So, last week it felt a bit chilly, and I reported recovering from a cold. I did indeed continue to improve, other than continuing with the nasty cough. Just as Richard did over Christmas. I don't think mine is quite as bad, but it's lasted well over a week now, and kept me awake until very late on Wednesday night. There are a lot of bugs and viruses going around, it seems. Cyprus certainly isn't immune to them, as some people might assume.
Nor, indeed, is Cyprus immune from cold weather. Last week's 16C seems quite warm compared to today, when the weather site tells me it's only 12C currently, mid-afternoon. The sun was out this morning, but I had to walk briskly, wearing a fleece and a sweatshirt, to keep even reasonably warm when popping over to see our friends whose three youngest children are also suffering coughs and colds in varying degrees. Last night we were down to about 6C. I'm very thankful for the central heating that comes on, morning and evening, and which can be given an extra hour's boost if necessary (as it was at lunch-time today) to take the chill off the house.
I'm also thankful for fresh lemons, and reasonably priced honey, to make our favourite hot drinks in the evenings. Soothing for sore throats and coughs, and rather delicious too.
There were a few spots of rain earlier in the afternoon. The sky overhead is grey. I am reminding myself that I like winter a great deal better than summer in Cyprus... but it's still hard to get moving and motivated. According to the weather site ten-day forecast for Larnaka, we're supposed to have wall-to-wall sunshine tomorrow, with a high of 14C, then slightly warmer temperatures at the end of the week, and rain. We seem to have had quite a bit of rain recently, but apparently it's not yet enough. Every winter the officials worry about the state of the reservoirs; 49% full may be worse than this time last year, but it's a great deal better than it was three or four years ago.
For those wondering if we're affected by the riots in Cairo - the answer is: not really. We're not all that far away geographically speaking, but Cyprus is a different country entirely. There have been some evacuations from Egypt - about thirty Cypriots and a hundred and fifty Americans - and it's possible that one of Richard's colleagues and his family will get here, though we're not entirely sure where they would stay as the various guest flats we know (including ours) are all full.
So, if the demonstrations end reasonably peacefully, as we hope and pray, there is unlikely to be any real effect here.
Showing posts with label Egypt. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Egypt. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 01, 2011
Friday, November 06, 2009
A bit of a lonely week
Richard has been in Egypt for the past four days. He left on Sunday evening, and returned in the middle of last night. Or the early hours of this morning, depending on how you count it. He isn't as tired as he often is after being in Egypt, but this time he and his colleague were staying in a guest flat rather than with people who live there. They did have one very late night, apparently, having a meal with the main people they work with, and then playing a lengthy game of Settlers of Catan. But nothing like so bad as usual.
I'm usually quite happy with my own company, and I had things to do ouside the house for the first three mornings of the week. Painting on Monday, Tots on Tuesday, some shopping and a haircut on Wednesday. The weather was grey and dismal, but I found plenty to do.
Yesterday the sun came out for the whole day, for the first time in over a week. I usually look after a home educated eleven-year-old on Thursdays, but they weren't able to come this week. So I got up later than usual, and did a few chores. I didn't need any shopping, and didn't really feel like going for a walk. It wasn't until mid-afternoon that I identified that I was actually, despite the cats, feeling a bit lonely. Strange, since it's not something I feel very often.
So I was very pleased that Richard was due back later.
Today the sun has shone again, and I gather it's predicted to be a bit warmer again over the weekend. Not too warm, I hope.
I'm usually quite happy with my own company, and I had things to do ouside the house for the first three mornings of the week. Painting on Monday, Tots on Tuesday, some shopping and a haircut on Wednesday. The weather was grey and dismal, but I found plenty to do.
Yesterday the sun came out for the whole day, for the first time in over a week. I usually look after a home educated eleven-year-old on Thursdays, but they weren't able to come this week. So I got up later than usual, and did a few chores. I didn't need any shopping, and didn't really feel like going for a walk. It wasn't until mid-afternoon that I identified that I was actually, despite the cats, feeling a bit lonely. Strange, since it's not something I feel very often.
So I was very pleased that Richard was due back later.
Today the sun has shone again, and I gather it's predicted to be a bit warmer again over the weekend. Not too warm, I hope.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Temporarily out of Cyprus: last half-day in Egypt
The four days we spent in Egypt felt much longer, as we had seen (and eaten!) so much. Daniel, Tim and I were due to return to Cyprus on Monday afternoon, with a flight at 4.15pm, meaning we had to get to the airport by about 2.15.
Another friend wanted to see us for coffee in the morning, and then another couple invited us to their home for an early lunch, saying they would drive us to the airport.
All of which would have been fine, except that Daniel awoke about 4am with diarrhoea, which kept him awake for a couple of hours, when he started throwing up. Evidently he had caught the so-called 'Cairo Curse' - which seems to afflict random people visiting Eygpt. We have no idea what caused it, since we were very careful only to drink bottled water, and only to eat at good, clean restaurants. I don't think it can have been anything we ate on Sunday, since we were taken out to two very nice places, but some people get the Cairo Curse just from using tap water to brush their teeth - which, of course, we had done. I would have thought the hotel would have acceptable water, but we had one friend - years ago - who got sick every time he came to Egypt.
It was surprising that it struck Daniel, who hasn't had any kind of stomach upset in the two years of travelling around the world on the MV Doulos, but as he said, it was all part of the Egyptian experience.
So Dan stayed in bed for the morning, while Richard, Tim and I were taken to a coffee house called 'Cilantro' on the sea front. Tim and I had rather nice spiced hot apple juice (confusingly called apple cider). Our friend said his driver would take us to our other friends for lunch, which was very nice of him.
I was very glad we weren't doing any sight-seeing as it was extremely hot (over 37C apparently) on Monday. Not quite that hot sitting in the shade mid-morning with a breeze, but hot enough.
So we returned to the hotel and packed. Daniel really wasn't well enough to do anything, but we'd found some medication supposed to help this condition. Unfortunately it didn't. He felt considerably worse by the time we reached our friends' apartment, not helped by the bumpy and very crowded roads on the way.
But the great thing was - one of our friends is a pharmacist, and his wife is a doctor! So they were able to advise us on medication, and she gave Daniel an injection supposed to keep him comfortable for up to six hours.
They had ordered some delicious Egyptian pizza for our lunch, which Daniel would have liked very much if he'd been feeling better. The rest of us enjoyed them very much. It was only a short visit, since we had to get to the airport, and thankfully once we were there Dan coped - mostly sleeping or dozing, but no worse.
The flight was on time and pretty smooth, and we were all very pleased to be home again. I was a bit surprised to find it rather hotter than I expected - when we left Cyprus the previous Thursday, it was distinctly chilly. Our cat-sitter even used the electric heater a couple of times.
But Summer in Cyprus seems to have started in our absence; on Tuesday it was 32C here, which is more than I like at any time, let alone April.
Another friend wanted to see us for coffee in the morning, and then another couple invited us to their home for an early lunch, saying they would drive us to the airport.
All of which would have been fine, except that Daniel awoke about 4am with diarrhoea, which kept him awake for a couple of hours, when he started throwing up. Evidently he had caught the so-called 'Cairo Curse' - which seems to afflict random people visiting Eygpt. We have no idea what caused it, since we were very careful only to drink bottled water, and only to eat at good, clean restaurants. I don't think it can have been anything we ate on Sunday, since we were taken out to two very nice places, but some people get the Cairo Curse just from using tap water to brush their teeth - which, of course, we had done. I would have thought the hotel would have acceptable water, but we had one friend - years ago - who got sick every time he came to Egypt.
It was surprising that it struck Daniel, who hasn't had any kind of stomach upset in the two years of travelling around the world on the MV Doulos, but as he said, it was all part of the Egyptian experience.
So Dan stayed in bed for the morning, while Richard, Tim and I were taken to a coffee house called 'Cilantro' on the sea front. Tim and I had rather nice spiced hot apple juice (confusingly called apple cider). Our friend said his driver would take us to our other friends for lunch, which was very nice of him.
I was very glad we weren't doing any sight-seeing as it was extremely hot (over 37C apparently) on Monday. Not quite that hot sitting in the shade mid-morning with a breeze, but hot enough.
So we returned to the hotel and packed. Daniel really wasn't well enough to do anything, but we'd found some medication supposed to help this condition. Unfortunately it didn't. He felt considerably worse by the time we reached our friends' apartment, not helped by the bumpy and very crowded roads on the way.
But the great thing was - one of our friends is a pharmacist, and his wife is a doctor! So they were able to advise us on medication, and she gave Daniel an injection supposed to keep him comfortable for up to six hours.
They had ordered some delicious Egyptian pizza for our lunch, which Daniel would have liked very much if he'd been feeling better. The rest of us enjoyed them very much. It was only a short visit, since we had to get to the airport, and thankfully once we were there Dan coped - mostly sleeping or dozing, but no worse.
The flight was on time and pretty smooth, and we were all very pleased to be home again. I was a bit surprised to find it rather hotter than I expected - when we left Cyprus the previous Thursday, it was distinctly chilly. Our cat-sitter even used the electric heater a couple of times.
But Summer in Cyprus seems to have started in our absence; on Tuesday it was 32C here, which is more than I like at any time, let alone April.
Temporarily out of Cyprus: Egypt day four. Lots of food!
Having done our major 'tourist' visits, to the Cairo International Museum on Friday, and then Saqquar and Giza to see the pyramids on Saturday, we were pretty tired by Sunday. Some of Richard's Egyptian colleagues - who he counts as friends - wanted to take us out for meals and get to know the family, so he arranged for two of these on Saturday. One lunchtime, one evening. In retrospect, that was perhaps a mistake...
Tim and I didn't want to go anywhere on Sunday morning, but Richard and Daniel thought they might go to a good value computer shop and buy some technical stuff, so they went on the metro... rather a fruitless trip, since apparently shops don't open until about 11am (and Sunday isn't a day off - Thursday and Friday are the weekend in Egypt), and the one they were aiming for didn't open even after eleven.
So they got back around noon, and we then had to get a taxi to the place where we had agreed to meet the first family who were treating us. They took us to the Grand Hyatt Hotel, which has an amazing view of the Nile, and the most incredible buffet food at lunchtime. Unfortunately my camera was in Richard's backpack, which he locked in the boot of our friends' car, so I couldn't take any photos.
We started eating around 1.30pm, I suppose. I mostly ate salads, realising how easy it would be to overeat, and remembering we had another invitation in the evening. But with a buffet, one keeps going back for more... or at least, our friends did, on our behalf. It was excellent food, but by the time I'd had two large plates of salads and vegetables, and a bowl of fruit (with a tiny slice of chocolate mousse which I couldn't resist) I was so full I could barely move.
The only problem with the room was that the non-smoking zone was simply half the room... so when people started smoking at the next table, we all moved to another place at the suggestion of the waiters.
