Images of Autumn in our Cyprus household...

Not sunrises this time, although I've seen a few pretty ones recently. Just a few pictures taken in the past three weeks, some of which I have pondered blogging about... yet somehow the days fly by, and the blog stays neglected. 

The deadline for Tim's MA thesis was the end of September. He was pleased to learn that he would not have to fly back to submit it, and that it could be printed and bound here rather than at his university, then sent by courier.  Better still, Richard has a comb-binding machine, so on Thursday a couple of weeks ago I did some final proof-reading, then Tim printed his magnum opus, plus bibliography and title page, and Richard used his impressive gadget:

We then had to get it to DHL, who tried to charge us more than the online quote.. however, it arrived safely, and we heard of another student in a similar situation who used a different courier service which cost more and did not deliver. At least, not until several days late. Thankfully the universities take the posting date into account, but it was still immensely frustrating for them. So we'll probably use DHL again.

After the thesis was out of the way, Tim decided to re-organise his room, which included sorting his books. Some of them had been tipped onto the floor by Tessie, who likes to sleep on bookshelves and will think nothing of pulling books out if they are in her way.  

Apparently, though, one of the books refused to co-operate, so Tessie had to teach it rather a violent lesson in submission: 

It's not often that we throw a book away.  It went very much against the grain with us all, but we had to acknowledge that it was past repair.  Besides, Tim commented that it was quite a heavy three-volumes-in-one book, and he would really prefer the three books individually.  So he quickly put them on his wishlist and we laid this sad-looking has-been book to rest in the paper recycling. 

Part of Tim's re-organising was to get at an extra closet, which meant losing a small bookcase. I knew I could assimilate it easily, but it would involve re-organising my study.  I drew a scale plan, and moved little blocks around until I found an arrangement that I thought would work... and, indeed, it did.  I like it much better than my previous layout: 

For the past week, we've had some very good friends from the UK staying in our guest flat. This is the first time they've come to Cyprus, and they spent a lot of their time exploring, paddling in the sea, eating ice creams, and enjoying some of the local shops and sights. They went on the official Larnaka walk one morning.  In the afternoons and evenings we mostly hung out, played games, and talked... but on Thursday Richard took the whole day off so we could take them out for the day, to Lefkara:

And Kurium:

On their final day here they indulged us with some delicious chocolate desserts from a local bakery:

...as well as some less photogenic Greek pastries for Richard and Tim (who are dairy-free).

Then in the evening we stopped at our favourite ice cream shop on our way to the airport, for yogurt ice creams and/or sorbets: 

The end of Summer has given way to the beginning of Autumn in the past couple of weeks, with two or three quite heavy rain sessions which have reduced the temperature.  I don't recall when we stopped using air conditioning altogether, but in the past few days we have even stopped using fans. I'm wearing a light jacket on top of my tee shirt today; at the weekend I washed our thin duvet and we installed it in a cover on Sunday. We have to use the water heater sometimes to get hot water first thing in the morning, and there's a decided chill in the air, even if the official temperature is still around 24C in the shade.  

Lefkara on Tuesday

Stephen and Dulcie wanted to visit Lefkara again - they went there in 2004, last time they visited us, and Dulcie wanted to buy a couple of tablecloths. We decided to go on Tuesday afternoon, since we weren't sure how many of the shops would be open on Monday.

Lefkara is not far from Larnaka. It took about 25 minutes to get there, the last part being an uphill, slightly windy road. Since we first went there a lot of the shops have closed, but there are still plenty on the main roads in the town:


Some of them display their wares outside:


We looked fairly quickly around the first shop, not seeing anything that appealed. In the second one, Dulcie saw something that was a possibility, but wasn't certain, so she said she'd like to look elsewhere first. The shop owners try to persuade every visitor to buy something, offering discounts and special offers, throwing in extra items, and - if all else fails - explaining that they haven't had any customers that week... they're not pushy, exactly, but decidedly manipulative.

Still, they're pretty helpful and are always happy to get things out. This shop had several that Dulcie liked, although by then I'd had more than enough of looking in shops:


She looked at a large number before deciding on something she liked, as a gift for a friend. The shop owner kept getting out more and more...


Then, after more discussion, she found one she liked for herself. And then, going into yet another shop just to have a quick look, she found yet another that she thought was attractive, and a very good deal...

.. However, she decided it would be better not to go into any more shops. So we drove around to the church that has amazing views over the mountains, chatted for awhile, and then came home again.

Afternoon in Lefkara

Last night, we said goodbye to some visitors who had been staying in our guest flat for the past ten days.

Today is a public holiday, for Ascension Day (in the Eastern calendar). Richard has gone sailing, so I have a day all to myself, and am trying to catch up with various things. Including this slightly neglected blog.

So here, without further delay, are a series of photos from last Friday, when we took our visitors on a trip to the village of Lefkara, part-way up the mountains.

