Euro marks the end of the old Cyprus

Sir,

I read with great nostalgia the news that the euro is about to be adopted in Cyprus.
When I first set foot on the island, early in 1974, a glorious mix of currencies was in force.  It was quite usual to hear such expressions as “One pound, three shillings and five piastres”.  A pound would buy a belt-bursting mezze or “full kebab” in Limassol, or even Sunday lunch in the Apollonia Hotel.

One bought fruit and vegetables in “okes”, although I am not sure of the spelling, and cloth was sold in “pics”. Land was measured in donums.  Cyprus was Cyprus, not a sad mixture of Tottenham Court Road and Eastern Europe.   

In my ignorance, having arrived at Akrotiri on an overnight stop from Ankara, I offered Turkish lira to pay the hotel bill in the Alesia Hotel in Limassol,  which of course were no good.  There were no credit cards in those days, but the manager asked if we were returning to the island.  When I said yes, we were returning later to live there, he just said, “Pay me when you come back”.  

How sad that those days have gone for ever, and the last rays of the true Cyprus will have their sunset when the euro arrives.

David Chown
Saumos, Gironde, France

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.