Richard thought we might finish by around 3pm at the latest... however it was nearer 4.30 by the time our friends accepted that we couldn't eat another thing. It was good to get to know them, and we very much appreciated being in such grand surroundings with such excellent food, even if we did feel a little out of place!
Our friends then suggested taking us on a covered boat along part of the Nile. So we set out in two cars. However the traffic was unbelievably bad on the roads. It took us an hour to travel what should have taken about ten minutes. Our friends' seventeen-year-old daughter had to be at an English class at 6pm, so her mother took her there, and her father took us back to their apartment for half an hour, so we could sit down and use the bathroom, and relax for a moment.
Being in the car had left me feeling migrainey yet again; I think it must be the pollution everywhere causing them, since I was fine all morning.
While we were at their home - which was beautifully furnished and huge - Tim tried out a rather nice accordion. Unfortunately it was rather too heavy for him and he couldn't quite figure out how to use it in ten minutes:
We also asked our friend if he would take a photo of the four of us. This is something we had been planning to do ever since Daniel got home for his furlough. So we sat on a long sofa, and he took three photos... unfortunately he had managed to switch the flash off (although it would probably have made a nasty glare from the pictures behind us) so the focus is rather soft, and the other two had strange expressions on our faces.. but this one wasn't too bad, although sitting in a row looks rather odd. And for two of us, our stomachs look rather bulgy from the amount of lunch we ate!
We'll have to try a better place for a family photo somewhere in Cyprus, before Daniel leaves again on Tuesday. But here's the least bad, anyway:
Around 6.30 our friend drove us to the restaurant where we were meeting our other friends - an engaged couple. It's a rather unusual restaurant called 'Plant Africa'. Very nice menu, excellent food again (though, alas, I could not do it justice) - and a rainforest setting, with surprisingly realistic lifesize animals in random places. There were bird noises all the time, and occasional claps of thunder.
We had some mixed appetisers, and a couple of salads to share; refused soup (to our friends' disappointment), and then I asked for the smallest meal I could find - some pasta and sauce. Richard had some kind of steak, Daniel had veggie fajitas, Tim had chicken fajitas. Then Richard and Dan shared a pavlova that would have been too much for one person even if we hadn't felt rather full before we even started.
Egyptians are very generous, and the food at both places was superb. But if I learned nothing else during our time in Cairo, I certainly learned that it's not a good idea to accept more than one invitation to a meal per day!
This elephant was right by our table. It raised its trunk and trumpeted a few times every fifteen minutes or so:
On the way in I was startled by this gorilla - here he is with Daniel and Tim on our way out:
and I'm glad I hadn't noticed this rather unpleasant looking crocodile under a bridge on the way in:
It was after 10pm by the time we finished, and my head was pounding. We still had to get a taxi back to the hotel, too.
Tim and I didn't want to go anywhere on Sunday morning, but Richard and Daniel thought they might go to a good value computer shop and buy some technical stuff, so they went on the metro... rather a fruitless trip, since apparently shops don't open until about 11am (and Sunday isn't a day off - Thursday and Friday are the weekend in Egypt), and the one they were aiming for didn't open even after eleven.
So they got back around noon, and we then had to get a taxi to the place where we had agreed to meet the first family who were treating us. They took us to the Grand Hyatt Hotel, which has an amazing view of the Nile, and the most incredible buffet food at lunchtime. Unfortunately my camera was in Richard's backpack, which he locked in the boot of our friends' car, so I couldn't take any photos.
We started eating around 1.30pm, I suppose. I mostly ate salads, realising how easy it would be to overeat, and remembering we had another invitation in the evening. But with a buffet, one keeps going back for more... or at least, our friends did, on our behalf. It was excellent food, but by the time I'd had two large plates of salads and vegetables, and a bowl of fruit (with a tiny slice of chocolate mousse which I couldn't resist) I was so full I could barely move.
The only problem with the room was that the non-smoking zone was simply half the room... so when people started smoking at the next table, we all moved to another place at the suggestion of the waiters.
Richard thought we might finish by around 3pm at the latest... however it was nearer 4.30 by the time our friends accepted that we couldn't eat another thing. It was good to get to know them, and we very much appreciated being in such grand surroundings with such excellent food, even if we did feel a little out of place!
Our friends then suggested taking us on a covered boat along part of the Nile. So we set out in two cars. However the traffic was unbelievably bad on the roads. It took us an hour to travel what should have taken about ten minutes. Our friends' seventeen-year-old daughter had to be at an English class at 6pm, so her mother took her there, and her father took us back to their apartment for half an hour, so we could sit down and use the bathroom, and relax for a moment.
Being in the car had left me feeling migrainey yet again; I think it must be the pollution everywhere causing them, since I was fine all morning.
While we were at their home - which was beautifully furnished and huge - Tim tried out a rather nice accordion. Unfortunately it was rather too heavy for him and he couldn't quite figure out how to use it in ten minutes:
We also asked our friend if he would take a photo of the four of us. This is something we had been planning to do ever since Daniel got home for his furlough. So we sat on a long sofa, and he took three photos... unfortunately he had managed to switch the flash off (although it would probably have made a nasty glare from the pictures behind us) so the focus is rather soft, and the other two had strange expressions on our faces.. but this one wasn't too bad, although sitting in a row looks rather odd. And for two of us, our stomachs look rather bulgy from the amount of lunch we ate!
We'll have to try a better place for a family photo somewhere in Cyprus, before Daniel leaves again on Tuesday. But here's the least bad, anyway:
Around 6.30 our friend drove us to the restaurant where we were meeting our other friends - an engaged couple. It's a rather unusual restaurant called 'Plant Africa'. Very nice menu, excellent food again (though, alas, I could not do it justice) - and a rainforest setting, with surprisingly realistic lifesize animals in random places. There were bird noises all the time, and occasional claps of thunder.
We had some mixed appetisers, and a couple of salads to share; refused soup (to our friends' disappointment), and then I asked for the smallest meal I could find - some pasta and sauce. Richard had some kind of steak, Daniel had veggie fajitas, Tim had chicken fajitas. Then Richard and Dan shared a pavlova that would have been too much for one person even if we hadn't felt rather full before we even started.
Egyptians are very generous, and the food at both places was superb. But if I learned nothing else during our time in Cairo, I certainly learned that it's not a good idea to accept more than one invitation to a meal per day!
This elephant was right by our table. It raised its trunk and trumpeted a few times every fifteen minutes or so:
On the way in I was startled by this gorilla - here he is with Daniel and Tim on our way out:
and I'm glad I hadn't noticed this rather unpleasant looking crocodile under a bridge on the way in:
It was after 10pm by the time we finished, and my head was pounding. We still had to get a taxi back to the hotel, too.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Temporarily out of Cyprus: Egypt, day three. Saqqara and Giza (pyramids)
We had decided that Saturday would be our big day out to visit the pyramids at Giza. This was partly determined by the weather forecast: it was supposed to be 29C on Saturday, 32C on Sunday, and over 35C on Monday!
Richard spoke to one of the hotel taxi-drivers, who said he would be prepared to drive us there, wait for us, and then drive us home again in the evening, all for 150 LE (about 16 euros) which seemed like very good value. He said he would also take us to Memphis, if we wished, for another 90 LE. But when Richard spoke to one of his friends, who's something of an expert in the pyramids, he suggested we go instead to Saqqara first, an older site where there's a small museum and a ziggurat, and then on to Giza afterwards. He said it would be more interesting that way, and that we would more likely find somewhere to eat around the pyramid site!
So we set off around 8.30 and arrived at the Saqqara museum about forty minutes later:
It was much smaller than the Cairo international museum, which we visited the day before, but very nicely laid out with plenty of labels and explanations. The exhibits were in glass cases, and we were able to take photos so long as we didn't use any flash. There was plenty of light, so we took quite a few. As with the Cairo museum, the jugs and bowls were in the most amazingly good condition, given their age (about 5,000 years old in some cases) :
The statues were pretty stunning too:
There was even a mummy in one of the cases:
Some jewellery, still intact:
One of many tablets with hieroglyphs carved in:
A piece of stone with some carvings of people:
A stone statue of a high priest and his wife:
.. plus much more. I suppose we spent about 45 minutes in the museum - it cost as much as the huge international one - and then went to the outside Saqqara site, which was included in the ticket price, to see the ziggurat:
It was fairly impressive, though not as huge as I had imagined, and looked as if it were crumbling somewhat - but I suppose that's hardly surprising in the sunshine and wind of thousands of years.
Even by 11am it was getting too hot and sunny for me, so I sat in the shade to read for a bit while Richard and the boys went for a bit of a walk. They saw lots of camels:
And Richard took a photo of Daniel and Tim right up against the ziggurat, so as to show its size - which is actually rather bigger than it seemed:
When we'd seen all there was to see, we got back in the car and were driven to Giza, about another twenty minutes away. We asked the driver where would be a good place to buy a sandwich, and he suggested KFC... since Daniel is vegetarian, we went upstairs to Pizza Hut instead. Yes, these American fast-food places get everywhere, but since some of the restaurants in Cairo are rather dodgy, we were thankful for a place with clean surroundings, good loos, and food we could trust to be properly cleaned and cooked.
So we had a light lunch, then over the road to the pyramid site. Our driver said we should really book a guide, as it wasn't very safe... but we had the feeling he was trying to give a job to one of his friends, so Richard texted his pyramid expert friend and asked if we really did need a guide. No, he assured us, it was totally safe in the pyramid complex.
The first thing that struck us as we went in was the enormity of the Sphinx:
I had my camera out, and thought it would be nice to take a photo of a rather well-ornamented camel. Bad idea, muttered Daniel. They would probably charge us for it. So I was about to put my camera away, when a man came up to us, waved his hand, and said, 'No charge for photo!'
'No charge?' I said, and he agreed. So I snapped this photo.
As I did so, the younger man at the edge of the photo rushed up, and said I should take a photo of him with the camel. Then they came up to us, and asked where we were from, and seemed very friendly. Then they said that Daniel looked Egyptian. They put a scarf around his neck, and said I should take a photo of him with the young man, next to the camel.
As I was about to take it, the young man lifted Dan off his feet and tried to put him ON the camel. Daniel - who is bigger and stronger - struggled and got down, insisting that he did not want to ride the camel. We had heard stories of people offered free rides on camels... and then charged large amounts to get off again! So they tried to wrap a headscarf around Richard, but by then we were rather keen to get away. Then they followed us insisting we should pay something... Richard did put a very small note into the owner's hand, but he still followed until Richard said we would call the police.
All part of the experience, I suppose. We already knew never to let our cameras out of our hands (or we would be charged to have them back again...) but I hadn't thought that just taking a photo of a camel would be such a problem.
