Random Larnaka images for the end of June

 May appeared to last rather a long time. But I'm not sure quite what happened to June.  As it's the last day already, here are some random local photos from the past month that I didn't use in the only other post I wrote in June. I wrote a similar post at the end of May; it may become a trend on this blog. 

We think this is some kind of fashion show that took place in Salina Park early in the month. Everything was set up the evening before, and taken down by the following evening. 

Autumn arrives in Cyprus

I had hoped to write, today, about the new restrictions that are expected in Cyprus for the next few weeks. The experts met on Monday; they have apparently agreed that stricter measures are needed, with new positive Covid figures between 150 and 200 per day over the past week. But nobody knows exactly what restrictions are going to be introduced, nor for how long. 

The papers had said that the cabinet would meet this morning, but today they're saying that it will be this evening, at 6.30pm, and that the Cyprus President will give a speech to the nation around 8.30pm. The last few times we've had increased measures, there hasn't been an official speech - so we're guessing it's going to be fairly serious. Either that, or an emotional appeal to the public to take the restrictions seriously in the hope that we can celebrate together over Christmas.

So that will probably be the subject of tomorrow's post.  Of course there's a significant election happening the other side of the world, which I'm keeping half an eye on, but I don't generally write political posts. And there's nothing anyone can do about that, other than pray. 

But something else happened today, something of little significance in most of the world, but very important here in Larnaka. 

It rained. For the first time since the end of April. 

It was only for about five minutes at first. There were spots of rain on the carport roofs outside:

I could smell the petrichor permeating through the open windows. But unlike early rain when it comes in September, there was no immediate rise in humidity. A few minutes later it rained a little more heavily.  The road turned a darker grey, the outside roofs were wet all over. 

And then a third time before the sun came out and dried it all up. 

It was minimal rain here, really, although more is predicted. Apparently it was much heavier in other parts of the island, so much so that there were power cuts in some areas. 

It's feeling decidedly cooler today, no more than 24 degrees in the house.  I had remembered that the weather often changes during the first week of November, although it's not usually quite such a dramatic change, as it's not, most years, still 30 degrees or more at the end of October. 

But on Monday I got out my jeans for the first time, and was comfortable wearing them all day.  On Tuesday I wore long walking trousers rather than shorts for the Salt Lake walk, and if I felt a tad warm by the time we'd finished, it certainly wasn't uncomfortably so. I've put my shorts away now. 

I've been using the oven again since early October, and drinking hot coffee in the mornings for a couple of weeks, rather than frappés.  But I still mostly wanted a frappé at lunch-time, right up to yesterday.  Today, in the aftermath of the rain, I realised I needed hot coffee, and that I wasn't remotely inclined to have a frappé. So the frappé-maker has gone away in the cupboard for the next six months. 

The forecast, at least from my point of view, looks good for the next ten days or so:

I might even get out a light jacket for the evening, and for walking first thing tomorrow. 

Some Cyprus beaches

The last post I wrote, at the start of March, was about the very wet winter we've had in Cyprus. The rain continued, off and on, through the month, and most of April too. The weather only startied to warm up towards the end of the month.

Time has passed by rapidly, and I haven't written anything on this blog for too long....

We had quite a few visitors in our guest flat during March and April. They included long-standing friends, a former colleague with his family, and some folk we know less well, with some of their relatives. It's good to have the separate apartment: we can spend a good amount of time with close friends or family members. But for those who want space for themselves, or whom we don't know well, can do their own thing entirely separately. 

At the end of April Richard was able to take a bit of time off to spend with some friends we've known for a long time who came to stay for a week. They mostly wanted to walk in Larnaka, or play board games with us, or just hang out and chat. But one day we went for a drive and explored a couple of beaches.

Because we live here, we're not very adventurous about where we go. I have been to very few beaches other than those locally.  Richard suggested we drive to Fig Tree Bay, somewhere I had heard of, and which is a popular tourist resort a little beyond Ayia Napa. It took about an hour to get there in the car; it did indeed look quite touristy when we arrived.

