Cyprus December 2020 and January 2021

January 29, 2021 • Leave a Comment

2020 comes to a close and what a strange year its been. I guess people will look back in 100 years and have all sorts to say about how this period changed things. We are still not aware of all those changes and wether they are for the better.

This month starts with a children's party, although it actually happened end of November, there just wasn't room on the blog for that month. December and January were slow months by comparison.

We tend to rely on the weather here in Cyprus and even in October we expect a clear day, but that was not to be at the start of our children’s party, so as a back up a bouncy castle type thing was placed inside the house, and then a real bouncy castle outside when the weather improved. It was the twins birthday, my second cousin’s children. All the kids had a great time and it was nice to see family.

Photos by Sin Bozkurt© Photos by Sin Bozkurt© Photos by Sin Bozkurt© Photos by Sin Bozkurt© Photos by Sin Bozkurt© Photos by Sin Bozkurt© Photos by Sin Bozkurt© Photos by Sin Bozkurt© Photos by Sin Bozkurt© Photos by Sin Bozkurt© Photos by Sin Bozkurt© Photos by Sin Bozkurt© Photos by Sin Bozkurt© Photos by Sin Bozkurt© Photos by Sin Bozkurt©

Here is a rare picture of my Dad. Went to a farm of a friend for a barbie, it was just after the children's party.

Then its on to Cafe No 3 in the heart of the capital in Lefcosa. Its a good place with decent food and great coffee. I was meeting a friend to talk about photos on a new web series that will be shot soon, and we stopped there. Anyway I got chatting to excellent hostess. Turns out she studied photography and didn't mind a few photos. You can find the cafe on instagram, and it is well worth a visit, with live music sometimes and as well as the usual it serves alcohol.

https://www.instagram.com/cafe_no.3/

Whilst in Lefkosa I popped into my friend's clothing shop (for women) and photographed the lovely girl that works there and always makes me coffee when I pop by. This time the girl from the next door shoe shop was in for a break.

Next up is a day out with naci and Elias, we headed to Magusa on the east coast. On the way we stopped at a roadside bar, very dog friendly. A couple run the place,the wife from Bradford. She refered to her home as Bradistan, affectionately I add, which made chuckle.

Then we stopped at our favorite place to eat in Buyuk Han, a village near Magusa. We have been there quite a few times and know the owner, but we were suprised with someone else serving us that day, but she was a real salt of the earth type that we chatted with, life, love and one night stands! Lovely woman. She couldn't believe I wanted her photo. The table picture below has the homemade Ziviana straight from the freezer.

Whilst wondering around Magusa we found a new bar, set into the conserved old city, and had a good chat with the owner who turned out to be from my Mother's home town. The picture below is of a shop window we saw on the way. I swear Cyprus is stuck in the past, and this picture has probably been on display since the 80's. Its a swimsuit store. The last picture is of the stars on the way home. There is a place we stop for a smoke and the stars are always amazing. I took this one of Orion hand held. Wish I had a tripod handy. You can see Orion's belt right in the middle of the picture, three stars in a line.

So next up is the best English Breakfast on the Island served at the excellent Donut Box in Kyrenia/Girne. The couple that run it are from London and Turkey and quite lovely. They do american style donuts and have quite a western menu. The English Breakfast is quality, everything cooked just right. Find them on instagram. https://www.instagram.com/donutboxgirne/

Next up is my Birthday. I didn't want to do anything really, but I was invited for coffee and cake by my hopefully soon to be photography student I met at the gym. She took these photos of me with my camera. She listen's and definately has a good touch.

The next photo is of a friend from the gym, she is a teacher at the arts university ARUCAD, and she is a glassblower. After lockdown is finished I hope to attend a class.

So I met up with my Iranian friends a few times for days out. They are a brother and sister and I used to teach them English. We get together from time to time. We headed to Akdenis on the North West Coast.

We went out again the following week to Magusa and Varosha. They both love pictures being from what I call the 'instagram generation'. I was happy to have someone model for me. Varosha has changed quite a bit, with cycle lanes and food huts. I mentioned it before in the October blog, but if you want to find out more the full albums are here

And then onto Magusa old town

That brings us up to New Year almost. The plan was to have all our friends come to my flat for a small get together. Unfortunately our Covid figures spiked so the government set a 10 pm curfew for New Year and as I write we are in a strict lockdown until mid Febuary. So no party (I have a fridge full of booze and Christmas lights up, but I have eaten all the choclate ;) ). We ended up spending the day at Aroma Cafe run by our friends Asli and Orhan. I got quite drunk and ended up having a sleep when I got home. So I spent the evening alone, watched the Hobbit and toasted the New Year in on the balcony with a smoke and some Ameretto. Quite pleasant really, but I was disappointed the party didn't happen.