After that we headed to the pyramids themselves - not far away, and there was a good breeze, but it was still fairly hot without much shade. I was struck at the strange mixture of ancient and modern, seeing the bus/coach park at the foot of one of the pyramids:
We spent nearly three hours in the complex. We decided not to go inside any of the pyramids - we had heard that it was cramped and claustrophobic, and heard one man saying he had to queue for two hours to get a ticket! - but it was interesting to walk around slowly, with frequent stops for drinks of water.
We had decided to go to the famous 'sound and light' show in the evening, but thought it best to eat beforehand... so, in the absence of anywhere else that looked even vaguely reasonable, we went back to Pizza Hut. Richard and Dan had some ice cream desserts, then we bought various mixed appetisers and some more water, and spread out our time there quite well - an hour and a half - until it was time to go to the evening show.
Daniel commented to one of the waiters that of all Pizza Huts, theirs must have the most stunning view in the world, as it looked out right over the pyramid complex:
It was pretty amazing watching the sun beginning to set behind them, too:
The sound and light show started at 6.30, so we went to buy our tickets half an hour earlier (75 LE each - again it would have been less for Tim if he had brought his student ID card - ah well) and went to sit in the audience, some of the first to arrive.
We had a huge surprise about five minutes after arriving, when we heard the sound of bagpipes! Then a small band marched on, dressed in ancient Egyptian clothes, playing what sounded like Irish music...
They stood at the front and entertained us for about twenty minutes, which was very pleasant even if it did feel incongruous. They were very good.
We did try to take some photos of the sound and light display itself, but alas - they didn't come out. It was very well done, by someone with a British colonial type accent, and lights that showed different parts of the pyramids (including some lasers to demonstrate the dimensions), and also some pictures on a vertical stone screen at the front of the seats. It lasted nearly an hour, telling us about the different pyramids, why they were built, how they were discovered relatively recently, what they contained, and their best guess as to how such enormous monuments could have been built before the days of mechanical equipment.
We were more than ready to get back to the hotel and collapse by the time it had finished, but it was a fascinating day. What struck me most was how incredibly advanced the Egyptian civilization was - I knew it academically, but had never seen so many finely made artefacts, or understood quite how well-organised they must have been. So strange that it was all lost for thousands of years...
Richard spoke to one of the hotel taxi-drivers, who said he would be prepared to drive us there, wait for us, and then drive us home again in the evening, all for 150 LE (about 16 euros) which seemed like very good value. He said he would also take us to Memphis, if we wished, for another 90 LE. But when Richard spoke to one of his friends, who's something of an expert in the pyramids, he suggested we go instead to Saqqara first, an older site where there's a small museum and a ziggurat, and then on to Giza afterwards. He said it would be more interesting that way, and that we would more likely find somewhere to eat around the pyramid site!
So we set off around 8.30 and arrived at the Saqqara museum about forty minutes later:
It was much smaller than the Cairo international museum, which we visited the day before, but very nicely laid out with plenty of labels and explanations. The exhibits were in glass cases, and we were able to take photos so long as we didn't use any flash. There was plenty of light, so we took quite a few. As with the Cairo museum, the jugs and bowls were in the most amazingly good condition, given their age (about 5,000 years old in some cases) :
The statues were pretty stunning too:
There was even a mummy in one of the cases:
Some jewellery, still intact:
One of many tablets with hieroglyphs carved in:
A piece of stone with some carvings of people:
A stone statue of a high priest and his wife:
.. plus much more. I suppose we spent about 45 minutes in the museum - it cost as much as the huge international one - and then went to the outside Saqqara site, which was included in the ticket price, to see the ziggurat:
It was fairly impressive, though not as huge as I had imagined, and looked as if it were crumbling somewhat - but I suppose that's hardly surprising in the sunshine and wind of thousands of years.
Even by 11am it was getting too hot and sunny for me, so I sat in the shade to read for a bit while Richard and the boys went for a bit of a walk. They saw lots of camels:
And Richard took a photo of Daniel and Tim right up against the ziggurat, so as to show its size - which is actually rather bigger than it seemed:
When we'd seen all there was to see, we got back in the car and were driven to Giza, about another twenty minutes away. We asked the driver where would be a good place to buy a sandwich, and he suggested KFC... since Daniel is vegetarian, we went upstairs to Pizza Hut instead. Yes, these American fast-food places get everywhere, but since some of the restaurants in Cairo are rather dodgy, we were thankful for a place with clean surroundings, good loos, and food we could trust to be properly cleaned and cooked.
So we had a light lunch, then over the road to the pyramid site. Our driver said we should really book a guide, as it wasn't very safe... but we had the feeling he was trying to give a job to one of his friends, so Richard texted his pyramid expert friend and asked if we really did need a guide. No, he assured us, it was totally safe in the pyramid complex.
The first thing that struck us as we went in was the enormity of the Sphinx:
I had my camera out, and thought it would be nice to take a photo of a rather well-ornamented camel. Bad idea, muttered Daniel. They would probably charge us for it. So I was about to put my camera away, when a man came up to us, waved his hand, and said, 'No charge for photo!'
'No charge?' I said, and he agreed. So I snapped this photo.
As I did so, the younger man at the edge of the photo rushed up, and said I should take a photo of him with the camel. Then they came up to us, and asked where we were from, and seemed very friendly. Then they said that Daniel looked Egyptian. They put a scarf around his neck, and said I should take a photo of him with the young man, next to the camel. As I was about to take it, the young man lifted Dan off his feet and tried to put him ON the camel. Daniel - who is bigger and stronger - struggled and got down, insisting that he did not want to ride the camel. We had heard stories of people offered free rides on camels... and then charged large amounts to get off again! So they tried to wrap a headscarf around Richard, but by then we were rather keen to get away. Then they followed us insisting we should pay something... Richard did put a very small note into the owner's hand, but he still followed until Richard said we would call the police.
All part of the experience, I suppose. We already knew never to let our cameras out of our hands (or we would be charged to have them back again...) but I hadn't thought that just taking a photo of a camel would be such a problem.
After that we headed to the pyramids themselves - not far away, and there was a good breeze, but it was still fairly hot without much shade. I was struck at the strange mixture of ancient and modern, seeing the bus/coach park at the foot of one of the pyramids:
We spent nearly three hours in the complex. We decided not to go inside any of the pyramids - we had heard that it was cramped and claustrophobic, and heard one man saying he had to queue for two hours to get a ticket! - but it was interesting to walk around slowly, with frequent stops for drinks of water.
We had decided to go to the famous 'sound and light' show in the evening, but thought it best to eat beforehand... so, in the absence of anywhere else that looked even vaguely reasonable, we went back to Pizza Hut. Richard and Dan had some ice cream desserts, then we bought various mixed appetisers and some more water, and spread out our time there quite well - an hour and a half - until it was time to go to the evening show.
Daniel commented to one of the waiters that of all Pizza Huts, theirs must have the most stunning view in the world, as it looked out right over the pyramid complex:
It was pretty amazing watching the sun beginning to set behind them, too:
The sound and light show started at 6.30, so we went to buy our tickets half an hour earlier (75 LE each - again it would have been less for Tim if he had brought his student ID card - ah well) and went to sit in the audience, some of the first to arrive. We had a huge surprise about five minutes after arriving, when we heard the sound of bagpipes! Then a small band marched on, dressed in ancient Egyptian clothes, playing what sounded like Irish music...
They stood at the front and entertained us for about twenty minutes, which was very pleasant even if it did feel incongruous. They were very good.
We did try to take some photos of the sound and light display itself, but alas - they didn't come out. It was very well done, by someone with a British colonial type accent, and lights that showed different parts of the pyramids (including some lasers to demonstrate the dimensions), and also some pictures on a vertical stone screen at the front of the seats. It lasted nearly an hour, telling us about the different pyramids, why they were built, how they were discovered relatively recently, what they contained, and their best guess as to how such enormous monuments could have been built before the days of mechanical equipment.
We were more than ready to get back to the hotel and collapse by the time it had finished, but it was a fascinating day. What struck me most was how incredibly advanced the Egyptian civilization was - I knew it academically, but had never seen so many finely made artefacts, or understood quite how well-organised they must have been. So strange that it was all lost for thousands of years...
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Temporarily out of Cyprus: Egypt, day two. Cairo museum.
I'd gone to bed with a headache after our tiring trip and travel through CairoE; I woke about five thirty on Friday morning to find it had developed into a migraine. I swallowed some paracetamol and slept for another couple of hours, but still felt shattered.
We had thought of going to Madi Community Church, to meet some of our ex-pat friends from Cyprus. Friday is the main day off work and school in Egypt, from the Muslim influence, so many churches meet on Fridays rather than Sundays. The service started at 9.30am and Richard reckoned it took about an hour to get there via the Metro train, so we were up and ready for breakfast by 8am. The President Hotel had a buffet breakfast - no fruit, unfortunately, but a wide variety of breads - croissants, french bread, pastries etc - and a bit of salad and various cheeses, as well as sweetened juice, and of course tea and coffee. Not what I'd have chosen, but nice for a few days.
Since I was still feeling shattered and headachey, and Daniel felt like a morning to read, we stayed behind. I dozed a bit, and read somewhat, and took some Solpadeine at 9.30. Dan sat on the floor, and read solidly:
Meanwhile, Richard and Tim went off to church - and said the service was excellent. They got back about noon, and we decided to have a light lunch at the hotel. They did various sandwiches at a good price, so that was easy - and we didn't have to travel anywhere! I felt considerably better by that time, thankfully.
In the afternoon we decided to visit the Cairo museum, which meant we had to find a taxi to take us there. Taxis are everywhere, and pretty good value - it cost us 15 Egyptian pounds (LE) to get to the museum, which was about twenty minutes away. 15LE is slightly less than 2 euros (around $3 US) so it was really very reasonable. More bumpy roads and honking traffic, of course, not to mention lots of pollution from exhaust fumes.
The museum was huge, even from the outside:
And there were a few statues outside, too, as well as thousands of people milling around:
It cost us 50LE each to get in - it would have been half-price for Tim if he had remembered his student card, but he left it in Cyprus. Still, 50LE is a bit more than 5 euros, and we felt it was well worth it. The inside - where I wasn't allowed to take any photos - was enormous.
None of us are huge fans of museums, but this one was absolutely amazing. So many fabulously well-preserved artefacts, for one thing - far more so than the Greek and Roman ones we've been used to seeing. There were little tables and stools, papyrus scrolls with ink that looked as clear as if it had been written the day before, jewellery, and remarkably modern looking tools. There were also, of course, thousands of images of Ancient Egyptian deities - again, remarkably well preserved, and with the most incredible fine detail carved or painted on them.
Upstairs were some treasures from King Tutankhamen's tomb, as well as yet more artefacts. It seemed to be arranged by historical period, but there was very little labelling. Perhaps we should have bought a guidebook, although it was fascinating anyway. There were guides taking some groups around, but they seemed to talk very loudly, and rushed them from place to place, so we preferred to choose our own schedule.
