I have been in London for a week now and, until yesterday, I was having a great time. So much to do and so cheap. The great restaurants, the opera, the parks, the sunshine, the pubs, Wimbledon and great TV. Even coffee is still half the price it is in Nicosia. Maybe Ledra Street is just so much classier than Piccadilly. It must be; there is no other possible explanation.
This year’s Cyprus Wine Competition attracted 163 entries from 35 wineries, setting a new record and results were extremely pleasing with wines receiving gold medals as well as silver, no place for bronze. When it comes to the top end of the local market, overall quality is concentrated at a higher level than ever before. The learning curve for the local wine industry in the modern era has been exponential and, while improvement gains were initially slow, these are now starting to happen faster and faster.
Labello Sun
This glides on just like the top-selling Labello Original but contains SPF25 and plenty of added vitamin E to protect against the sun. It’s creamy and extra smooth and has been a major seller across the pond for decades. According to the Labello Company, they receive tons of orders for this specific lip balm from recently returned backpackers, finicky fashionistas and everyone in between. And who are we to argue? Preserving moisture when it’s needed most, Labello Sun provides a high-performance shield when your lips are exposed.
Price: €2.78
Available from: pharmacies and supermarkets
Hawaiian Tropic Sun Kissed
Once upon a time there were very few oriental establishments in the capital, in fact, hardly any, and given the conservative culinary nature of our residents, it is surprising that a Chinese restaurant could have survived for as long as Changs. Located on a high point above Engomi, and dependant on the good will of the local foreign residents, it slowly evolved into obscurity and finally faded away. Enter the Pagoda group. I wonder how long they had viewed the possibility of acquiring this site because it certainly fits very well into their portfolio. It comes as no surprise that the very successful Pagoda group, that has been serving the capital and its satellites for years, should grasp the opportunity of resurrecting a once iconic centre of Chinese cuisine.
Name: Privet (Ligistrum vulgare)
Otherwise known as: Common Privet, English Privet
Habitat: An evergreen perennial shrub member of the Oleaceae family, the group that includes the olive, growing up to 5m in northern Europe and China. It has dark green, spear-shaped leaves and panicles of cream coloured flowers that change into small purple/green berries that are highly toxic.
What does it do: At one time, before the advent of the ubiquitous cupressus hedges like Leylandii, Privet was the most common form of hedging in the United Kingdom. Easy to grow and control, nearly every suburban garden was bordered by Privet. The plant was also very popular with topiarists because it was so easy to carve and would retain its form without losing integrity.
Greek – or more accurately Cypriot – must be the only language with two different words for ‘watermelon’. The official Greek word is karpouzi but there’s also patticha, its local-dialect equivalent with the heavy peasant consonants. You can often hear the words used symbolically when a middle-class customer meets a watermelon seller, one of the well-known vendors standing at long-established street corners, guarding trucks piled high with the bulbous green fruit.
I keep surprising myself by quite enjoying Sex and the City films. It’s surprising because I never watched the TV show, so I have no real emotional attachment to these people, and it’s also a surprise because the sensibility of Carrie and Co. isn’t really my sensibility (my fashion sense is very close to zero) – and it’s also a surprise because the characters don’t seem to make much sense, even for viewers more in sync with them. Why is a glitzy PR queen like Samantha hanging out with an uptight lawyer (Miranda) and whatever the hell Charlotte is? How come Carrie’s a famous writer yet talks entirely in platitudes? And when are the other three going to gang up on Charlotte and shout: “Girl, wake up! Your husband looks like Dr. Evil!”?
The last time I bought a pair of trainers, laser hair removal was only for the rich and famous, I lived with my parents and Ayia Napa was ‘the’ place to be in July. Yes, it’s been a long time since I’ve shown any interest in the running shoe and, like most women, that time came only when it became painfully obvious that my once speedy metabolism was slowing down and everything that was once tight and firm now looked like something that should not be allowed out in public. As much as the mirror’s reflection hurt me, I wasn’t going to obsess about it by signing up for a personal trainer or killing myself on the treadmill; instead I would walk my way to a tighter rear… with magic shoes.
Cyprus has its merits, especially if you have a family: beautiful weather, safe surroundings and beaches galore. However for a new foreign mum, often away from immediate family and friends, it can be a lonely place. When you leave the hospital or clinic there is no follow-up service to see how you are doing, whether you are coping, no-one to offer helpful advice on matters such as breastfeeding. There are limited facilities regarding counselling in Cyprus, only a handful of mums groups and very little social activity for new mums. So to finally have a website available geared specifically for mums in Cyprus, for some, it’s a godsend. Logically it’s called MumsInCyprus.com and its slogan is ‘where we all get together’.
My dear old Dad kept a diary. He always felt a shade guilty about it as he was a very senior civil servant and knew all kinds of secrets that he feared might one day be accidentally divulged. As it happens he need not have worried. The diary eventually came into my hands. I transcribed it into a multi-encrypted computer format, the secret routine for decryption of which exists only in my head and dies with me. Also, all the people mentioned have long since died. Only the small ‘state secrets’ would have any relevance.
However, there was one thing he had a habit of doing that might be worth passing on if only for the sake of a wry laugh. After commenting on what he saw as important matters he would often add small personal remarks on the subject matter.
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.
