My Cyprus Blog
Mindless ramblings about my homelandArchive for July, 2007
Why Choose Kyrenia North Cyprus for your Summer Holiday?
As you sit by the pretty Venetian harbour, watching boats bob on the clear waters of the Mediterranean Sea, you’ll be glad you chose Kyrenia in North Cyprus for your 2007 summer holiday!
North Cyprus is the unspoilt face of the Mediterranean, a country where the sun shines for 300 days a year and the local people are genuinely pleased to welcome you to their homeland. In North Cyprus you can enjoy the peace and tranquillity of stunning beaches or lofty mountains, ancient ruins or medieval cites, or enjoy the thrill of watersports, scuba diving or even paragliding. Choose the town of Kyrenia as your base, and you’ll be staying in the prettiest town in North Cyprus, and it’s an ideal base for exploring this fascinating and beautiful country.
Kyrenia, or Girne as the locals call it, is centred around its almost impossibly perfect Venetian harbour. During the day, café and restaurant waiters invite you to sit and relax over a coffee and baklava, or a leisurely lunch of fish, fresh from the sea that laps the harbour walls. After an afternoon of browsing the shops in the medieval streets that lead away from the Kyrenia Harbour into the old town, you’ll probably want to return here for a well-earned dinner too. Try the Carob Restaurant, an old 19th century carob bean warehouses now converted into an elegant restaurant. Dining on their rooftop terrace is an absolute must for romantics and lovers of great sunsets!
Explore the streets and you’ll discover the local restaurants that offer excellent Turkish Cypriot menus at lower prices than you’ll find around the harbour. The owners of the famous Niazi’s Restaurant in Kyrenia claim to have created the ‘full kebeb’, a belly-busting meal of various charcoal grilled kebabs with accompanying meze dishes. Turkish Cypriots reckon it takes a really hungry person to actually finish a kebab meal at Niazi’s!
Luckily, Kyrenia is such an interesting town, you’ll soon work up an appetite for all this good food! Kyrenia castle stands guard over the harbour, and the views from its battlements are well worth the climb through its fortified gates and ramps. The castle also houses the fascinating Shipwreck Museum, containing one of the oldest shipwrecks ever recovered. Climb up the hill and away from the sea, and you may here the calls to prayer from the Djafer Pasa mosque, built in 1570. Here you are literally walking on history; under your feet the ground is honeycombed with miles of catacombs, cut from the limestone rock
Shopping in the maze of streets behind the harbour is rewarding, simply because you never know quite what you might find! North Cyprus is known for its unique and historic lacework, basketware – and excellent brandy. It’s worth seeking out the Lusignan Art and Cafe Bar, where you can buy delicate Cypriot wood carvings in the art gallery, or quench your thirst with a refreshing lemonade made by the owner’s mother on the premises.
Kyrenia is surrounded by some of the best beaches in North Cyprus, where golden sands dip into shallow waters, ideal for sunworshippers and watersport fans alike. From Kyrenia, you can easily visit some of North Cyprus’ most famous sights. Just a short drive away is the beautiful village of Bellapais and its famous ruined Augustinian abbey, immortalized in the author Lawrence Durrell’s book “Bitter Lemons”. The village square is a lovely place to stop and enjoy the peaceful atmosphere, but don’t sit for too long under the Tree of Idleness or you may never get up again!
Choose Kyrenia in North Cyprus for your 2007 summer holiday and you’ll enjoy the best the Mediterranean has to offer, without the hassle, high costs or high-rise buildings of other summer sunshine resorts!
About the Author
Izzet Zorlu is a Cypriot living in Kyrenia, North Cyprus and likes walking down the Kyrenia harbour.
For Cyprus Property, visis Cyprus Prperty Agents
Getting married in a Mediterranean island
More and more people, especially from Northern Europe and the U.K, decide to get married and take their vows in Cyprus. This is due to several reasons that I will try to briefly describe in my article. The first reason is costs!! The financial aspect is the most important one for your wedding. Getting married and especially if you want to have a well fashioned , pleasant and an enjoyable wedding party for you and your guests, that means spending money!! Having a look at the official statistics, the weddings organised in Cyprus are by far cheaper than weddings in the U.K and Northern Europe. Due to the high demand for weddings in Cyprus, one can find wedding packages extremely good priced which include everything for your wedding on the island, from your ceremony venue to your reception venue, transportation for your wedding day for both the bride and groom and your wedding party if so required, flowers, photography, video , wedding cake, hair & beauty appointments, online internet broadcasting, decoration and entertainment for your reception and many more services that you may require to make your Cyprus wedding day a dream come true. The quality of the services you will receive is extremely high for the price you will pay. Lets not forget that you will also find yourselves and your guests enjoying your holidays at one of the most popular Summer Destinations. Second important issue is good weather and low crime rate! Cyprus has the advantage of having one of the most attractive weather conditions in the world. During the year, 8 of the 12 months are proven to offer very nice weather conditions for swimming and temperatures almost perfect in order to enjoy a night out at the Summer Pubs and Clubs. Recent statistics show that nearly 20,000 British citizens have moved to Cyprus permanently the last 5 years!! When they asked for the reasons of their permanent moving to Cyprus they replied: ”..Firstly the nice weather and secondly the low crime conditions…”. More and more young couples therefore combine their holidays with friends and are getting married in Cyprus. Third and final issue for people interested in having a wedding in Cyprus is the professionalism of the wedding coordinators who take the responsibility to organise the wedding for them and save them precious time and money. Professional wedding planning companies, are employing well trained wedding coordinators, (most of them British) who have years of experience in wedding coordinating, in order to have the best communication and understanding of their customers. When I say ”understanding”, I do not mean fluent language communication, I also include the customs, morals and traditions that exist in a wedding and vary from nationality to nationality. In Cyprus the groom (at least was used to) will have as a present, the couple’s house being built (paid) by his father in law !! A British couple may request and have as sign of good luck for their marriage a Piper!! The professional wedding coordinator that will be assigned to you will be constantly informing you about the progress of your bookings, sending you information and photos about the places and services booked for your wedding and will also be dealing with all the legal issues concerning the wedding.
Legalities that are required (from the couple) by local authorities and should be presented are:
- Couple should be holder of valid passports not due to expire within 6 months.
- ‘Single Status Declaration’ which confirms that you are free to get married.
- Scottish Nationals should obtain a ‘Certificate of Impediment’ from the local registry office in place of the declaration.
- If divorced, please have a copy of the ‘decree absolute’ and if Catholic please have a copy of the marriage annulment.
- If widowed, you need a copy of the death certificate.
- If under 18, please have parental consent stamped and signed by a solicitor.
- Proof of name change will be needed by Deed Poll stamped and signed by a solicitor.
- Birth Certificates
- Adoption certificates if adopted
- For Anglican weddings and Catholic weddings:
- at least of the two must be baptized or christened into the Christian faith.
-Irish Nationals and passport holders require a ‘Freedom to marry’ Certificate from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or the Irish Embassy in England.
So ideally the only thing left for you to do is to say ‘..I Do’ and start dreaming of a wedding day which will take place at one of the most beautiful islands of the world. Professional wedding coordinators will do the work for you, so relax and look forward to an all night long wedding party!!!!
George Georgiou is owner of one of the most reputable Cyprus wedding planning companies, www.skarvelisweddings.com, with years of exprerience in wedding coordinating and planning