I was pleased to find a few benches, since it was pretty tiring walking around for nearly three hours, but even in that time we didn't get to see everything.
In the evening, Richard had thought we might go to an unusual restaurant called 'Planet Africa'. So after we left the Cairo museum, we got another taxi. Richard's friend had told us the cost should be around 20LE again; in Egypt, you have to agree the fare with the driver before starting any journey, as they don't generally use meters. However when we mentioned 'Triumph Square' the drivers first looked blank, and then insisted it would be 50LE. Richard tried to haggle, but they insisted it would cost that much - and then one of them said he would switch on his meter, and Richard said that would be fine.
So he switched on the meter... and tried driving us the wrong way. Fortunately Richard had realised he might try to cheat us, and he's been to Cairo enough times that he recognised roughly where we were going. So when the driver took a turning that would have taken us many miles out of the route, he told him - and the driver turned around. When we arrived the meter showed 21LE, so the friend was correct.
Unfortunately, we had not taken into account that Friday is the day when families eat out, and that Planet Africa is a popular family eating place. There were crowds of people, including several children, in the foyer. When we went to ask if we could book a table, we were told it would be at least an hour... and by then it was already after 7pm. Early for Egyptians to eat, but not for us.
So Richard texted another friend who lived fairly near, and asked where we could find a reasonable meal, including vegetarian options for Daniel, not too far away. He replied that we should try 'Peking' which was just over the road. Peking turned out to be a Chinese restaurant; we're not huge fans of Chinese food, but Tim was pleased to find a highly spiced chicken and ginger dish, and there were various veggie main courses, so we had a good meal.
Unfortunately, restaurants in Egypt don't have non-smoking areas, and by the time we left we were all feeling the negative effects of smokers at nearby tables. It was about 10.30pm by the time we finally got back to the hotel... and my headache had begun again, although not too much to prevent me from sleeping.
We had thought of going to Madi Community Church, to meet some of our ex-pat friends from Cyprus. Friday is the main day off work and school in Egypt, from the Muslim influence, so many churches meet on Fridays rather than Sundays. The service started at 9.30am and Richard reckoned it took about an hour to get there via the Metro train, so we were up and ready for breakfast by 8am. The President Hotel had a buffet breakfast - no fruit, unfortunately, but a wide variety of breads - croissants, french bread, pastries etc - and a bit of salad and various cheeses, as well as sweetened juice, and of course tea and coffee. Not what I'd have chosen, but nice for a few days.
Since I was still feeling shattered and headachey, and Daniel felt like a morning to read, we stayed behind. I dozed a bit, and read somewhat, and took some Solpadeine at 9.30. Dan sat on the floor, and read solidly:
Meanwhile, Richard and Tim went off to church - and said the service was excellent. They got back about noon, and we decided to have a light lunch at the hotel. They did various sandwiches at a good price, so that was easy - and we didn't have to travel anywhere! I felt considerably better by that time, thankfully.
In the afternoon we decided to visit the Cairo museum, which meant we had to find a taxi to take us there. Taxis are everywhere, and pretty good value - it cost us 15 Egyptian pounds (LE) to get to the museum, which was about twenty minutes away. 15LE is slightly less than 2 euros (around $3 US) so it was really very reasonable. More bumpy roads and honking traffic, of course, not to mention lots of pollution from exhaust fumes.
The museum was huge, even from the outside:
And there were a few statues outside, too, as well as thousands of people milling around:
It cost us 50LE each to get in - it would have been half-price for Tim if he had remembered his student card, but he left it in Cyprus. Still, 50LE is a bit more than 5 euros, and we felt it was well worth it. The inside - where I wasn't allowed to take any photos - was enormous.
None of us are huge fans of museums, but this one was absolutely amazing. So many fabulously well-preserved artefacts, for one thing - far more so than the Greek and Roman ones we've been used to seeing. There were little tables and stools, papyrus scrolls with ink that looked as clear as if it had been written the day before, jewellery, and remarkably modern looking tools. There were also, of course, thousands of images of Ancient Egyptian deities - again, remarkably well preserved, and with the most incredible fine detail carved or painted on them.
Upstairs were some treasures from King Tutankhamen's tomb, as well as yet more artefacts. It seemed to be arranged by historical period, but there was very little labelling. Perhaps we should have bought a guidebook, although it was fascinating anyway. There were guides taking some groups around, but they seemed to talk very loudly, and rushed them from place to place, so we preferred to choose our own schedule.
I was pleased to find a few benches, since it was pretty tiring walking around for nearly three hours, but even in that time we didn't get to see everything.
In the evening, Richard had thought we might go to an unusual restaurant called 'Planet Africa'. So after we left the Cairo museum, we got another taxi. Richard's friend had told us the cost should be around 20LE again; in Egypt, you have to agree the fare with the driver before starting any journey, as they don't generally use meters. However when we mentioned 'Triumph Square' the drivers first looked blank, and then insisted it would be 50LE. Richard tried to haggle, but they insisted it would cost that much - and then one of them said he would switch on his meter, and Richard said that would be fine.
So he switched on the meter... and tried driving us the wrong way. Fortunately Richard had realised he might try to cheat us, and he's been to Cairo enough times that he recognised roughly where we were going. So when the driver took a turning that would have taken us many miles out of the route, he told him - and the driver turned around. When we arrived the meter showed 21LE, so the friend was correct.
Unfortunately, we had not taken into account that Friday is the day when families eat out, and that Planet Africa is a popular family eating place. There were crowds of people, including several children, in the foyer. When we went to ask if we could book a table, we were told it would be at least an hour... and by then it was already after 7pm. Early for Egyptians to eat, but not for us.
So Richard texted another friend who lived fairly near, and asked where we could find a reasonable meal, including vegetarian options for Daniel, not too far away. He replied that we should try 'Peking' which was just over the road. Peking turned out to be a Chinese restaurant; we're not huge fans of Chinese food, but Tim was pleased to find a highly spiced chicken and ginger dish, and there were various veggie main courses, so we had a good meal.
Unfortunately, restaurants in Egypt don't have non-smoking areas, and by the time we left we were all feeling the negative effects of smokers at nearby tables. It was about 10.30pm by the time we finally got back to the hotel... and my headache had begun again, although not too much to prevent me from sleeping.
Temporarily out of Cyprus: Egypt, day one
We're back in Cyprus now. And I just downloaded 125 photos from my camera - more than I thought I had taken, and yet not as many as I'd have liked.
We landed at Cairo aiport at 7.15pm Egypt time (they haven't yet moved to summer time, so are an hour behind Cyprus currently). The flight was actually half an hour early. One of Richard's friends had arranged for his driver to meet us, for which we were very thankful. We got through passport control easily, having filled in our entry visa forms on the plane, and found our luggage quickly.
My first view of the airport was of a large, modern and busy place, buzzing with activity, and looking much more 'western' than those we have visited in the Gulf. Egypt is very much a mixed culture, with Christianity and Islam co-existing reasonably amicably, alongside rampant materialism. There is extreme poverty amongst an increasing number, as the cost of living goes up, and a lot of people who are very well off. As one friend commented, there isn't much left of the middle-income families.
Richard texted his friend, and the driver arrived within five minutes, in an old but roomy eight-seater van with plenty of room for our luggage. Richard had booked a hotel for us online, at a very good price, in a reasonably nice district. I was staggered at the amount of traffic on the roads, the way it all weaved in and out of other cars, with no road signs or traffic signals at all. It was astounding that there weren't any accidents, but we didn't see any.
Around the airport Egypt looked more like Bahrain than I had expected - high rise buildings, to be sure, but fairly well spread out, with plenty of trees and statues around. The roads were wide, too, and well-paved.
However it all became more crowded as we got further into Cairo, with the traffic increasing, horns blaring, bright lights flashing everywhere. I was very tired - having woken up around 5am that morning - and wanted nothing more than to sleep. But it was a bit difficult to doze off in a bumping van surrounded by so much noise, even though the journey took well over an hour.
The hotel was friendly and clean; the rooms a bit shabby but a reasonable size, and the beds were comfortable. However we had only been given a snack on the plane, and Richard had arranged for his friend's driver to take us to and from a vegetarian restaurant called L'Aubergine... so we dumped our cases and went out again, finally eating about 9pm, which is far too late for me. The food was very good, and the service was quick, so we were back at the hotel by 10pm and I was asleep by about 10.05!
I somehow managed to avoid taking any pictures of the front of the hotel (called 'President's Hotel') but here's a view from our window which I actually took the following morning:
We landed at Cairo aiport at 7.15pm Egypt time (they haven't yet moved to summer time, so are an hour behind Cyprus currently). The flight was actually half an hour early. One of Richard's friends had arranged for his driver to meet us, for which we were very thankful. We got through passport control easily, having filled in our entry visa forms on the plane, and found our luggage quickly.
My first view of the airport was of a large, modern and busy place, buzzing with activity, and looking much more 'western' than those we have visited in the Gulf. Egypt is very much a mixed culture, with Christianity and Islam co-existing reasonably amicably, alongside rampant materialism. There is extreme poverty amongst an increasing number, as the cost of living goes up, and a lot of people who are very well off. As one friend commented, there isn't much left of the middle-income families.
Richard texted his friend, and the driver arrived within five minutes, in an old but roomy eight-seater van with plenty of room for our luggage. Richard had booked a hotel for us online, at a very good price, in a reasonably nice district. I was staggered at the amount of traffic on the roads, the way it all weaved in and out of other cars, with no road signs or traffic signals at all. It was astounding that there weren't any accidents, but we didn't see any.
Around the airport Egypt looked more like Bahrain than I had expected - high rise buildings, to be sure, but fairly well spread out, with plenty of trees and statues around. The roads were wide, too, and well-paved.
However it all became more crowded as we got further into Cairo, with the traffic increasing, horns blaring, bright lights flashing everywhere. I was very tired - having woken up around 5am that morning - and wanted nothing more than to sleep. But it was a bit difficult to doze off in a bumping van surrounded by so much noise, even though the journey took well over an hour.
The hotel was friendly and clean; the rooms a bit shabby but a reasonable size, and the beds were comfortable. However we had only been given a snack on the plane, and Richard had arranged for his friend's driver to take us to and from a vegetarian restaurant called L'Aubergine... so we dumped our cases and went out again, finally eating about 9pm, which is far too late for me. The food was very good, and the service was quick, so we were back at the hotel by 10pm and I was asleep by about 10.05!
I somehow managed to avoid taking any pictures of the front of the hotel (called 'President's Hotel') but here's a view from our window which I actually took the following morning:
Thursday, October 26, 2006
Red skies...
This is the time of year when the weather becomes unpredictable. Yesterday we had quite a thunderstorm with pouring rain for about fifteen minutes (and, alas, a bit leaked through part of our roof... seems we're destined to have roof problems in Cyprus!) but within half an hour the sun had come out, and it's been shining all day today. The nights are getting chilly - last night we went out to eat at one of the sea-front restaurants, and all took jackets of some sort.
