It has been a crazy couple of months. I wanted to start with a shot I took on Christmas day with the lovely Buse, a student from Turkey in her first year in Cyprus. I would say this is my favourite shot of the year. More about her in Part 2 of this post (the post is so big I had to split it into two). So most of November I was in the UK for my niece's wedding. It was an odd trip, we had to self isolate for longer as someone on our plane had covid, but the wedding went fantastically. I share just a few shots as the family prefers to keep things private.
Yes that is me with my sister above.
I returned to Cyprus end of November and the skys had changed considerably.
Next up is my good friend's Orhan's daughter. They popped over to wait at my flat for half an hour, so I took some photos to make things fun. She was not impressed that I made her tie her hair into pigtails.
Over in Catalkoy, there is a nice English Bar called The Lodge that does good food and has live music, and a decent pool table. I went there a few times in the summer, but its great in the winter as it moves inside and has a lovely fireplace which makes you feel really cosy. The bar staff are really nice, and one of them (in the white) plays a mean game of pool. You hear a few English accents which is nice, but there are all sorts of people in, some of them quite chatty. Food wise you get a steak, or sweet and sour pork and the like. Very much worth a visit.
The resident cat1
Next up is my first cousin's birthday at there shop Seamless (sports wear).
Next up is an exhibition in the capital by Mete Hatay. I met Mete first at a friends lunch a couple of New Years Eve'd ago. He is an important artist in Northern Cyprus, his work often commenting on the times somehow. there were lots of creatives there and the venue was the historic Rustem Kitab Evi, translated as a home for books, which has a new gallery area at the back. The place has thousands of books on the walls and by day is a coffee house. I actually had a walk around there with a friend which you can find later in this post. Some of my photos were used for a online article.
There was also some live music that night, and it turns out the singer was someone I had chatted with on instagram, but I didn't know that it was her singing. She is an all round creative and artist, and she sings as well. Check her instagram Garip
So next up is my 50th Birthday! I don't often do things on my birthday but this year my friends from the Aroma Cafe offered to host a party and they laid on some gorgeous food and all sorts of people came, some from the opposite coast, and I was compleatly spoiled. I took the opportunity to set up a photo corner with some lights and got some great portraits of people too. My friend Bihter and her fiance Mete also played some live music and then Bihter got me singing too. Find the full album with embarrassing video here
Next up is my second cousin's fiance's party at Ego Bar
in Girne / Kyrenia which is a cool place with live music that used to be a colonial house.
Whilst at the bar some random girl wanted pictures with her friend, never got the name, and wasn't thanked later when I sent the photos.
Soon after I met up with my friend Mel in the capital for lunch and a walk around. Found some spots in the old city I hadn't seen before. Mel is studying chemical engineering and this is her last year. I haven't seen her for ages because of covid, so it was nice to catch up.
Next two photos at Rustem Kitab Evi.
I managed to extend the camera to look inside
There was a call out on facebook for a photographer for dog charity here in Cyprus. The sanctuary is in the woods, so the dogs are not confined. There are a couple of restricted areas, for dogs that have been homed and are awaiting their new owners, and a puppy area, but beyond that it is wide open. There are about 50 dogs there and they come and go as they please. I met with two English gents that do the bulk of the daily care for the dogs, but many other people are involved. The dogs have there own dens, made from desused water tanks. Its a great place and much needed here in Cyprus. Everyone works for free and all the dogs have individual stories, including one that fought of a snake to protect the pack, his name is Efes. If you are an animal lover, please donate via their website. https://domdog.org/
That's it for Part 1, find Part 2 HERE
Find Many more photos this month's Album