Anniversaries....but not weddings.

Middle East » Cyprus » Kyrenia » Buffavento
July 15th 2017

Published: July 21st 2017

Edit Blog Post

PoshinDevon

IMG_0201

Kuzey Kibris Turk Cumhuriyeti flag on the mountainside facing Lefkosa.

Saturday 15th July 2017

Today is the 43rd anniversary of the coup in 1974 when Greece's military junta along with fanatical Greek Cypriots looked to overthrow the government and push Cyprus into a union with Greece. In the ROC sirens will sound at 8:20am, the time the coup started. Given the past history of this island the coup of course sent alarm bells ringing throughout the Turkish Cypriot community. Sure enough not only was there fighting amongst Greek Cypriots who were for and against the union with Greece but also attacks on the Turkish community started. On the 20th July 1974 Turkey as a guarantor power intervened and the rest is history. All these years on and the Cyprus problem has still not been resolved with the latest and some say last chance, final round of talks closing only a week ago without any resolution. Whilst I am slightly biased as to why the problem cannot be resolved the most important thought is that since the intervention and for 40+ years this island has been at peace - sometimes people forget this. Later this week on the 20th July the Turkish Cypriot side will mark the day the Turkish forces

IMG_0920

Tonight's BBQ sizzling nicely

set in place there peace operation.

Set off at 6am for the dog walk, still very sticky making for many showers and changes of clothes throughout the day. This morning it was off down to the library in town to see about selecting a few books to read, we tried last Weds but for some reason it was shut. However; success this time around and it was open and 9 books selected. Really is a great little library with good selection of books, dvds etc. Turns out their was confusion and mix up as to who was on duty last Weds. Back home via supermarket to pick up the papers and then it was a chill and read time followed by a film. Late afternoon and we took a wander up to the pool for a very pleasant 3hrs swimming, reading and snoozing before popping across to Gary's place with Kilroy so the dogs could socialise together.

Back home and BBQ prepared with tonight's supper being belly pork marinated with lemon, sheftali and kofte accompanied by pitta bread, a crisp salad, mixed bean salad, chilli dip and a yoghurt and cucumber dip. Lovely.

Sunday 16th July 2017

IMG_0923

One tired hound

Usual morning routine with a cuppa to wake us up before gathering hounds and heading off into the hills for an hour or so. Another beautiful morning, clear blue sky and not yet to hot. Some great views down into Girne and up to the mountains. Back home to more tea and a bit of quiet time just sitting and watching the rest of the site slowly come to life. Our neighbours Ahmet and Tahiri arrived last night and they were up and about this morning busy doing a spot of weeding in their garden which has been turned into a mini veg plot. They have corn, chillis, tomatoes, patlican and cucumbers plus some mint and basil. The weeding certainly stirred the mint up, with the smell from the plants wafting across to us. The gardening done, they then proceeded to get the hosepipe going and water everything and then do the traditional Cyprus thing of washing down the patios, footpath etc to keep the dust down. Bit of breakfast was followed by Sarah then heading off to church, John catching up on a documentary and Kilroy checking out the inside of his eyelids.

A nice ploughmans for

IMG_0609

Views from our morning walks

lunch, then as the temperature had crept up to 36C it was time for a siesta eventually waking up late afternoon for an afternoon cuppa whilst sat on the front balcony. A bit of reading and Sarah caught up with a bit of church admin as she is looking after the church hall bookings for the next few months. Temperature is supposed to be dropping a little from the high of 40C last week, today it peaked at 38C (!), expected to drop down to about 32 - 34C by midweek. At least today there is a bit of a breeze and the humidity of the last few days has dropped away. However the likelihood of rain is very slim until probably end of October, so we may just catch a shower before we return to the UK in mid Nov. Next year it looks as tho we may change when we come out and instead of a 5-6 month continous stint, it could well be 3 months April - end June and home to U.K. and return again mid Sept - end Nov. A number of reasons one of which is to escape the very high temperatures in Jul/Aug,

IMG_0608

Girne

not have such a long break away from family plus enjoy summer in the U.K.....which is usually not to bad - we hope! Oh and it gives us time to sort out somewhere to live as currently us oldies are lodging with our son Ben and partner Claire after downsizing late last year. It has worked well these last few months but we don't want to overstay our welcome. Could be be a log cabin "granny annexe" or a smaller place close by. A few ideas are in place, subject to the planning authority approving, which given our area they are not the easiest to deal with. It should be a little clearer in the next few months as to which direction we go and by the time we return to the UK it looks like a busy time sorting everything out one way or the other.