So there's a mixture of 'shepherds' delight' and 'shepherds' warning' in our skies at present. Each morning I see something like this from the balcony outside our bedroom as the sun rises:
.. and a couple of days ago the sky really did look like this in the early evening. No clouds, but a very red glow everywhere, possibly as a result of sand blowing over from Egypt:
So there's a mixture of 'shepherds' delight' and 'shepherds' warning' in our skies at present. Each morning I see something like this from the balcony outside our bedroom as the sun rises:
.. and a couple of days ago the sky really did look like this in the early evening. No clouds, but a very red glow everywhere, possibly as a result of sand blowing over from Egypt:
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
Our guest flat in use again
I'm glad I took the pictures for the previous post, showing how very cluttered and messy our downstairs flat was! I'd almost forgotten how bad it was, in just a few days. Our guest arrived in the early hours of this morning, so we worked hard to make the flat presentable again.
First, Richard made 14 of the fibreglass panels, covering them with the bright coloured material from Egypt. I gather they're for sound treatment, not sound proofing, so they won't cover the entire room. There are still several more to make, but he's put up these, matching the patterns where possible:
A lot brighter than I would have chosen, but Tim loves them. I think we're going to paint the wall underneath in a very dark green - eventually!
Richard had the ingenious idea of stapling the frames together rather than using screws. Inspired by some of our photo frames, since these panels are very light and hang on the wall rather like pictures. It made the job considerably faster, but it was still getting a bit tedious by the time he got to the last few. And there are still more to do, but not this week.
As for the rest of the house... well, we moved the rest of the fibreglass, all the painting tools and other general clutter into the front bedroom, which is still awaiting its plumbing and new doorframe:
We gave four boxes of no-longer-wanted books, clothes and other bits and pieces to the jumble sale [which, incidentally, is roughly equivalent to an American 'rummage sale', I believe]. People were sorting yesterday, and the sale itself was today. For the first time since we've moved here, I had no inclination to go to the jumble sale. Perhaps because, now our main living area is mostly decluttered, I don't want to end up with more clutter!
I sorted the downstairs books, somewhat, too. The one currently functioning guest room now has all the children's books - about eight large shelves of them. The living room has other books we don't want or need upstairs, but don't want to get rid of.
As for the rest of the downstairs, I spent most of yesterday cleaning. And wow, it was dirty! Cyprus gets pretty dusty anyway, and I don't suppose I'd dusted or mopped the floors for at least three weeks, as there was so much stuff everywhere. Then all the woodshavings made it worse. Richard swept, then I dusted and swept, then I mopped everywhere twice.
Tim put the 'guest' computer back together, and Richard put up a shelf unit which made a useful place to store CDs for the computer. This is one end of the kitchen:
The kitchen/dining area really is pretty big - we've moved all the downstairs board games into one of the kitchen cupboards, and there's still plenty of space.
Then last night Richard adapted the TV shelving unit he built for our old TV at our other house. The new one he bought inexpensively for downstairs was 2cm too tall and 2cm too wide, so he had to take the shelving apart and redesign it. It took a while, but the TV looks a lot better than it did when it was balanced precariously on the coffee table.
The weather site is predicting thunderstorms and rain for the next few days. If so, it will be the first rain since about May, and will be very welcome. Today is quite cloudy, and a bit muggy. It's slightly cooler than it was, but not significantly.
First, Richard made 14 of the fibreglass panels, covering them with the bright coloured material from Egypt. I gather they're for sound treatment, not sound proofing, so they won't cover the entire room. There are still several more to make, but he's put up these, matching the patterns where possible:
A lot brighter than I would have chosen, but Tim loves them. I think we're going to paint the wall underneath in a very dark green - eventually!
Richard had the ingenious idea of stapling the frames together rather than using screws. Inspired by some of our photo frames, since these panels are very light and hang on the wall rather like pictures. It made the job considerably faster, but it was still getting a bit tedious by the time he got to the last few. And there are still more to do, but not this week.
As for the rest of the house... well, we moved the rest of the fibreglass, all the painting tools and other general clutter into the front bedroom, which is still awaiting its plumbing and new doorframe:
We gave four boxes of no-longer-wanted books, clothes and other bits and pieces to the jumble sale [which, incidentally, is roughly equivalent to an American 'rummage sale', I believe]. People were sorting yesterday, and the sale itself was today. For the first time since we've moved here, I had no inclination to go to the jumble sale. Perhaps because, now our main living area is mostly decluttered, I don't want to end up with more clutter!
I sorted the downstairs books, somewhat, too. The one currently functioning guest room now has all the children's books - about eight large shelves of them. The living room has other books we don't want or need upstairs, but don't want to get rid of.
As for the rest of the downstairs, I spent most of yesterday cleaning. And wow, it was dirty! Cyprus gets pretty dusty anyway, and I don't suppose I'd dusted or mopped the floors for at least three weeks, as there was so much stuff everywhere. Then all the woodshavings made it worse. Richard swept, then I dusted and swept, then I mopped everywhere twice.
Tim put the 'guest' computer back together, and Richard put up a shelf unit which made a useful place to store CDs for the computer. This is one end of the kitchen:
The kitchen/dining area really is pretty big - we've moved all the downstairs board games into one of the kitchen cupboards, and there's still plenty of space.
Then last night Richard adapted the TV shelving unit he built for our old TV at our other house. The new one he bought inexpensively for downstairs was 2cm too tall and 2cm too wide, so he had to take the shelving apart and redesign it. It took a while, but the TV looks a lot better than it did when it was balanced precariously on the coffee table.
The weather site is predicting thunderstorms and rain for the next few days. If so, it will be the first rain since about May, and will be very welcome. Today is quite cloudy, and a bit muggy. It's slightly cooler than it was, but not significantly.
Saturday, September 16, 2006
Downstairs in chaos again!
Nearly two months ago, I wrote this post about how we just about got the main part of our new house organised, when we learned that we were having unexpected guests from Lebanon to stay. So over a couple of days we tidied away the vast amounts of clutter that had accumulated in the guest flat part of the house. One of the guests stayed for about two weeks, and then just over a week later we had another guest.
So far so good.
But in the past month, clutter has somehow started appearing downstairs all over again. Firstly it was the painting tools, since we've finished painting upstairs.
Then some boxes of Tim's books which he's decided he doesn't need in ihs room. And so on. The music studio has been used by Tim and some of his friends a few times, but is fairly untidy, with wires and rugs and equipment fairly randomly arranged.
Other than that, we haven't really used the flat at all.
This would all be fine, since we do plan to decorate and finish organising the flat during the Autumn, once the weather cools a bit. But on Friday Tim will be 18, and he's having a party on Saturday to which he's invited the entire youth group. Potentially up to 30 people, though they probably won't all come. And he wants the party downstairs.
We might have persuaded him that upstairs would be easier, but then on Richard's recent trip he learned that one of our July visitors wants to come back for a week. Arriving this Wednesday. She doesn't at all mind that there's going to be a teenage party in the flat on Friday, but it does mean we need the place tidy and clean by the end of Tuesday. And we can't just shove all the clutter in the one current bedroom as we might have done if it had just been for the party. The other bedroom still needs the plumbing and doorframe finished, something we've been waiting for since the end of July, as explained in this post.
Just to add to the confusion, a few weeks ago we were given some fibreboard pieces to use in the studio for sound treatment.
While in Egypt last week, Richard bought some very brightly coloured cloth to cover them with, and on Thursday he bought some wood to make the panels. On Thursday evening, despite being pretty tired, he made the first two, to see how they would look:
A lot brighter than I would have chosen, but then I won't be using the studio - and they'll certainly make it more interesting.
This morning Richard went sailing with our friends who've been in the UK all summer, and this afternoon he's having to get ready for some recording he's doing at the office tomorrow... but at some point he hopes to make some more panels, and perhaps fit some of them. And tidy up. The painting stuff, I suppose, can go in the not-yet-ready bedroom. The books need to be sorted, and I was delighted to learn that there's a jumble sale coming up on Wednesday at St Helena's Church. A good opportunity to pass on some of the educational and other books that we will never use, and various other unwanted items discovered in the past few months that are too good to throw away.
So far so good.
But in the past month, clutter has somehow started appearing downstairs all over again. Firstly it was the painting tools, since we've finished painting upstairs.
Then some boxes of Tim's books which he's decided he doesn't need in ihs room. And so on. The music studio has been used by Tim and some of his friends a few times, but is fairly untidy, with wires and rugs and equipment fairly randomly arranged.
Other than that, we haven't really used the flat at all.
This would all be fine, since we do plan to decorate and finish organising the flat during the Autumn, once the weather cools a bit. But on Friday Tim will be 18, and he's having a party on Saturday to which he's invited the entire youth group. Potentially up to 30 people, though they probably won't all come. And he wants the party downstairs.
We might have persuaded him that upstairs would be easier, but then on Richard's recent trip he learned that one of our July visitors wants to come back for a week. Arriving this Wednesday. She doesn't at all mind that there's going to be a teenage party in the flat on Friday, but it does mean we need the place tidy and clean by the end of Tuesday. And we can't just shove all the clutter in the one current bedroom as we might have done if it had just been for the party. The other bedroom still needs the plumbing and doorframe finished, something we've been waiting for since the end of July, as explained in this post.
Just to add to the confusion, a few weeks ago we were given some fibreboard pieces to use in the studio for sound treatment.
While in Egypt last week, Richard bought some very brightly coloured cloth to cover them with, and on Thursday he bought some wood to make the panels. On Thursday evening, despite being pretty tired, he made the first two, to see how they would look:
A lot brighter than I would have chosen, but then I won't be using the studio - and they'll certainly make it more interesting.
This morning Richard went sailing with our friends who've been in the UK all summer, and this afternoon he's having to get ready for some recording he's doing at the office tomorrow... but at some point he hopes to make some more panels, and perhaps fit some of them. And tidy up. The painting stuff, I suppose, can go in the not-yet-ready bedroom. The books need to be sorted, and I was delighted to learn that there's a jumble sale coming up on Wednesday at St Helena's Church. A good opportunity to pass on some of the educational and other books that we will never use, and various other unwanted items discovered in the past few months that are too good to throw away.
Saturday, August 05, 2006
One month since we moved: day-to-day living
In some ways it feels as if we've been in this house for far longer than a month. The main part is reasonably organised (other than some boxes still in cupboards, and Dan's room which is a great muddle, and some painting which still needs to be done...) and when we made a list this week of things left to buy and/or do, it was surprisingly short.
At the same time, it still feels as if we're in the holiday/vacation period of culture change. I still can't quite believe that it's ours. Last night, driving home from an evening with friends, Richard needed to drop me home before going to see someone else who was briefly in Larnaka. He nearly took me to the old house. If he had done, I hope I would have noticed before getting out...!
