For some, old ways still win the customers

2009-11-23

IT’S 2AM on a Saturday and the hunger pangs have kicked in. I’m greeted by a flashy sign, a couple of automatic doors, rows upon rows of heated glass cabinets, music in the background and just about every quick eat imaginable. When was it that humble bakeries came to resemble flash supermarkets, catering to your every need 24-hours a day?
At first, the phenomenon was rather exciting as bakeries cleaned up: flies no longer swarmed around the bread on display, and it became effortless to grab a bite at any given moment.

Nicosia confectionery succumbs to pressure of big bakery competition

2009-11-23

IT’S WIDELY agreed that bigger and flashier consumer outlets appeal more. But that constant need for modernisation, teamed with an automatic attraction to chain brands has created a sudden rift in the market.
It’s a case of out with the old and in with the new, which is an inevitable part of evolution, you could say, but nonetheless, a sad one. Morpho confectionery, a family-run business that became famous for its irresistible syrupy sweets, is closing its doors.
It has failed to compete against giants like Marangos and Zorpas, who have surrounded the small shop, asphyxiating its owners into selling and finally leaving the work they have known for the last 50 years.

Hooliganism: the ugly rush

2009-11-23

WE WERE warned to stay back and hide the colours of our scarves and T-shirts. Having barbwire between myself and the police is not a first for me; I was involved in various demonstrations during my teenage years and am accustomed to large crowds of screaming, raving heads.
However, standing outside a football stadium with a group of aggravated fans pleading with policemen to let us through was unknown territory. We weren’t trying to cause trouble (at least I wasn’t), but the message was that if you don’t want to get your head smashed in, you should either “zip up and hide your colours or wait until the opposing team leaves.”

A place for fun and games

2009-11-23

KRITOU TERRA is one of those ‘past times’ villages; a truly unique place where visitors are able to soak up the sights, scents and sounds of a bygone era.
Despite being populated by mainly elderly and somewhat ‘creaky’ residents, there is a strong sense of pride at the lack of ‘concrete development’ within the heart of the village. Walking through a narrow lane leading to the coffeeshop, you pass blue doors, lush flower gardens, yards packed with fruit trees and vegetable plots. You feel yourself slipping back to a time when the pace of life was slower, when man was more in tune nature.

Cyberbullying raises its nasty head in Cyprus

2009-11-23

IN THE good old days, if you had a grievance with a neighbour or work colleague you might go down the pub and moan to your mates. After a few pints, you might have plucked up the courage to phone him and say what you thought. In extreme circumstances, you might have even just gone over to his home and punched him on the nose.
How things have changed. For growing numbers of people with a gripe, the internet has become the ultimate revenge weapon. And in Paphos, in particular, the weapon is being used to devastating effect.
Some locally based online discussion forums have become little more than a global garden fence, over which gossip – often nothing more than unfettered and unsubstantiated bile – is being passed on to thousands with just one click of the mouse.

Touts in Paphos harbour: time for a protest

2009-11-23

Anyone who has ever visited Paphos harbour and its surrounding areas in recent years will see that it is a war zone. Every day, ceaseless hordes of touts descend on the area from their lairs, and harass, bully and even threaten the precious tourists who walk through the harbour.
Unfortunately, we are not just talking timeshare touts, but also various other kinds of traders attempting to mug innocent people on the street with their aggressive tactics for the hire of speedboats, and tables in over-priced restaurants that serve a lower class of food to the tourists.
On my last visit to Paphos harbour in the summer, I was approached by timeshare touts twice on the approach to the port area, and then harassed by a restaurant owner inside the harbour area itself.

Hunters murdered beautiful kestrels

2009-11-23

For the last three years, there were two kestrels in the area where we live. They often roosted on a first floor windowsill of our house. We valued their presence. We used to observe them with binoculars and enjoyed their elegant flying. They did no harm at all. Then, about two weeks ago, all of a sudden they were gone. We wondered where they were, until I found one of them, badly wounded, in the garden. Shot.
In this time of the year we are plagued by people who call themselves ‘hunters’. They spoil the quiet of our weekend by the incessant blasting of their guns. Their pleasure is to kill. To kill as many birds as they can.

Going too slowly can be more dangerous than speeding

2009-11-23

On Monday, I left Paphos at 10.30am and drove to Nicosia, returning at 1.30pm. I saw three police speed checks along the route.
Generally speaking, driving standards were good (apart from the lack of indicators). However, whilst these highways have a maximum speed limit of 100kph, they also have a minimum speed requirement of 60kph.
There was crane lumbering along partly on the hard shoulder; there were two lorries obviously overloaded, crawling along at about 10kph. A JCB certainly not going at 60kph. Other road users were approaching behind these obstacles and either braking sharply or worse, veering out into the other lane causing other vehicles to brake sharply.
I would suggest these are probably more dangerous than others who might be travelling at 120kph.

Too many bumps for trains

2009-11-23

In reply to Robert Ferguson (‘Rail link for Cyprus?’ November 15), while I am a keen supporter of railways, unfortunately the terrain in Cyprus – in particular that between Nicosia, Limassol and Paphos – and the accessible route from Nicosia to Larnaca (any practical route is occupied),
is simply not suitable for a rail line, let alone one that would ever justify the expense.
Trains require very flat ground compared to cars, and the routes the highways  follow are anything but: one only need look at the highway from Kofinou to Nicosia, or between Pissouri and Aphrodite’s Rock to see the problem, and the highways there take what is probably the easiest route.

Hooliganism can never be eradicated in Cyprus

2009-11-23

HYPOCRISY does not reign supreme only in political life. It also reigns in sport – and particularly football.
After last Sunday’s clashes between APOEL and Omonia hooligans, who were the first to protest and hypocritically demand a clampdown on hooliganism? The moral instigators. I refer to the bosses of the football clubs, who had cultivated and encouraged the spread of hooliganism with their tolerant stance and behaviour.

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.