Just after 7pm and time for an evening wander with Kilroy, pottering down around the local area for about 40mins - tell you what there is no chance of us putting on weight or getting unfit with him giving us the hopeful stare when he knows it's walkies time. Wandered to the

IMG_0607

Hounds taking Sarah for her early morning walk.

end of our road then across into the bondu which has seen a lot of bulldozing, digging etc over the last year. According to many, Catalkoy district is becoming a very desirable area to live. Certainly since we have been in Buffavento Village there are some very big, smart villas being built close by. Seems like the road infrastructure is being put in place in readiness for more builds. Fortunately; we are not impacted as our little place overlooks a deep ravine and we cannot see the build works at all. Often the roads are put in place but no building takes place for years, hence we see what we often refer to as a road to nowhere. Also just like the UK on an evening we see cars driving slowly around, perphaps sussing out building plots? At the entrance to Buffavento village, two villas are being built at a fast rate. This is because the band of 3 builders are living on site in what looks like a poly tunnel, complete with beds, cooking facilities and outdoor table and chairs - must be a hard life but probably a cheap option if you aren't getting paid a great deal.

IMG_0930

Waiting patiently for my supper.

Hope they get the place finished before the winter rains set in or else it will be not very pleasant. Back home supper tonight was salad, borek (filo pastry filled with mince), pitta and dips all washed down with a chilled beer. Evening finished off with a bit of R2 and bed.

Monday 17th July 2017

Dogs and humans walked, fed and watered by 7:15am. Awoke to a surprisingly slightly cooler start to the day at 5:20am, however as we wandered around with the hounds on our morning walk we noticed the sun struggling to break thro the low cloud base and by the end of the walk things had turned very humid again. Today we travelled into town to the state hospital to pick up the blood test results from a couple of weeks ago. Arrived to the usual manic scene in corridors as people queue up to see a doctor but we headed for admin booth, occupied by the same two rather "portly" gentlemen who have the very hard job of getting results out of alphabetical trays, putting them in envelopes and handing across to us. That's all they do all day! We will need to

IMG_0931

Girne old harbour

schedule in a day to travel to Lefkosa to complete the final part of the temporary residency visa, which is to get the passport updated and of course pay some money for the privilege. Think we will leave it till next week after the 20th July anniversary as the offices are likely to be closed for a couple of days. Plus it is an opportunity to wander around Lefkosa old town, which is always interesting and maybe stroll across the border at the checkpoint right in the centre of the city. This checkpoint is for walking across, and takes you from the heart of the old Turkish city into the main shopping streets in the city on the Greek side. The Ledra Palace checkpoint about a mile away is also used for walking across. We like using this checkpoint as you walk across about 100mtrs of no mans land passing the UN controlled Ledra Palace hotel, used for accomodation, it's so quiet and peaceful for a few minutes. If you are taking a car then the crossing in Lefkosa is just out of the city at Metehan, there are a number of other crossings at Guzelyurt, Lefke, Beyarmudu (Pergamos -

IMG_0932

Entrance to Girne castle, old harbour

onto the SBA area) Gazimagusa (Famagusta) and also at Black Knight (Ayios Nikolaos - onto the SBA area). We have used most of these crossings over our time here depending on where we may be heading in the south. Crossing with a car is straightforward, just need to initially stop on the Greek side to obtain a piece of paper (Yes another bit of paper) which confirms vehicle has MOT, then go to insurance booth and pay for insurance......you used to be able to purchase by the day/week but we think now it's at least monthly. We will likely travel across a few times later this year and purchase a months insurance. Sometimes you have to just be aware that your vehicle has Turkish Cypriot number plates as there are a very small minority who can take offence......usually by making a rather rude hand gesture! However; these instances are very few and normally only happen on significant anniversaries such as the 1974 dates and the locals get a bit heated and go all Mediterranean! We enjoy crossing over and being able to explore the whole of the island and revisit old haunts from many years ago.......the island does have so

IMG_0933

Girne old harbour

much to offer and despite all the changes it's still a great place to visit.

After collecting blood test paperwork, we decided to potter around town, not for any reason just to take a look around the back streets and old harbour area. We then drove a mile or so out of town to the High Life Hotel, a lovely little place not far from the new harbour with lovely terrace area with sea view of a cold drink and cup of tea. First time we had been here but likely to return maybe for lunch or watch the sunset as it's in a great spot. Back home via the supermarket - need more BBQ charcoal, then a spot of tv and lunch before deciding to head up to the pool for a few hours.

Early evening and Gary came around for a chat for an hour. Sarah then set off for a stroll with Kilroy whilst John prepared the BBQ again. Tonight it's BBQ fish (Levret) on the menu with salad and jacket potato, followed by pudding of lemon drizzle cake and custard! Tried to watch a film but proved impossible as we were tired, so off

IMG_0935

Girne old harbour

to bed.

18th July 2017

A much pleasanter walk this morning as clouds gone and humidity a lot less, plus it just feels a little cooler than the last few days. Walk done and the usual routine afterwards and by 7:20am we were chilling with the second cuppa of the day. Today's plans are not a lot. Just reading and chilling all day up till late afternoon when John and Kilroy went for a stroll whilst Sarah attacked the ironing pile. Then it was time for sundowners and a game of scrabble which saw Sarah easily win to even up the score at 3-3. During the scrabble game we saw a couple of the Turkish forces equivalent of the Red Arrows flying around practicing for the displays that will take place on the 20th July. Supper tonight was pasta with home made pesto and salmon and very nice it was. To round off the day we finished off watching a film we had started to view a couple of days ago and then it was time for bed.