Apparently it's usually very crowded in the summer, but although the day was sunny it wasn't particularly warm. Well... not to those of us acclimatised to Cyprus weather. Our friends were wearing tee-shirts and shorts, and there were hardy folk sunbathing in swimsuits or bikinis. But we were still in our not-quite-winter clothes:

We strolled a kilometre or so along the beach, and found a little cafe for lunch.  By then the sun was quite strong, so after eating I waited in the shade while Richard and our friends walked a bit further, and then when they came back we had our first frappés of the season.

Other visiting friends had spoken enthusiastically about Agia Thekla beach, so we decided to visit that on our way back to Larnaka. It's another one I had never been to, and was quite a contrast to Fig Tree Bay.  The part which Richard was familiar with was mostly unspoilt, and entirely empty:

There were no sun-beds or umbrellas, no cafes, no toilet blocks. We did see a taverna nearby but it was closed.

In the distance we saw a huge hotel, under construction, no doubt intended to attract tourists. But hopefully they'll leave part of this beach alone, for those who prefer a more natural environment. 

Coffee at Al Dente on Greek Good Friday

For perhaps the first time ever, we've had coffee out for two weeks in a row. That's three times so far this year - more than I think we've ever had coffee out in the space of four months.

We parked at the music school on Friday morning and wondered how many shops would be open, as it was a religious holiday for the 'Eastern' Good Friday. The local population are almost entirely Greek Orthodox here, and while for many of them it's quite nominal for most of the year, they make a big effort on the special and most holy days.  As we passed St Lazarus Church, we saw people emerging, dressed in black; presumably from a service to mark the day.

It was quite warm and sunny, and by the time we'd walked down to the sea front and past several restaurants, I was feeling already as if I'd been for too long in the sun. So we stopped at the first suitable looking place we came to.  Al Dente is an Italian restaurant, with photos outside showing, among other things, pizza and pasta dishes:

In between the restaurant buildings and the main part of the street, are more temporary structures where people sit to eat or have coffee; there are several of these, with plastic 'windows' that will be removed when the weather gets warmer:

We went inside and sat down at a comfortable corner table. Nobody else was there, and it felt quite peaceful despite plenty of noise in the areas outside. There was gentle romantic music from the 1970s coming through the speakers in the ceiling, but it was quiet enough that it was not at all intrusive, and we hardly noticed it, other than when we recognised songs from our teenage years.

A waiter brought us a menu; there were various coffees and frappés available, mostly at €2.90. Richard decided on an Americano hot coffee, and I opted for a frappé as I was still feeling quite warm:

We liked the fact that they came in a real mug and glass rather than plastic disposable ones. We also liked the comfortable, if slightly odd decor:

So on all aesthetic counts, we liked this place rather more than last week's Coffee Island. It was more comfortable, much less crowded, played quieter, more pleasant music, and had soft furnishings to improve the acoustics. It was nice to be waited on, too, rather than having queue; then again, we were paying almost half as much again.

Unfortunately, the drinks were not as good as those of Coffee Island. They were nice enough: we appreciated the break, and the caffeine boost, and there was nothing wrong with either the coffee or the frappé - no bitter or strange taste.  But nowhere near as good as last week's.

We sat in comfort for maybe half an hour, and one or two other customers wandered in.  When we left it started spitting with rain, and I felt quite chilly after my iced drink.

As we walked back to the car, past St Lazarus Church, we saw a queue of people - mostly locals, again - waiting to go in by a side door. The larger windows had been covered so it must have been very gloomy inside. We don't know if they were waiting for another Good Friday service, or perhaps going in to light candles and pay their respects to the ikons.

The banks and post offices were closed, but all the shops were open.  For most people, it was simply a day off work.

Frappés at Coffee Island

It's two months since I wrote about our morning coffee at Gloria Jean's. We decided to try different places in Larnaka for coffee, every Friday morning, when doing our 'house admin'.

