July sees the start of the summer holidays here in North Cyprus. Unlike the British schools North Cyprus children and universities have a 3 month break during the summer months and throughout the year they start at 8:00am in the morning and some finish as early as 1:30pm in the afternoon. This depends very much on the school and not all are the same as this. With such a long holiday you’d think there’d be lots of kids hanging around the street corners and getting into mischief… but that isn’t so. There is a much tighter control and they are involved very much in the family routine and you’ll often see them off to the shops helping with the bags for mum and dad. There are local sports fields and activities and lots of different festivals for them to get involved with as well as the local beaches.
There is a lively buzz this week as the bars and restaurants have their evenings of entertainment … although they’re not all belly dancers and such things. There are some fine musicians, and very professional here too… and this week saw Bonny Tyler perform in the open air theatre at Salamis… do you remember her? … “ holding out for a hero!’…. the Welsh lady with the big blond hair.. still going strong… or you could bump into Elvis, an excellent local impersonator who’s been doing the pub and bars here in Cyprus for some time now.
If you want to escape the British weather… and yes I saw Wimbledon this last week.. it’s in the mid 30’s here and the sea is warm enough to swim in….. but make sure you have a good sun protector on and drink plenty of fluids. Efes?.. no that’s the local brew.. plenty of water, at least 2 litres a day, or you be checking out the local health service, which is free for all tourists, unless you seek a private doctor.
The latest on the future of the political situation is there will be a new united nations special envoy to oversee the talks that are taking place this month to try to resolve the political stalemate on the island. This will lead to a fuller discussion on the 1st September and hopefully resolve the deadlock that has happened in many recent talks over the last few years. The newly elected president of the South, Mr Christofias and his counterpart in the North Mr Talat, have a common interest to making the re-unification of Cyprus a success. Ask anybody their opinion on this subject, whether British, Turkish or Greek Cypriot and everyone will give you a different answer, but as of the next few months, all the guess work will be turned into reality. No more referendums, like the failed attempt in 2004… this is possibly the last chance. Ýf you like to see our rental holiday villas you can click on :
http://www.ncp-northcypruspropertyestates.com/rental-properties.asp?P=Rental
PS. On a lighter note, don’t forget North Cyprus is ahead of the UK by 2 hours…. Or put in simple terms, when you are coming over on the plane, change your watches to be 2 hours more than what it’s showing….. that’s unless you want to miss breakfast.
Edior: I.Ratclife