19th July 2017

Lots of crashing around in the early hours....not us but Kilroy! He had spotted a

IMG_0936

Stayed here in a former life way back in 1984. Do you remember Mags and John Henderson?

cat/s thro the patio door and was convinced he needed to introduce himself to them. A few sharp words and things settled down for the rest of the night. Up at the usual time and Kilroys memory had not failed him and as we let him outside he was convinced that the felines were on our garden patio, likely hiding behind the sofa. Lots of sniffing, shoving and generally causing chaos crashing thro plant tubs as he searched for the imaginary creatures. Even an hour and a halfs walk later did not deter him as on his return and after a nice cool shower Kilroy still believed they were still there! To try and curb his worries we took cushions off the sofa, moved it out and let him have a good search and sniff around. Whilst we were playing musical patio furniture we decided it was best to give the sofa covers a good wash to try and remove any smell of cat. The hound was determined to find them that's for sure, but unfortunately for him they had long gone. We wonder how long this game will go on for? Removing the sofa covers did reveal that the

IMG_0937

Lovely old door spotted in back streets just behind old harbour

internal foam had seen better days, so we be looking at getting some replacement foam cut in the next few days. Today's walk was a little longer exploring some tracks and fire breaks across the ravine from our place - some tricky descents and hard climbs to get back to Buffavento village so don't think a repeat of this route again. The track was one explored last year and does meander down the ravine for about another mile eventually coming out onto a road close to the Malpas hotel so maybe next time will not try a shortcut!

Home and eventually at around 10am after a good 2hrs of searching, sniffing, worried looks and charging around our 6m x 6m patio and garden Kilroy finally gave up and flaked out. Let's hope during his shut eye and after the clean cushions are put back on his memory bank has emptied of all thoughts of cats. Now that hound had settled down so did humans, very pleasant on the patio this morning with a nice gentle breeze blowing and temperatures expected to be about normal for the time of year at around 32-34C. After a bacon sandwich we then retired

IMG_0939

Backstreets near Girne old harbour

to the pool for a few hours to recover from our cat exploits with Kilroy, strangely enough Kilroy was snoozing hard when we strolled up. Only two others by the pool during the 3hrs we spent reading and swimming. Back home by 3:30pm and Sarah set to preparing chilli for tonight's supper after we return from the quiz. Quiz started at 7pm tonight and will continue at this time for at least a couple of months so as it is a little cooler when trying to get the grey matter going.

Whoop, whoop a quiz win! Free drinks all round for us. Back home and it was chilli for supper followed by a bit of tv and bed. Tonight to stop an early morning Kilroy call we closed the patio door shutters so as he could not spot the cats!

Thursday 20th July 2017

Today is peace and freedom day here in North Cyprus to mark the 43rd anniversary of the Turkish forces landing and intervention to prevent further killings of Turkish Cypriots following the coup on the 15th July 1974. Last night there was a midnight gathering followed by an all night vigil on the beach

IMG_0940

Backstreets Girne old harbour area

used for the landings. Today there will be services in mosques, parade in Lefkosa and this evening an air display over Girne.

As a result of our closing the patio door shutters there were no early morning alarm calls, in fact Kilroy slept on and we didn't get up until just after 6am.....30mins late! Quick cup of tea and we were off into the hills. All very quiet this morning as people take the opportunity for a lie in on a day off. Back home and usual watering of plants, more tea and relaxing. Kilroy is being tormented by the cats which he cannot get to, but we know that if he did corner one they would likely put up a good fight. After a light breakfast we went to the supermarket for supplies. Tonight we are out visiting a Turkish Cypriot family for a Chinese supper. John is a moderator on a North Cyprus Internet forum (www.kibkom.com) and Soner who lives in London with his Chinese wife is the forum owner. We usually meet up each year when Soner comes out for a few months and have a catch up. Soner has invited us and another forum moderator

IMG_0941

Shopping area Girne

round to his place for an authentic Chinese meal. Sarah volunteered to provide pud - raspberry pavlova!

Spent the rest of the day doing some admin and watching a film followed by a bit of training with Kilroy, a stroll around the block before dropping him round at Gary's place for a bit socialising with Buddy. Gary will drop him back home a little later. We then travelled out to Getcikale via the Tatlisu pass to meet up with Soner for the evening. What an evening it was - the Chinese was superb and so much of it as well. Choices were egg fried rice, chicken chow mein, beef and black bean sauce, sweet and sour chicken, black pepper prawns and squid, chinese spare ribs, chilli aubergine, Chinese style pork and stir fried broccoli.......all followed by a choice of pavlova and fantastic backava - was a challenge as we were stuffed. The company was excellent and it was a really enjoyable evening; so much so that us stop outs were not home until midnight. Kilroy was home after his evening with Buddy and met us as we came in, so it was a quick stroll round the block and