The following Friday we were about to fly to the UK, and were frantically catching up with things we needed to finish. Then the next two Fridays we were in the UK. After that, we had a friend here, doing the accounts for Richard's organisation - they worked hard, and there was no time for a morning doing house-related work. We did do one or two jobs - and some shopping - on a couple of Fridays in March, but Richard was away for the other one.

And we forgot all about our coffee experiment.

However, last Friday, I wanted to go to the PO Box and we decided to have another coffee break. This time we opted for Coffee Island, another popular place with young people. We had heard that the coffee was good, and the prices quite reasonable, by comparison with other sea-front places. Several Coffee Island cafés have sprung up in the last few years, but the one we decided to visit was near the Post Office, on a corner of Larnaka sea-front near the fort:

It's a nice location, and it looked very busy - though mostly with young adults, late teens and early twenties, at a guess, mainly male. There's an outdoor 'bar' with stools, and a few outdoor seats too, but it was a sunny day so we decided to have our coffee inside.

The first thing that struck me as we went in was that it was extremely messy! Some of the decor was nice - there were coffee bean machines, and coffee grinders, and other interesting paraphernalia. But there was also a central long table which we had to walk around, which contained an apparently random selection of objects, from jars of honey to small coffee machines, and even a mostly-empty bottle of blue spray cleaner:

We decided to order frappés; there were only a couple of people in the queue but the staff were busy at another window so we had to wait awhile.  Still, once we reached the front, we were served quickly: one with milk and no sugar for me, one with sugar and no milk for Richard.  The cost was two euros each, which we thought quite reasonable for a large drink, even if a lot of it was ice. Definitely better value than Gloria Jean's. 

We thought of sitting in the outer of the two indoor areas, until we realised that people were smoking. 

It's not really allowed in any indoor areas, but many restaurant owners seem to get around this by claiming that their 'outer' areas are temporary rather than truly outside, as the doors will be removed when summer starts. And since ashtrays were provided on the outside tables, it's evidently acceptable. 

So we sat in a smaller inside area, which was reasonably comfortable. The frappés were good, too. This is the one with sugar and no milk: 

The taste was smooth, with no bitterness, and I enjoyed mine very much.

Unfortunately, there was a lot of noise in Coffee Island. Music was blaring through speakers, some of them apparently in the roof, so there was no getting away from it. It wasn't particularly unpleasant music, but was highly distorted, and with the Cypriot-style lack of furnishings, quite echoey. It made conversation difficult, so much so that Richard had to sit right next to me in order that we could hear each other.

Add to that almost continual sounds of clattering and banging, ice being crushed and poured, beans being ground... and I was feeling quite overwhelmed with the noise by the time we had been there about ten minutes.

But we did enjoy the frappés.

Perhaps we should try a different branch, or find a quieter time of day. 

Coffee at Gloria Jean's

In January 2013, we started to make a list of the various jobs that needed doing around the house - from replacing clock mechanisms to major re-painting work. And many other major and minor tasks that simply weren't getting done. Richard and his sailing buddy had instituted an 'admnin' evening once a week to catch up with financial and other boat-related topics; so I suggested we allocate a few hours each week to work, slowly, through some of the things which we were either igoring or putting off.

Friday mornings seemed like a good idea; if we needed to go to the supermarket we would do that on a Friday, already. But by the stage we had this discussion, a couple of years ago, it often turned into a rush, squeezing the shopping in between many other activities.

So we decided that we would set aside Friday mornings every week to spend together, perhaps to shop; perhaps to do jobs around the house; perhaps to do other things. Richard suggested we might take time to have coffee out together from time to time; many people locally have coffee out regularly but it's not something I had ever done.

We started quite enthusiastically and achieved several things in our first few months of 'house admin'. We bought new plugs, Richard labelled some light switches and made some repairs... some Fridays we did nothing but shopping, and we were away for most April that year, and had the family staying in May.

