos.

So, after not going to the beach at all for, probably, about ten months... I had four beach evenings in a row this week.

A short visit to the beach

We don't usually swim in the sea until the beginning of July, at the earliest. We've acclimatised somewhat to Cyprus weather, so the water feels chilly earlier in the year. Even in July it usually takes us a few days to get around to deciding to go.. This year, another problem was that my swimsuit was really too tatty to wear any longer (it must be about fifteen or more years old) and we didn't manage to find a new one last year.

But last Friday we went to Orphanides, and bought the only one that (a) was my size (b) was not black or pink (c) we both thought acceptable. I was a little shocked at the price tag being 32 euros... but there was 20% off, so it was actually 26. It still seemed a lot to me for something so small and light.. but then again, I hadn't bought one in a long time.

Yesterday, Richard came back from work early, so we went to our usual spot for swimming, near McKenzy beach, but with free parking on the street, or in waste ground opposite. It's probably packed during the daytime, but we don't go to the beach before around 5pm usually, when it's quieter, and the sun is less powerful.


Last year, some cars parked on the beach itself, but this year they've put down some white stones near the top, making it look much more attractive. There were still a few people around by the time we got there, but it was by no means crowded. We didn't bother with a lounger or umbrella; they're worth having if spending a day - or even a few hours - at the beach, but not for a short evening swim.


The water was perfect temperature. So we waded out - quite a way - until it was deep enough to swim in. Neither of us is actually very good at swimming - anyone who remembers me from thirty-five years ago might recall that I LOATHED swimming at school, and was very bad at it. Somehow, swimming in the sea is much more pleasant, as is the freedom to swim as much or as little as I wish, using whatever stroke I wish, and not put my face in the water.

I suppose we only swam for about five minutes... I had a slight worry when Richard called that I was going out of my depth, and realised that he was right. I'd been swimming parallel to the shore, but had forgotten that we'd walked out past a sandbank, and that the depth isn't the same at all parts of the beach. So I swam in a little until I could touch the sand again with my toes.

We were probably in the water for about twenty minutes in all. We found we could really only swim in one direction as it was quite blowy, and the waves would have gone into our faces if we'd gone back the other way. So we walked back to shore, then lay on our towels on the beach for another twenty minutes or so to get dry. I'd quite forgotten to take a book, so we didn't stay long.

First swim of the season - I hope we remember to go again, as it was really quite enjoyable. Not as much fun as going with children, but certainly more peaceful.

Air conditioner servicing in Cyprus

Short version of this post: we had some of our air conditioners serviced this morning. Highly recommended.

Long-winded rambling version with photos:

One of the best things about this house, which we moved to three years ago, is the number of air conditioning units. There is one in each bedroom, and one in each of the rooms on the main floor. There are even a couple in the guest flat.

I didn't want to go around the house taking photos of air conditioners - which are not exactly very beautiful or photogenic - so I had a quick look in my Picasa archives, and came up with a few photos from the past, mostly around the time we moved in 2006. They're photos of rooms which I've cropped a little to show the aircon units more clearly, for those who don't know what they look like.

Here's the one in our bedroom, for instance:


and here's the one in Tim's room:


Here's part of Tim's one again, in close-up, when Cleo discovered a new high place to do her panther impression:


You can see the kitchen air conditioner at the far end, above the window:


While it might sound an expensive luxury, modern air conditioning is not all that expensive, if used wisely. Central air, as found in the USA, can be extremely expensive - particularly if set on low temperatures - since it cools an entire house all day. But individual units only need to be switched on while in the room - and then not all the time. We also have ceiling fans in our living room and dining room, and find they are sufficient to cool us during most of the day.


I do run an air conditioner in the study, where my computer is, for most of the day during the summer months. Computers become increasingly unreliable when the temperature is more than about 30C [that's 86F, if anyone from the USA happens to read this]. Too much heat for too long can damage them irreparably. So it's much more sensible to run an air conditioner when the computer is on. We run it at 28C [82F], which is sufficient to feel pleasantly cool, since it also de-humidifies, and it ensures that the computer does not overheat.

We also run the air conditioners (again at 28C) for an hour or two at night in any occupied bedrooms. Although the temperatures drop to about 26C overnight, we can't leave windows open or we would have dozens of roaches and other unpleasant insects in the house. And it becomes increasingly humid overnight, too, which makes it difficult to sleep. So we switch on the aircon about ten minutes before going to bed, and set it to switch off automatically at around 11.45pm. That's sufficient to keep the room cool enough until morning, other than in an extreme heatwave when we might run it all night.

However...

Last year, Tim didn't feel that his one was running too effectively. It didn't matter too much, since he left Cyprus at the end of June to go to the UK, so it wasn't used for the rest of the summer.

Meanwhile, Richard has been using Daniel's room as a temporary study for himself in the evenings. And has found that his air conditioner really wasn't very effective, unless he ran it at a very low temperature (like 24C or even less). He tried cleaning it with an anti-fungal spray last autumn, along with a few of the others (something which should be done at least once a year, but it's the first time we actually found the spray in a shop...). It didn't help.

And at the end of last summer, the unit in the study dribbled water a couple of times. Not a huge amount, but it was a little worrying.

So we said we'd get them serviced before summer this year. Of course, that didn't happen. We started using the one in our bedroom a couple of weeks ago, and I tried out the study one... it seemed to be fine. The one in Dan's room still wasn't at all effective, however.

So finally Richard got through to the man who services the office aircon units. He arrived this morning, about 9.30.

Daniel's unit, it turned out, had very low pressure. It needed a new gas cylinder. Not being mechanically minded, I'm not entirely sure why an electrically powered unit needs a gas cylinder... but apparently that's what's causing the problem. So it was replaced.

Then he looked at Tim's, which Richard hadn't cleaned last year as it's very difficult to open. It was apparently VERY gunked up. So he took it to pieces, and cleaned it very thoroughly. It took nearly an hour.

Then he looked at the one in our room. Richard had cleaned that, but apparently it was almost as dirty as Tim's. So he took that to pieces too, and cleaned that as well.

Then he looked at the study one.. and to our surprise, said it was very clean. He poured some water in somewhere to see if it leaked, but it didn't. He said it might have been due to high humidity, and really isn't something to worry about.

We didn't ask him to look at any of the others, as we rarely use them. His recommendation was that we do a spray and basic clean of each unit every year, and get a full service once every three years.

So that's what we'll plan to do. Whether we actually succeed is anybody's guess...

Three years in our house

It's three years since we moved to our house.

Actually, it's three years and one day. I completely forgot about the anniversary being yesterday. But the move took several days... from getting the keys (and being able to paint) to actually sleeping there was a four day process. Completion - and the handing over of a very large cheque - took place in the middle.

It seems like a very long time ago now. At the same time, I'm not entirely sure where the past three years have gone. Time has a way of speeding up and slowing down that is really best described by Terry Pratchett's idea of 'history monks' who forever have to untangle chronological problems, by borrowing time from here and adding it into there...

Of course, it's also an indication that we're made for Eternity, rather than our time-centric life on Earth counted by hours and days and years.

We are still extremely thankful for this house, which - in retrospect - we can see that we bought at exactly the right time from the financial perspective. I still don't regret not having a garden. And the guest flat - our ground floor apartment - is being very well-used. In 2007 it was occupied for about a third of the time. Last year it was nearer half of the time. This year, it's been occupied two-thirds of the time. We're starting to get requests that we have to turn down, because it's already booked up.