miltiades wrote:Came back last evening after spending 5 wonderful days in Cyprus , have a filthy cold and got sun stroke . Argued with the Limassol mayor and called him a prat after I complained that at the entrance of the Municipal Gardens in Limasol the Cyprus flag was flying alongside the EU flag and predictably the Greek flag. I reminded him that the ROC government is constantly proclaiming that it is the government of the whole of Cyprus and not the "Greek South " and that it represents Cyprus in its entirety . What would visiting T/Cs make of this I asked , would they feel that this island is wrongly divided and that we should be united while such blatand display of Greek Cypriot exclusiveness is vibrant . I dont know if I had managed to convey a sensible approach to the issue but the following day I noticed the Greek flag was not flying.
Talk about killing two birds with one stone ! Manage to visit my favourite spot , Kourion beach and had a few bottles of wine with Kalahari , Niki the girls and Nikis parents . We had a fantastic fish meze and it was a pleasure meeting such a wonderfull family.
The highlight of my entire stay was my trip to Birkibrisli's village in Pafos , Istinjo , glad to say that although my Cyprus map showed the village as KION , all the road signs leading to the village showed the correct name of ISTINJO. Although born a stones throw away , some 15 miles west I had never visited this stunningly beautiful part of Cyprus and was fascinated by the sheer beauty of the scenery surrounding some 4 T/C villages. The village is almost deserted and in partial ruins. I cant help wondering as to how long it will be before this virgin area of Cyprus is discovered and developed . Some 4 or so miles away the G/C village of Falusi is allready the home of 3 British residents , I stopped for coffee at the kafenes and talked to 3 G/Cs , having first asked for enan tourkiko , a Turkish coffee , the Kafetzis merely enquired as how I liked my coffee. They asked where I was from and I explained that I visited Istinjo as a mark of respect for a great Cypriot. Conversation turned to the past and all 3 concurred that prior to the fanatics of EOKA B they had interacted with their neighbours and had no problems what so ever. They also all agreed that this cluster t/c villages had been neglected by the government and that the inhabitants had a very hard time . None expressed any malice against their old neighbours on the contrary all were critisizing the G/C fanatics for all the mess that ensued.
I left to make my way back to Limasol clutching a stone that I now use as a paperweight , that I picked up from Istinjo as a momento of my visit .
I mentioned earlier that I was attending my nephiews wedding , and to my surprise two cousins of my brothers children , half T/Cs and half English , were also in attendance. My older brother's wifes's sister is married to a T/C hense my nephews have as first cousins two T/Cs , a boy of 18 and a girl of 12 .
Long may they live and spread the message of peace on our beloved Cyprus.
Your post brought tears to my eyes,my dear miltiades...I thank you from a place deep in my heart for taking the trouble to visit my Istinjo...I wish you could've seen it as I remember it:a green heaven in the middle of beautiful and rugged mountains,with vinyards,orange and plum groves,olive and almond groves,all types of vegetable gardens,rockmelon and watermelon fields,figs and wallnut trees,and all kinds of grain and legume fields...in the middle of that little mudbrick or stone houses with open fires and goat and sheep pens attached...You would've seen little Birkibrisli riding his donkey,helping milk the goats,and watching his grandma make halloumi/hellim in the dark kitchen...
Those GC men in Filousa were right...People had no trouble with interacting with each other,and often lifelong friendships and business partnerships were established across ethnic lines...My grandfather's business partner (who would lend him thousands of pounds on the strength of a handshake was a GC,and so was our family doctor who saved my life on more than one ocassion)...I think we are lucky to have these memories,and we have a duty,dear miltiades,to tell people how things were like before rabid and unthinking nationalism tore us apart...
I look forward to the day we will visit every inch of our beloved Cyprus together as two free and equal Cypriots,without seeing one foreign flag or having to show our passports to anyone along the way...