Life is settling down, although as ever in Summer I tend to estivate. Less so than last year, but still it's difficult to do very much when the outside temperatures are in the thirties. [That's high eighties or nineties fahrenheit]. We do have air conditioning in all the rooms, but it's not particularly healthy to use them all the time, and would be rather expensive if we did! Much better simply to switch it on in rooms we're using, when necessary. We run them at 28C [82F] /which feels surprisingly cool. When my computer's on, I use the a/c since computers tend to be unreliable when it gets over 30C. At night we run them in the bedrooms, in economy mode, so that the cooling is only on when the temp is above 28, but they work as fan and dehumidifier all night. I also use the one in the kitchen if I'm cooking, and we sometimes use the living-room a/c in the evening if it feels particularly humid.
Twice this week I've been asked what my days look like. So if anyone's really interested, here's an approximate outline:
6am (ish) - get up in yesterday's clothes, open curtains, feed cats, have coffee, read, pray, etc
7.30am - empty dishwasher (oh, how I like having a dishwasher!), general dusting/mopping of floors (which get surprisingly grubby with dust and cat hair), quick clean of bathrooms
8.30am (or earlier, if possible) - out to Post Office, or fruit shop, or any other errands on foot, before it gets too hot.
9.00am - take Richard his coffee! Have breakfast (fruit and yogurt). Make new yogurt if necessary, put ingredients in breadmaker, put on washing machine.
9.30am - quick dust/mop of upstairs, or downstairs guest flat. Feeling very hot and sticky by now.
10am - have wonderful cool shower and get dressed in clean clothes!
On Wednesdays we usually have one or two of Richard's colleagues to lunch, so I clear out the fridge, make some salads, wash extra fruit, and possibly make some cake. On Fridays we do our weekly supermarket shop, so I get that unpacked and put away, then make the beds with clean sheets. On Thursday, when I've been to the Post Office for mail, I sort it and deal with anything that needs doing. On Saturday I do any necessary ironing (minimal, but at least it's bearable with the a/c switched on).
Other than that, I try and use the mornings reasonably constructively: I'm working through a Greek study book in the hope of finally mastering the language at basic level; I'm also working on a floral tapestry picture which I started over two years ago... no, it's not enormous, I just keep forgetting to do it. A little each day seems to be getting somewhere. I also do some writing, and hang out the laundry when it's finished washing.
I also try and do a bit of unpacking each day. I don't know how many boxes remain, but I hope we're more than half-way through. Of course, now we've found all the important things, it would be all too easy just to leave the others unpacked. But now we've finally bought somewhere, and hopeto stay here long-term, we feel we should sort through ALL our things, and either find a place for them or get rid of them.
Around 1pm we have lunch: fresh bread, cheese, salads, fruit, etc. Richard comes home for an hour, which is nice. Around 2pm most people here have a siesta for a couple of hours; if I'm really tired I might do that, but usually I switch my computer on. I might read and write email, get our accounts up-to-date, chat with Dan via IM if he's online, read blogs and forums, write blog entries, look at the latest news, play Babble or Sudoku, etc. I try and switch it off around 5pm as it would be very easy to spend hours and hours online and forget about 'real life'.
A couple of times a week in the summer we go swimming around 5pm for an hour or so, when the sun isn't too high but the sea is still very warm, then we eat something quick and easy afterwards. Other days I spend a bit longer cooking; I also fold and put away the laundry, water the plants (when I remember!), and empty the bins. We usually eat around 7pm in summer, or a little earlier.
After we've cleared away from our meal, and put the dishwasher on, we might watch a DVD together if we're all in, or possibly play a board game, although we haven't done so since Dan went away in January. Tim's out two evenings a week, and Richard has to pop back to the office two or three times a week, depending on who's there or what urgent project needs continuing, so I might read or knit (or possibly spend more time at the computer if I forgot to switch it off).
So there it is. Nothing terribly exciting, and in a week like this one, time seems to whizz by so I can barely believe it's Saturday again. Tim has spent most of today with friends in the 'studio' downstairs recording some music, and Richard's spent most of his time with his Egyptian colleague, who's returning to Egypt tonight. He wanted to buy one or two gifts, and there were a couple of things he needed to finish at the office and hand over to Richard. I expect he'll be eating with us tonight.
At the same time, it still feels as if we're in the holiday/vacation period of culture change. I still can't quite believe that it's ours. Last night, driving home from an evening with friends, Richard needed to drop me home before going to see someone else who was briefly in Larnaka. He nearly took me to the old house. If he had done, I hope I would have noticed before getting out...!
Life is settling down, although as ever in Summer I tend to estivate. Less so than last year, but still it's difficult to do very much when the outside temperatures are in the thirties. [That's high eighties or nineties fahrenheit]. We do have air conditioning in all the rooms, but it's not particularly healthy to use them all the time, and would be rather expensive if we did! Much better simply to switch it on in rooms we're using, when necessary. We run them at 28C [82F] /which feels surprisingly cool. When my computer's on, I use the a/c since computers tend to be unreliable when it gets over 30C. At night we run them in the bedrooms, in economy mode, so that the cooling is only on when the temp is above 28, but they work as fan and dehumidifier all night. I also use the one in the kitchen if I'm cooking, and we sometimes use the living-room a/c in the evening if it feels particularly humid.
Twice this week I've been asked what my days look like. So if anyone's really interested, here's an approximate outline:
6am (ish) - get up in yesterday's clothes, open curtains, feed cats, have coffee, read, pray, etc
7.30am - empty dishwasher (oh, how I like having a dishwasher!), general dusting/mopping of floors (which get surprisingly grubby with dust and cat hair), quick clean of bathrooms
8.30am (or earlier, if possible) - out to Post Office, or fruit shop, or any other errands on foot, before it gets too hot.
9.00am - take Richard his coffee! Have breakfast (fruit and yogurt). Make new yogurt if necessary, put ingredients in breadmaker, put on washing machine.
9.30am - quick dust/mop of upstairs, or downstairs guest flat. Feeling very hot and sticky by now.
10am - have wonderful cool shower and get dressed in clean clothes!
On Wednesdays we usually have one or two of Richard's colleagues to lunch, so I clear out the fridge, make some salads, wash extra fruit, and possibly make some cake. On Fridays we do our weekly supermarket shop, so I get that unpacked and put away, then make the beds with clean sheets. On Thursday, when I've been to the Post Office for mail, I sort it and deal with anything that needs doing. On Saturday I do any necessary ironing (minimal, but at least it's bearable with the a/c switched on).
Other than that, I try and use the mornings reasonably constructively: I'm working through a Greek study book in the hope of finally mastering the language at basic level; I'm also working on a floral tapestry picture which I started over two years ago... no, it's not enormous, I just keep forgetting to do it. A little each day seems to be getting somewhere. I also do some writing, and hang out the laundry when it's finished washing.
I also try and do a bit of unpacking each day. I don't know how many boxes remain, but I hope we're more than half-way through. Of course, now we've found all the important things, it would be all too easy just to leave the others unpacked. But now we've finally bought somewhere, and hopeto stay here long-term, we feel we should sort through ALL our things, and either find a place for them or get rid of them.
Around 1pm we have lunch: fresh bread, cheese, salads, fruit, etc. Richard comes home for an hour, which is nice. Around 2pm most people here have a siesta for a couple of hours; if I'm really tired I might do that, but usually I switch my computer on. I might read and write email, get our accounts up-to-date, chat with Dan via IM if he's online, read blogs and forums, write blog entries, look at the latest news, play Babble or Sudoku, etc. I try and switch it off around 5pm as it would be very easy to spend hours and hours online and forget about 'real life'.
A couple of times a week in the summer we go swimming around 5pm for an hour or so, when the sun isn't too high but the sea is still very warm, then we eat something quick and easy afterwards. Other days I spend a bit longer cooking; I also fold and put away the laundry, water the plants (when I remember!), and empty the bins. We usually eat around 7pm in summer, or a little earlier.
After we've cleared away from our meal, and put the dishwasher on, we might watch a DVD together if we're all in, or possibly play a board game, although we haven't done so since Dan went away in January. Tim's out two evenings a week, and Richard has to pop back to the office two or three times a week, depending on who's there or what urgent project needs continuing, so I might read or knit (or possibly spend more time at the computer if I forgot to switch it off).
So there it is. Nothing terribly exciting, and in a week like this one, time seems to whizz by so I can barely believe it's Saturday again. Tim has spent most of today with friends in the 'studio' downstairs recording some music, and Richard's spent most of his time with his Egyptian colleague, who's returning to Egypt tonight. He wanted to buy one or two gifts, and there were a couple of things he needed to finish at the office and hand over to Richard. I expect he'll be eating with us tonight.
Sunday, July 30, 2006
Planting the plants
This morning, I went to the Community Church; Tim and our visitor from Australia went to the Anglican church; Richard and his colleague from Egypt went sailing!
We all converged back here at lunchtime, where Tim had used both kitchens to produce roast beef, roast potatoes, two veg and the best yorkshire pudddings he has ever made - rather to his surprise, since he realised, when they were in the oven, that he had put in 100ml too little milk.
In the afternoon, we chatted awhile, watched the news briefly, and relaxed. Then Richard and his colleague started fitting some ducting for computer wires in the guest apartment, and Tim had a siesta. Our visitor worked, in some frustration, on some complicated knitting she's doing for her prospective grandchild. I got out a tapestry picture I've been working on - off and on - for the past two years. It's about half finished. Still, every little helps. Perhaps I'll get it done by the time Daniel returns, in about 18 months...
At 6pm Tim asked for a ride back to the church, where he had to play the organ for the evening service. So Richard drove him there, then we went on to our old house where we collected a wheelbarrow full of stones. We knew there were thousands, gathered from the garden over the years and nobody else would want them. While there, I noticed my newest bougainvillea looking rather sad, having been knocked down. But still alive. I know bougainvilleas don't like being moved much, but I thought I'd give it a chance as it was still small enough to dig up - and it wouldn't last long if I left it behind. Then I saw two of my geraniums, still just about alive but very dry after a month without being watered. So I watered them and dug them up too. Then I decided to take a few cuttings from the larger geraniums, which are in more shady areas and still thriving despite the lack of water.
We also filled the barrow with stones and managed to get them back in the car. Then with our visitor advising, we filled our pots and a couple of planters with stones, and used the compost we had bought combined with older soil to re-plant what we bought yesterday, and the ones I hope to revive from the old house. We also replanted the palm that was in a broken pot. And then had to do yet more mopping of the porch! Here's the results so far... it'll be interesting (to us, anyway) to see what survives.