As usual, we parked at the start of the main village of Pano (upper) Lefkara. A few years ago, this shop was thriving - full of the traditional lace, and other items, with friendly owners who loved to entice visitors in and ply them with lemonade, and hope they would buy there rather than venturing further into the village where prices were often less.

But for the last few years, this shop has been closed, with no signs of re-opening:


As we started to walk into Lefkara, we were surprised to see that several other shops appeared to be closed too:


Perhaps the global recession has hit Cyprus this way, in that there are fewer tourists, and thus many of the Lefkara shops - which appeal mainly to foreign visitors - are not able to continue.


However, when we reached the main part of the village, we were relieved to see that many of the traditional shops were open as usual, displaying their wares on the walls outside:


As well as the traditional tablecloths and other linen, there is, of course, a large amount of 'tat' designed to appeal, no doubt, to those wanting souvenirs with the word 'Cyprus' rather than traditional (and often expensive) Cypriot handicrafts.


One of our visitors collects small elephants. We had never really looked at the small ornaments before, and I was quite surprised to see just how many there were on display, some of them beautifully made (although others were far too ornate for my tastes)



After the purchase of two small elephants - one silver, one gold-plated and ornate - and a bracelet, our visitors treated us all to ice creams at a corner cafe.

It was a pleasant afternoon in an attractive village. We just hope the entire village doesn't end up as a ghost town within the next few years.

Lefkara again

This afternoon we made another trip to Lefkara, where the traditional silver and lace is made. We weren't sure if anywhere would be open, since Saturday is still early closing day in parts of Cyprus, but there were a fair number of tourists around and a lot of shops open.


Some did start packing up around 2.30pm, but we learned from one of the shopkeepers that there was a wedding that afternoon. The daughter of someone who lived in Lefkara was getting married at the local church, and then there would be a reception for 1500 people in Aradippou (not far from Larnaka). That's a lot, even by Cypriot standards!

There's a rather stunning purple-blossomed tree that was in full bloom today:


.. and some of the lace-making women were sitting outside their shops in the sunshine, happy for me to photograph them:


This one tried very hard to persuade us to buy something, but we're used to the heart-rending hard sell appeal that everyone seems to make in Lefkara, and managed to resist:


Finally, after wandering around for an hour or so (and purchasing one or two gifts) we stopped for some ice-creams:

Lefkara

On Thursday and Friday, my sister and her family went to the local beach, did some shopping, and went for another walk to the Salt Lake.

On Saturday, Richard wasn't working so we drove to Lefkara, a village a little way in the mountains, about half an hour's drive from Larnaka. It's the home of the traditional Lefkara lace which is widely sold around Cyprus, and there are also traditional silversmiths - making everything from large containers for incense through to delicate filigree jewellery. The latter is very good value.


There's a lot of renovation work going on in this area - a good thing, really, so that tourism is encouraged. Some of the older folk are worried that the traditional crafts are dying out, since their children and grandchildren aren't interested in carrying on with them. Many of the buildings are looking rather scruffy, due to the ravages of the weather, and because they're getting old.


Some have been very nicely renovated, keeping the traditional stone facings, like this one:


But according to some plans we saw, the majority are going to be renovated in a far less attractive way, making Lefkara bright and colourful. We saw houses in blue, pink, and yellow... here's one which is still in process:


A pity. Perhaps nobody has realised that tourists from overseas like to see traditional buildings. Or, at least, buildings that look like old-style Cyprus houses, even if they've been improved in recent years.

(There are more pictures from Lefkara in this post, from a visit six months ago)

Lefkara visit

On Saturday we took our friends to the village of Lefkara, about half an hour's drive from Larnaka, and a little way up in the mountains. It's a popular tourist spot, traditional home of Lefkara lace, a form of embroidery that is the basis of tablecloths and other linen goods. There is also hand-made silver, some of which is remarkably good value as it's priced by weight rather than by the amount of work that goes into it.

We parked at the beginning of the main village of 'Pano Lefkara' (roughly: 'Upper Lefkara') and walked to the far end, where there's a Greek Orthodox Church.


It was closed - and some of us were wearing shorts, anyway, so wouldn't have been allowed in - but the yard outside has some good views over the mountains.


Then we wandered back and looked at some of the shops. Of course, everyone invited us in to look at their work, and what they had to sell, 'no obligation' - and offered us vast discounts. It's not an unpleasant hard sell as can happen in some other countries, but can be a bit wearing. Our friends did buy one small item but otherwise we laughed, and thanked the shopkeepers, and moved on.


Because it's now out of season, there weren't dozens of women sitting in doorways embroidering, as happens in the summer, but we did see this lady who demonstrated her work, and said I could take a photo:


By this time it was nearly one o'clock, so we stopped at an outdoor restaurant and had some halloumi, pitta and salad for lunch. Very pleasant, although there were threatening clouds overhead, and it had evidently rained quite heavily shortly before we arrived.

On the way back to the car, we saw prickly pear cactus plants, laden with fruit: