June 25, 2008 David Letterman

Whew - we have slowed the pace down a little.  Monday morning we started out a bit earlier than usual to get in the line-up for tickets to the the Late Show with David Letterman.  We had to fill in a form and let them know when we were available, and they would let us know by noon if we had won the ticket lottery.   We strolled around a bit then came back to the room to check for messages - and we won!  We were told to be back at the Ed Sullivan Theatre by five o'clock to pick up the tickets and were screened again to make it into a select group of enthusiastic people which got us front row tickets!   It will be aired this Friday, and one of the guests was Morgan Freeman.  The whole thing was great fun and a wonderful experience - very New York.

Tuesday we met up with the crew for breakfast, then we all headed down to Ground Zero.  The entire area is a building site, so not much to see except for St. Paul's Chapel.  It is absolutely amazing that this historic site was not damaged in the blast, and it is where thousands of volunteers fed and looked after the workers and helpers post 9/11.  It is their fence that people posted their posters on when looking for friends and family members too.  It is such a lovely Church, and tells a tale of human strength and endurance, kindness and compassion.  It was very moving.  

In the afternoon, we took the subway downtown and Dale headed off to the Native American Museum, and I decided to brave a discount department store.  It was a zoo.  There was so much stuff crammed in and so many people, that it was very hard to even move.  I had a couple things on my list that I needed, but it came down to getting one and getting out of there as fast as I could.  I never was much of a shopper, and this would certainly put off the keenest of the breed.  Meanwhile, Dale was surprised to find that the Museum housed more artifacts from the West Coast Natives of Canada than any American Tribes, but was enthralled by the building.  So, after we met up we got a couple of 'design your own salads' and had lunch in the Bowling Green Park so I could go in and look around at the Museum.  The rotunda itself made the visit worth while, with its beautiful murals and sculpturing.  

On the way back to the hotel, we grabbed a Reuben sandwich at the Edison Cafe, then headed off to see the off-Broadway production of the 'Alter Boyz'.    Another well done, and highly energetic performance.  There are just too many choices, but so far we have really enjoyed what we have seen.

Today we did a lovely stroll through Central Park.  I don't think we covered half of it, it is so extensive.  There is so much there too, a carousel, a zoo, many fountains, a chess and checker pavilion, 5 baseball diamonds, a kiddies water park, playgrounds, an outdoor theatre, lakes with row boats, restaurants, etc, etc.  It is a wonderful park. see link for map.  Rumour has it that one doesn't want to be there after dusk, and I am more than willing to go along with that, but by day it is a great place to be.  

This evening we went to the movies.  We watched 'Get Smart', and if you liked it on TV, just ignore the ratings, since I am sure you will like the movie.  It was corny, slapstick and fun.  Just don't watch the trailers first, I think they are best seen the first time in the movie.  

Tomorrow we are off to Long Island for the night.  I will meet Dale at the new hotel, then we leave on Friday morning for England.  We are still planning on doing a canal trip in Wales, but will have to let you know when we get back to Cyprus on July 7th to tell you about it.  

Take care and bye for now.

Love,

Laurel

June 22, 2008 New York City!

Here we are again, doing the mad tourist thing! I have a couple of spare hours as Dale has had to do a quick trip, so I am attempting to catch up on this whole, crazy adventure. I left Cyprus on Wednesday, overnighted in London, then arrived at JFK on Thursday midday. The bus system here is phenomenal - or at least the driver I had was, and I arrived at the hotel within an hour and a half of landing. Who needs drag racers?
Another great thing here is the food. I have decided that if I ever had to live in New York, I would never cook again. They have the most fabulous gourmet take out places that I have ever seen. I am sitting here enjoying a couple of avocado salad rolls with sweet chili sauce and an iced vanilla chai tea. Then of course there are the delicious deli's and the marvelous and ethnically diverse restaurants. So many choices, so little time!
Oh yes, the sights! Thursday evening we hit Broadway and saw the musical of 'Young Frankenstein'. It is a bit of a family thing (mostly Dale, Adam and Joel), but truly entertaining. And I do believe they managed to retain the most important parts, with a few current laughs thrown in for good measure.
We spent Friday mostly in line-ups to get to see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, but even that was worth it. You had to line-up for the subway, line-up for your ticket, line-up to get on the boat to the Statue, line-up to get to Ellis Island, line-up to get back to New York, then line-up again for the subway. But it was all very informative and interesting, especially Ellis Island. What thousands of people went through to get to a life we take for granted. We are very spoiled. The play we went to afterwards was called 'I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change!' It has been running here for about 12 years. It was great fun.
Saturday found us in more line-ups - this time to see the Empire State Building. We were very lucky to have blue skies and only a bit of haze, so the view was excellent. What an amazing city. We also stopped in at the New York Library which had amazing murals and frescoes. We did take the evening off though, as Dale had to head off to work early.
This morning I attended the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church 1808-2008. They are celebrating 200 years of worship in November. It was a lovely service and very welcoming and inclusive. And the church itself was so beautiful - truly a work of art. A very enjoyable experience.
So, I am caught up for the present. I can't imagine maintaining this pace for the rest of the week, but will let you know what we are up to at some point.
Love,
Laurel

June 18, 2008 Adam and Natalie Visit Part 2

Hi there,
Continuing on with the whirlwind - my neighbours Mike and Roz had us all over for drinks and snacks on Sunday evening to meet Jeffrey - their dog. He is very spoiled, but lovely none-the-less. The kids really enjoyed sitting chatting in their garden, under the arbor.
Monday, I took Adam and Natalie down to Paphos Harbour for Kataclysmos - a holiday to celebrate the flood. While at the harbour, Natalie and I found some lovely prints at the art gallery, and Adam got me two for my Birthday - they are very Mediterranean. The harbour has been renovated and is lovely for walking so off we went. I also found a pottery jug to collect water (instead of it pouring down the sink when you are waiting for it to get hot - severe water shortage still). Next was the market, very quaint and a great place to pick up souvenirs, and of course the mandatory stop at Ayia Kyriaki and St. Paul's Pillar. After spending the afternoon by the pool, we had dinner out in Mandria, a small village not too far from ours, then back to Geroskipou for Mini-golf. (It was more relaxing than it sounds.)
Adam and Natalie spent a few hours at the water-slides on Tuesday, so I re-stocked the groceries and did a couple of errands in town. They took the rest of the day off, although Adam managed to make dinner (he was very good at making breakfast and dinner - I quite enjoyed not cooking all the time and they quite enjoyed the Mediterranean food).
Dale phoned that evening to invite me to New York, and after much agonizing (the house is a mess and I had just got groceries), I decided to go for it. So off the kids went for a couple days in England before returning to Comox, and off I went to New York . . . more to come on that.
Bye for now.
Love,
Laurel

June 15, 2008 Adam and Natalie Visit Cyprus Part 1

Happy Birthday George and Elizabeth.
Adam and Natalie are having a lovely whirlwind visit. So far they have been to the Mosaics in Paphos, Adonis Falls, Coral Bay Beach, Geroskipou Beach, Aphrodite's Sanctuary, and the Sea Caves. Favourite places to eat - The Klimataria in Paphos and Thanasis' Place in Kouklia for the meze of course. Our pool also been well used, and we had a very social afternoon on Friday with a few friends over for drinks and snacks. On Saturday we went to a wonderful concert put on by the RAF Regimental Band in Kourion. A marvellous performance in an even more marvellous venue. What a treat.
As Adonis Falls was the only place I hadn't been, I will tell you a bit about it. After four kilometres on a very rough and winding road, we were very happy to arrive. We went down to the bottom falls first, but since it was a bit crowded, we decided to try the upper falls. Both were beautiful and crystal clear and very cold. Adam and Natalie went for a quick swim, then we had our picnic lunch. One fellow actually jumped from the upper falls (about 30 feet) into the rock basin below. No takers in our group thank goodness.
They still have 2.5 days left, so I will fill you in on that soon.
Love,
Laurel

June 7, 2008 Trip to the Ruins for Laurel

It never rains but it pours! I don't usually do enough to write this often, but today was certainly worth mentioning. I only lament that we weren't allowed to take photos since our walk was actually on the base at Akrotiri.
We met up at 9am to go on to the base (it only took about 40 minutes to drive there from Kouklia), then put half the cars at the end and all drove in the rest of the cars to the archaeological office where we started with a very interesting talk. Apparently there are three important geological sites on Cyprus; two being the Kyrenia Mountains and the other range on the Akamas Peninsula, which are considered to be ordinary. The Troodos mountains in the centre of the island were apparently formed by being pushed up thousands of feet from below the earth, and the top of the mountains have the formations coming from the deepest point. This is why one can find seashells in the mountains.
The walk took us to a pre-Christian temple below ground, Roman settlement ruins, then out to see the tombs carved into the cliffs (all of which have been plundered, but worth seeing). Piling into the cars we had strategically left, we finally got to the Officers' Mess around 1pm for a very welcome cold drink and a lovely lunch before heading back home.
It was such a windy day. The good part is that we didn't get too hot. The bad part is that I was covered in sand from head to foot. So, a quick load in the laundry and for me a refreshing dip in the pool, and all is well.
Again, I wish I could send photos of all we saw, but with all there is around here, there is still tons to see for those of you who venture out.
Tomorrow, after Church, I am out for lunch and dinner (apparently a fisherman's feast - yum) then Natalie is arriving on Wednesday from England, and Adam on Thursday from Cairo. They are here for a week, so I will let you know about some of the places we go. I will definitely take pictures.
Bye for now.
Love,
Laurel

June 6, 2008

Busy times! Dale has been off having a great time - he had a trip into Istanbul and got to meet up with his nephew Curtis, his wife Itir and their lovely daughter Isabel. Then he was off to Rome and Adam and Jeff were there too, so they had a great get-together. Meanwhile, I am staying put and have such a strong desire to split myself in two, as I have off gallivanting, and I must say, enjoying myself but wished I could have shared in Dale's fun as well.
Tuesday I actually stayed home and worked on my Greek and some mosaics as well, but was saved from being too self-righteous by Hazel coming over for a coffee and a chat. She is from Secret Valley, and we met at the church inauguration a couple of weeks ago.
Wednesday, the Chamber Music Festival was so much better than I anticipated, right here in our village of Kouklia (approximately 700 residents). We started off at Linda's for what she called a light snack (the rest of us would call it a three course gourmet dinner) then this is what the brochure had to say:
The Royal Manor House, Kouklia -
The Gothic Hall of the Royal Manor House at Kouklia, near Paphos, is one of the finest surviving monuments of Frankish architecture on the island and forms a unique atmospheric setting for chamber music performances. The building with its beautiful courtyard - situated next to the site of Aphrodite's Temple - also houses an archaeological museum which records the rich history of human activity in the region from about 2800BC to the present day.
Beethoven's Piano Trio in B flat major "Archduke" Op. 97 (piano, violin and cello) was followed by Tchaikovsky's String Sextet Op. 70 (2 violins, 2 violas and 2 cellos). It was a delightful evening.
Thursday morning I managed to survive my pilates class followed by a couple of us getting together over coffee and snacks to practise our Greek and chat (I think we did more chatting), then off I went with Hazel to join some friends of hers and their walking club for a very vigorous walk/hike in the hills above Avdimou. Three hours later we were sitting at the beach having a very welcome Keo beer (pronounced kay-o - emphasis on the o). I slept like a log!
Today, Friday, I did manage to get to Curves, then I was whisked off by Jeremy and Jan to an Aircrew Association luncheon at Governor's Beach. The past president of Cyprus was being honoured so there were speeches - but thankfully they were not too long and were actually quite entertaining. I had a great time, and again met many interesting new people. And of course the food was superb. I don't think I have had a bad meal since I got here.
Tomorrow I am off with Linda and her walking group to the Akrotiri peninsula. It should be very interesting as there will be an archaeologist telling us a bit about the area. I will let you know what I learn.
Take care and talk to you soon.
Love,
Laurel

June 2, 2008

Hi everyone. Dale is away, but I seem to have a week packed with activities anyway. This evening I attended a musical evening performed by Gurkhas (it helps having the British base so close). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brigade_of_Gurkhas
They have been here in Cyprus for a month, and I managed to see their last performance. It was fabulous. They did a couple of dances as well including some with their famous knives - kukris - rather dangerous looking implements. The band was exemplary with a soprano saxophone solo to rival Kenny G, and a couple of bugle players and percussion guys that were outstanding.
I had best not use up all my glowing adjectives, as on Wednesday evening I am attending The 8th International Pharos Chamber Music Festival right here in Kouklia.
More later.
Love,
Laurel

Addendum to May 25, 2008

Here are some pictures from the inauguration of St. Georges in Hapotami. Lunch was set up under the awnings below the chapel, but the poor dancers were out in the heat of the sun.