The two lavender plants. They don't look as happy as they were yesterday, but still smell wonderful. They were rather badly pot-bound, so having a bit more freedom and fresh soil should help:
The palm in its new pot, and the two geraniums from the old house:
The two hibiscus plants. They look very healthy, at least so far:
The bougainvillea from the old house, and one of the citrus trees (with Cleo observing):
I wasn't going to do anything with our cactus which seems to keep growing and sprouting new pieces, and which was almost falling out of its pot in various places. But Richard's colleague took it out, pulled off the dead leaves, and replanted the healthiest pieces in fresh soil:
Then as there were so many bits left, he planted some more in a small trough planter:
He seemed confident about what he was doing, but admitted afterwards that he had never done this before, and had no idea if they would survive! I'm not a huge fan of cactus, but this one has survived eight years of neglect with occasional watering, so I hope it will do well with increased space and nutrients.
We all converged back here at lunchtime, where Tim had used both kitchens to produce roast beef, roast potatoes, two veg and the best yorkshire pudddings he has ever made - rather to his surprise, since he realised, when they were in the oven, that he had put in 100ml too little milk.
In the afternoon, we chatted awhile, watched the news briefly, and relaxed. Then Richard and his colleague started fitting some ducting for computer wires in the guest apartment, and Tim had a siesta. Our visitor worked, in some frustration, on some complicated knitting she's doing for her prospective grandchild. I got out a tapestry picture I've been working on - off and on - for the past two years. It's about half finished. Still, every little helps. Perhaps I'll get it done by the time Daniel returns, in about 18 months...
At 6pm Tim asked for a ride back to the church, where he had to play the organ for the evening service. So Richard drove him there, then we went on to our old house where we collected a wheelbarrow full of stones. We knew there were thousands, gathered from the garden over the years and nobody else would want them. While there, I noticed my newest bougainvillea looking rather sad, having been knocked down. But still alive. I know bougainvilleas don't like being moved much, but I thought I'd give it a chance as it was still small enough to dig up - and it wouldn't last long if I left it behind. Then I saw two of my geraniums, still just about alive but very dry after a month without being watered. So I watered them and dug them up too. Then I decided to take a few cuttings from the larger geraniums, which are in more shady areas and still thriving despite the lack of water.
We also filled the barrow with stones and managed to get them back in the car. Then with our visitor advising, we filled our pots and a couple of planters with stones, and used the compost we had bought combined with older soil to re-plant what we bought yesterday, and the ones I hope to revive from the old house. We also replanted the palm that was in a broken pot. And then had to do yet more mopping of the porch! Here's the results so far... it'll be interesting (to us, anyway) to see what survives.
The two lavender plants. They don't look as happy as they were yesterday, but still smell wonderful. They were rather badly pot-bound, so having a bit more freedom and fresh soil should help:
The palm in its new pot, and the two geraniums from the old house:
The two hibiscus plants. They look very healthy, at least so far:
The bougainvillea from the old house, and one of the citrus trees (with Cleo observing):
I wasn't going to do anything with our cactus which seems to keep growing and sprouting new pieces, and which was almost falling out of its pot in various places. But Richard's colleague took it out, pulled off the dead leaves, and replanted the healthiest pieces in fresh soil:
Then as there were so many bits left, he planted some more in a small trough planter:
He seemed confident about what he was doing, but admitted afterwards that he had never done this before, and had no idea if they would survive! I'm not a huge fan of cactus, but this one has survived eight years of neglect with occasional watering, so I hope it will do well with increased space and nutrients.
Tuesday, July 18, 2006
Settling down in the new house
So we're more than half way through July. That struck me this morning, when Richard pointed out that tomorrow is our 26th anniversary. Wow. In the busy-ness of recent weeks, I'd lost track of the date. We'll probably go out to eat in the evening - taking Tim along, if he's doing nothing else. We need to make the most of the time when he's still living at home, as it won't be many more years until he flies the nest. In the morning we thought we might buy a few plants since we have no garden as such - just paved carports and a large front porch. At some point we're considering digging up the paving at one side, but not at this time of year. Of course it's not really a good time to buy new plants but it would be nice to have some to start us off. We'll get more in the Autumn, no doubt.
Yesterday and today I unpacked more boxes in the study. There are built-in cupboards along one of the walls, which are now full of paperwork/magazines/pictures not yet hung. But it does look tidier. Tonight Richard's colleague from Egypt is coming to supper and then helping to paint the study. He's very keen to work on the house, so we're making the most of it.
The downstairs guest flat is still fairly full of boxes, but Richard's put together the two single beds in one of the guest rooms, and the living room of the flat has two sofa-beds, so if necessary we could have four guests (more if they were small children). We need to have a door knocked into what's going to be the master bedroom downstairs, since it was a hairdresser salon, separate from the main house. As it was originally part of the living room, the dividing wall is easy to cut through. But unlike in the UK, we can't buy doors and wood for frames from a DIY store and then put it in place ourselves. We have to employ a carpenter, who will make the door exactly as we want it. This probably won't be too expensive, and we've asked someone to look into this, so we can get the guest flat at least basically organised.
Some friends had considered coming to stay at the start of August, which would have motivated us to get the guest rooms painted and in good condition rapidly - however they're not now coming until next year.
But... a couple of days ago Richard had a phone call about someone who was visiting Lebanon, is currently elsewhere in the region, and now - obviously - strongly advised not to return to Lebanon. So she may be coming to stay. We don't know if there will be other refugees: yesterday a boatload of Italians and French people arrived here, and apparently there will soon be some Brits. There are a significant number of ex-pats in the Christian/mission world in Lebanon, so there may well be a call for temporary accommodation. If so, we'd like to be ready. It's only about six weeks since we were briefly in Beirut; hard to imagine that this busy, European style city is now under siege.
What we still need to do in the main part of the house:
- paint study (this evening, we hope) then hang curtains and one or two pictures
- paint Dan's room and put his cabin bed together
- paint hall/stairs/landing and then put up family photo gallery
- fix ceiling fans and/or light shades for bedrooms
- sort out Dan's and Tim's curtains
- buy mirror and light fitting for loo
- find some kind of mirror for our room
- find some way of fitting a cat door
Which isn't really all that much, certainly compared to all the houses we've lived in before. We might well get all that done by the end of July.
At some point we need to ensure we get a final certificate of approval for the main part of the house. Just in case anyone actually wants to follow the plot - so to speak - and hasn't a clue what I'm talking about, I described the potential problems here, what we learned here, and what transpired here.
In a nutshell: the main part of the house, ie the top two storeys, had planning permission, but the building did not entirely follow the plans. Nor were the plans totally accurate. An architect can sort it all out for us (at a cost) so long as we do it soon. It's not dangerous, or even illegal - but until we have the certificate, we could have problems if we wanted to sell it. Not that we do, of course. But one day we might.
As for the downstairs part of the house, that still needs a LOT of work. Painting everywhere. Light fittings almost everywhere. Curtains - which I shall probably adapt from the curtains we had at our previous house - almost everywhere. The door cut through to the front bedroom. Beds in place. Kitchen equipped with more than the 'spare' stuff we don't use much. And all the remaining boxes need to be unpacked, with homes found for the contents.
It would be much easier if we could leave this until the weather gets cooler, but it's probably best to keep going. A little at a time.
Yesterday and today I unpacked more boxes in the study. There are built-in cupboards along one of the walls, which are now full of paperwork/magazines/pictures not yet hung. But it does look tidier. Tonight Richard's colleague from Egypt is coming to supper and then helping to paint the study. He's very keen to work on the house, so we're making the most of it.
The downstairs guest flat is still fairly full of boxes, but Richard's put together the two single beds in one of the guest rooms, and the living room of the flat has two sofa-beds, so if necessary we could have four guests (more if they were small children). We need to have a door knocked into what's going to be the master bedroom downstairs, since it was a hairdresser salon, separate from the main house. As it was originally part of the living room, the dividing wall is easy to cut through. But unlike in the UK, we can't buy doors and wood for frames from a DIY store and then put it in place ourselves. We have to employ a carpenter, who will make the door exactly as we want it. This probably won't be too expensive, and we've asked someone to look into this, so we can get the guest flat at least basically organised.
Some friends had considered coming to stay at the start of August, which would have motivated us to get the guest rooms painted and in good condition rapidly - however they're not now coming until next year.
But... a couple of days ago Richard had a phone call about someone who was visiting Lebanon, is currently elsewhere in the region, and now - obviously - strongly advised not to return to Lebanon. So she may be coming to stay. We don't know if there will be other refugees: yesterday a boatload of Italians and French people arrived here, and apparently there will soon be some Brits. There are a significant number of ex-pats in the Christian/mission world in Lebanon, so there may well be a call for temporary accommodation. If so, we'd like to be ready. It's only about six weeks since we were briefly in Beirut; hard to imagine that this busy, European style city is now under siege.
What we still need to do in the main part of the house:
- paint study (this evening, we hope) then hang curtains and one or two pictures
- paint Dan's room and put his cabin bed together
- paint hall/stairs/landing and then put up family photo gallery
- fix ceiling fans and/or light shades for bedrooms
- sort out Dan's and Tim's curtains
- buy mirror and light fitting for loo
- find some kind of mirror for our room
- find some way of fitting a cat door
Which isn't really all that much, certainly compared to all the houses we've lived in before. We might well get all that done by the end of July.
At some point we need to ensure we get a final certificate of approval for the main part of the house. Just in case anyone actually wants to follow the plot - so to speak - and hasn't a clue what I'm talking about, I described the potential problems here, what we learned here, and what transpired here.
In a nutshell: the main part of the house, ie the top two storeys, had planning permission, but the building did not entirely follow the plans. Nor were the plans totally accurate. An architect can sort it all out for us (at a cost) so long as we do it soon. It's not dangerous, or even illegal - but until we have the certificate, we could have problems if we wanted to sell it. Not that we do, of course. But one day we might.
As for the downstairs part of the house, that still needs a LOT of work. Painting everywhere. Light fittings almost everywhere. Curtains - which I shall probably adapt from the curtains we had at our previous house - almost everywhere. The door cut through to the front bedroom. Beds in place. Kitchen equipped with more than the 'spare' stuff we don't use much. And all the remaining boxes need to be unpacked, with homes found for the contents.
It would be much easier if we could leave this until the weather gets cooler, but it's probably best to keep going. A little at a time.
Thursday, June 08, 2006
Wild life in Cyprus
Yesterday morning, when I got up, I noticed a large dead mouse deposited near the front door.
Ugh.
No doubt one of the cats caught it, brought it inside, and then decided not to eat it. Perhaps it was a gift. Perhaps it was a hint that we should go out and catch food rather than buying it from the supermarket. Thankfully Richard is now back from Egypt, so he dealt with it.
Later in the day, I heard Tim rushing around the house shutting all the windows and outside doors. He said he had seen Sophia with a large snake, wrestling in the geraniums. He did NOT want her bringing inside. I was happy to agree, and felt a bit nervous about going outside to bring in the laundry, since the geraniums are close by. However most snakes in Cyprus are harmless, and I assumed Sophia would probably have dealt suitably with the snake.