I think we managed coffee out twice in the first year. Once was at Metro - the supermarket we like best - where we sat upstairs in their little cafe. The other time we were in town, waiting for something to be repaired, and had frappés at Alexander's.

In 2014 we progressed sporadically with the house admin; we did arrange for some important repairs to be done on the house, but it seems that the more we cross off the list, the more gets added on - and we still haven't done any of the re-painting. Nor did we have coffee out together.

Yesterday morning, we had to exchange something in a supermarket, and also check something with our insurer in town. So having done the first, we parked the car in the marina, and did the second. It was only about 10.30am; so Richard suggested we might have coffee somewhere along the sea front.

We were planning to walk to the far end, but then we came across Gloria Jean's:

I'd heard of it many times; it's a popular haunt for older teens and those in their twenties. But I had never been there. And I was struck by their 'cappy hour', offering 'buy one get one free' on weekday mornings.

So we went in, and were asked if we wanted hot or cold coffee. It was a sunny morning, so I decided to have a frappé, while Richard opted for a medium Americano coffee (with no milk, as he avoids dairy products). I wasn't sure if we'd still be eligible for the second drink free; however when we checked our bill we saw that we were. The frappé, slightly to my horror, cost €3.20 but the coffee was free, so it wasn't too extravagant, I guess.

We sat outside on comfortable armchairs, our drinks in front of us

I have frappés unsweetened, but almost wished I'd taken some sugar as the flavour was a little bitter; I couldn't work out exactly what it was, as it wasn't particularly strong. It almost tasted as if it had been lightly smoked. Not unpleasant, but not as delicious as I had hoped.

I finished it - though by the time I did, I was feeling decidedly chilly! There were a lot of ice cubes left at the bottom. Richard managed about two-thirds of his coffee before he felt caffeine overload and stopped. He said it was acceptable, but not the best coffee he's ever had.

There are dozens of places to have coffee along the sea front, so we decided to make a point of visiting more of them during the course of the year, to see how they compare. 

I doubt if we'll go to Gloria Jean's again, though. 

Carob syrup in Cyprus

I've mentioned carob syrup more than once on this blog; each time, it seems, someone has asked me what it is, or what I use it for. I have to admit it's something we only learned about fairly recently, given that we've lived in Cyprus for fifteen years now, and this is a well-known product on this island.

We knew about carob powder, of course, used sometimes as a substitute for cocoa. It's more nutritious and doesn't contain caffeine.. but it doesn't taste so good, either. I've used it occasionally in baking, but am not a huge fan.

However, eating a meal with some friends a couple of years ago, we were offered a bottle of carob syrup as a topping for chocolate mousse. And it was very good.

I then started looking out for carob syrup in the shops.  Occasionally this brand - shown on the right - is on offer at Metro.

More often, however, I buy this variety in a larger bottle, at our favourite Achna froutaria.

What is carob syrup? 

Carob syrup is a totally natural sweetener extracted from the pods of carob trees which grow all over Cyprus. All right, so it's boiled and heavily processed, but still - it doesn't contain any chemical additives. Carob syrup is considered a health product: it contains a surprising number of vitamins, can aid digestion, stabilise blood sugar and cholesterol, and even act as a natural antibiotic.

How do we use carob syrup?

We don't personally use it as much as we could, because we don't eat many sweet or baked products at all. Richard uses it in coffee if he has it black, and usually has a teaspoonful of carob syrup in frappés in the summer, as he likes them sweetened and it's obviously better for him than sugar.

I also use carob syrup instead of honey (or mixed with half honey) in the granola I make for my breakfast. It's a thick, viscous liquid with consistency quite similar to clear honey, so it could theoretically be substituted for honey - or molasses/treacle - in most recipes, so long as it would be appropriate to have a mild chocolate-like flavour. I may well use it instead of golden syrup the next time I make gingerbread, now that Autumnal weather is slowly easing in.