This morning, when I opened the kitchen window to let in some fresh air, I saw a dead snake outside.
The markings are like those of an adder, but I think it's a Cyprus cat-snake, as the head is fairly narrow. So it's harmless. Particularly when dead. I was greatly relieved, and went out to do some gardening.
Then Tim got up, took a look, and said that wasn't the snake he saw yesterday. Apparently the one he saw was much bigger. Uh-oh. So if there were two near the house, I wonder how many more there might be?
The prospect of moving to a house without a large garden is becoming more appealing all the time!
Ugh.
No doubt one of the cats caught it, brought it inside, and then decided not to eat it. Perhaps it was a gift. Perhaps it was a hint that we should go out and catch food rather than buying it from the supermarket. Thankfully Richard is now back from Egypt, so he dealt with it.
Later in the day, I heard Tim rushing around the house shutting all the windows and outside doors. He said he had seen Sophia with a large snake, wrestling in the geraniums. He did NOT want her bringing inside. I was happy to agree, and felt a bit nervous about going outside to bring in the laundry, since the geraniums are close by. However most snakes in Cyprus are harmless, and I assumed Sophia would probably have dealt suitably with the snake.
This morning, when I opened the kitchen window to let in some fresh air, I saw a dead snake outside.
The markings are like those of an adder, but I think it's a Cyprus cat-snake, as the head is fairly narrow. So it's harmless. Particularly when dead. I was greatly relieved, and went out to do some gardening.
Then Tim got up, took a look, and said that wasn't the snake he saw yesterday. Apparently the one he saw was much bigger. Uh-oh. So if there were two near the house, I wonder how many more there might be?
The prospect of moving to a house without a large garden is becoming more appealing all the time!
Wednesday, June 07, 2006
Packing, day one
All being well (and, it being Cyprus, there's no guarantee at all...) we should have access to our new house on July 1st.
Since it's likely to be hot, and we're moving ourselves - albeit with help from friends - and there's nobody moving into the house we're currently renting, we plan to spend at least a week moving. Maybe longer. At first we'll probably do a bit of painting in the new house, since it's white everywhere (typical for this country) but we prefer a bit of colour here and there.
People have been asking us for weeks if we had started packing, and I had to admit we had just done a little de-cluttering. Not even much of that. Until we had a date, it all seemed rather pointless. Then about ten days ago Richard announced that we needed some parcel tape before we could do anything. I bought some while he was away (on a not very successful trip - details on his blog).
Yesterday I told him I had bought the tape. Perhaps a mistake on such a hot day (it was still 35C - 95F for those in the USA - by about 5pm) but he was immediately enthused. He went to collect several flattened packing boxes from the garage, and brought them in. In the evening, he started taping them together.
'Where are we going to put them?' I asked, with visions of boxes scattered randomly about the house for the next month, with the cats climbing over them, clawing them to pieces....
'In Dan's room,' he said. 'Until it's full. Then your study. Then Tim will have to move out of his room....'
Dan's room, we pointed out, was fairly full already with his drum kit, and Richard's PA system. So Richard re-organised it. He is brilliant at packing suitcases, shopping trolleys, and car boots, and last night demonstrated that he's also gifted at packing rooms. He thinks three-dimensionally. Within less than an hour, there was more floor space than I have seen in Dan's room for a long time. The PA was stacked neatly at one end. The drums were taken down, and moved out of the way.
'How are we going to pack?' I then asked. 'Should we think about it? Have a plan of some sort?'
No, it appeared we were going to decide what could easily be packed now, ensure each box was labelled and the contents listed elsewhere, and just go for it. So we put all the duvets and the spare pillows into one very large box. That was easy. Richard cleared one shelf of our random junk shelves, threw out various things we had kept in case they might come in useful, and packed barbecue tools, and some other random objects in another box. I dutifully listed them all.
Then we paused. He phoned our landlady to confirm that we're hoping to move in the first week of July. He made a couple of other phone calls too. Then he said perhaps it would be a good idea to have some kind of plan... how many rooms do we have?
I made it eight, including the bathroom. Nine, if we count the living room and dining room as separate. But then for packing purposes we also have to count the garage, the single basement work-room, the corridor where the random shelves are, and the garden. Thirteen in all. OK, said Richard, we need to completely pack three rooms per week, including this week, and since there's not much in the garden we can just take that stuff after we've done the house.
Gulp.
Then we realised there's not much we can do in the garage - it's mainly in boxes already, so no point moving them in the house. Nor do we have much in the basement. And the bathroom only has one large cupboard, with towels and loo rolls and so on, which is probably the last thing to be packed before we move out, and won't take long anyway.
Still, ten 'rooms'. We went through them, listing what packing needs to be done. Most of them read something like this:
No single item will take very long - we hope - but adding them all up gives rather a lot of packing in the next three-and-a-half weeks. Most rooms have at least two or three full bookcases, for instance. And 'stuff in bureau' is a fairly major amount of clobber to be sorted and packed.
By the time we had finished it was 10pm, and still hot. We were tired, so he quickly moved the various boxes to Dan's room, and gave up for the night.
Since it's likely to be hot, and we're moving ourselves - albeit with help from friends - and there's nobody moving into the house we're currently renting, we plan to spend at least a week moving. Maybe longer. At first we'll probably do a bit of painting in the new house, since it's white everywhere (typical for this country) but we prefer a bit of colour here and there.
People have been asking us for weeks if we had started packing, and I had to admit we had just done a little de-cluttering. Not even much of that. Until we had a date, it all seemed rather pointless. Then about ten days ago Richard announced that we needed some parcel tape before we could do anything. I bought some while he was away (on a not very successful trip - details on his blog).
Yesterday I told him I had bought the tape. Perhaps a mistake on such a hot day (it was still 35C - 95F for those in the USA - by about 5pm) but he was immediately enthused. He went to collect several flattened packing boxes from the garage, and brought them in. In the evening, he started taping them together.
'Where are we going to put them?' I asked, with visions of boxes scattered randomly about the house for the next month, with the cats climbing over them, clawing them to pieces....
'In Dan's room,' he said. 'Until it's full. Then your study. Then Tim will have to move out of his room....'
Dan's room, we pointed out, was fairly full already with his drum kit, and Richard's PA system. So Richard re-organised it. He is brilliant at packing suitcases, shopping trolleys, and car boots, and last night demonstrated that he's also gifted at packing rooms. He thinks three-dimensionally. Within less than an hour, there was more floor space than I have seen in Dan's room for a long time. The PA was stacked neatly at one end. The drums were taken down, and moved out of the way.
'How are we going to pack?' I then asked. 'Should we think about it? Have a plan of some sort?'
No, it appeared we were going to decide what could easily be packed now, ensure each box was labelled and the contents listed elsewhere, and just go for it. So we put all the duvets and the spare pillows into one very large box. That was easy. Richard cleared one shelf of our random junk shelves, threw out various things we had kept in case they might come in useful, and packed barbecue tools, and some other random objects in another box. I dutifully listed them all.
Then we paused. He phoned our landlady to confirm that we're hoping to move in the first week of July. He made a couple of other phone calls too. Then he said perhaps it would be a good idea to have some kind of plan... how many rooms do we have?
I made it eight, including the bathroom. Nine, if we count the living room and dining room as separate. But then for packing purposes we also have to count the garage, the single basement work-room, the corridor where the random shelves are, and the garden. Thirteen in all. OK, said Richard, we need to completely pack three rooms per week, including this week, and since there's not much in the garden we can just take that stuff after we've done the house.
Gulp.
Then we realised there's not much we can do in the garage - it's mainly in boxes already, so no point moving them in the house. Nor do we have much in the basement. And the bathroom only has one large cupboard, with towels and loo rolls and so on, which is probably the last thing to be packed before we move out, and won't take long anyway.
Still, ten 'rooms'. We went through them, listing what packing needs to be done. Most of them read something like this:
books
stuff in bureau
pictures on walls
random stuff on shelves
No single item will take very long - we hope - but adding them all up gives rather a lot of packing in the next three-and-a-half weeks. Most rooms have at least two or three full bookcases, for instance. And 'stuff in bureau' is a fairly major amount of clobber to be sorted and packed.
By the time we had finished it was 10pm, and still hot. We were tired, so he quickly moved the various boxes to Dan's room, and gave up for the night.
Monday, June 05, 2006
I spoke too soon
Since lunch-time, it has got warmer and warmer. Tim went round the corner to do some photocopying, and said he was almost melting when he got home. He's had to go out again, to his singing lesson. It usually takes him five minutes to walk there, but he left quarter of an hour early, planning to walk very slowly.
I checked the weather site, which tells me it's 39C at present, in the shade. Ugh. That's over 100F, apparently. Our house isn't THAT hot but according to the kitchen scales it's 30C in there. Probably about the same in here. So in a moment I'll switch off the computer, as they don't do well at these kinds of temperatures.
Here's how the cats are trying to stay cool:
Sophia's stretched out on a windowsill. It would be hotter if the window were open.
Jemima's on top of a rattan bookcase. It's quite a good place in hot weather as there's circulation of air all round.
Tessie's on my in-tray, on top of a low bookcase. Doesn't seem to be helping much. Maybe she thought it would work like a rattan bookcase.
Cleo is frankly miserable. She's outside, where by rights it should be cooler than inside. when I took her picture, she attacked me. I expect she was telling me I should switch the heating off.
Richard has been in Egypt for a week, and returns tonight. He likes hot weather, but this heat would be a bit too warm even for him. Still, it should cool down a little by the evening. Since I started typing, the weather site has reduced the temperature by one degree. Better than nothing. It says that tomorrow it will 'only' be 31C, but then it said today's maximum would be 33C.
I really hope we're not going to have an excessively hot summer.
I checked the weather site, which tells me it's 39C at present, in the shade. Ugh. That's over 100F, apparently. Our house isn't THAT hot but according to the kitchen scales it's 30C in there. Probably about the same in here. So in a moment I'll switch off the computer, as they don't do well at these kinds of temperatures.
Here's how the cats are trying to stay cool:
Sophia's stretched out on a windowsill. It would be hotter if the window were open.
Jemima's on top of a rattan bookcase. It's quite a good place in hot weather as there's circulation of air all round.
Tessie's on my in-tray, on top of a low bookcase. Doesn't seem to be helping much. Maybe she thought it would work like a rattan bookcase.
Cleo is frankly miserable. She's outside, where by rights it should be cooler than inside. when I took her picture, she attacked me. I expect she was telling me I should switch the heating off.
Richard has been in Egypt for a week, and returns tonight. He likes hot weather, but this heat would be a bit too warm even for him. Still, it should cool down a little by the evening. Since I started typing, the weather site has reduced the temperature by one degree. Better than nothing. It says that tomorrow it will 'only' be 31C, but then it said today's maximum would be 33C.
I really hope we're not going to have an excessively hot summer.
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