Cyprus-Forum.com

[ChomskyFan]

What a strange reply to perfectly sensible question!

Does anybody know the legal minimum age for driving in Cyprus?
Or smoking?
Or for having sex?
Or getting married?
Or buying lighter fuel?
Or driving a jet ski? (topical)
Or renting a 'X' rated video?
Or owning a shotgun?

Why do people go on holiday just to do these things?

And why can't I find a 'tongue in cheek' emoticon when I want one?

Simon H

I don't understand your point, I go on holiday to a) relax, and or b) see my family. It's not relative to the first post, but I just don't see why so my English people have to go on holiday simply to get cheap drink.

The author of this thread didn't mention anything about getting drunk. He/She asked a legitimate question. What if the author only wants a glass of wine with his/her dinner? The author may be from USA, or Germany, perhaps even Holland or France. May even be a local. You have jumped to the conclusion that everyone that posts here asking questions about alcohol is a Brit who only wants to get drunk.

I won't deny that crossed my mind, and I apologize if it caused offence, I just get a little tired of it in Cyprus because I don't really understand it, I mean, I have lived in Britain all my life, but there are a lot of things I don't understand about this culture - For example, I was speaking to one of my English friends the other day and he mentioned in passing, 'Yeh, I owe my dad some money because he lent me 20 quid to go out tonight', and such an idea is so alien to me, not because I am spoilt or anything, but because I've been brought up in such a close family that the concept of the family not pooling it's resources, or a father demanding his 17 year old Son pay him back money which he gave him to go out is really wierd.

Again, I apologize that I jumped to a conclusion, but looking at certain cheap tourist hotspots in Cyprus these days, can you really blame me?

[cannedmoose]

In answer to the question, I believe it's 18, but as another poster said, it's not really enforced as far as I've seen. Cyprus doesn't have a massive problem with underage drinkers causing mayhem as if someone sees you causing trouble, it's likely that they'll know you and your parents would find out. In Cyprus, it's only the tourists who seem to cause problems around drink.

[Svetlana]

Hi Chomsky Fan

Not sure ther are any 'cheap Cyrus holiday locations' any more, prices have risen since EU accession and for people coming over forom the UK, the exchange rate had made it an expensive location.

Lana

[ChomskyFan]

Hi Chomsky Fan

Not sure ther are any 'cheap Cyrus holiday locations' any more, prices have risen since EU accession and for people coming over forom the UK, the exchange rate had made it an expensive location.

Lana

Hi Svetlana, I see what you mean with regards to the exchange rate (though hasn't this always been the case somewhat?). But certain very nasty areas in say.... Agia Napa, are still very cheap, it's the plane tickets that drive up prices, for a good ticket at peak time its around a thousand per person.

[Svetlana]

Hi C-F

For business reasons I follow a number of currencies; in 2002 I can recall parity: CY£ and UK£, - now the UK£ is worth around 82.5c, through a decent currency exchange company.

The exchange rate had been improving but one of the side effects of the terror campaign in London was an overnight fall of 3c.

I was over in Agai Napa a month or so back, it didn't seem so cheap; have you been there recently?

Certainly tourist spending is down, due to a number of factors.

Lana

[ChomskyFan]

Hi C-F

For business reasons I follow a number of currencies; in 2002 I can recall parity: CY£ and UK£, - now the UK£ is worth around 82.5c, through a decent currency exchange company.

The exchange rate had been improving but one of the side effects of the terror campaign in London was an overnight fall of 3c.

I was over in Agai Napa a month or so back, it didn't seem so cheap; have you been there recently?

Certainly tourist spending is down, due to a number of factors.

Lana

Perhaps, comparitively so it's still cheap, why do you think so many drunken louts manage to go on holiday there?

[cannedmoose]

Perhaps, comparitively so it's still cheap, why do you think so many drunken louts manage to go on holiday there?

It's called 'last minute breaks on Teletext' re. However, don't forget that many English and other people visit Agia Napa and behave in a perfectly responsible manner. It's just the minority that give the other English visitors to Agia Napa a bad name.

[ChomskyFan]

Perhaps, comparitively so it's still cheap, why do you think so many drunken louts manage to go on holiday there?

It's called 'last minute breaks on Teletext' re. However, don't forget that many English and other people visit Agia Napa and behave in a perfectly responsible manner. It's just the minority that give the other English visitors to Agia Napa a bad name.

I know it is the minority file mou but in places like Agia Napa it is a very sizeable minority. I stayed in Agia Napa once in a hotel called Grecian Bay that was right next to the beach and not that far from town centre, and most of the english there were respectable people, but I just cannot fathom why one would want to go on holiday for the sole purpose of getting drunk?

[cannedmoose]

I know it is the minority file mou but in places like Agia Napa it is a very sizeable minority. I stayed in Agia Napa once in a hotel called Grecian Bay that was right next to the beach and not that far from town centre, and most of the english there were respectable people, but I just cannot fathom why one would want to go on holiday for the sole purpose of getting drunk?

I read an interesting article about this the other day that rang true with me a little. It basically said that because British society is so constrained these days with rules governing how you can and cannot behave in public, when a certain element of British society travels abroad they assume that 'the shackles are off' and they can behave however they want - sex in the street, excessive drinking, violence against each other and locals.

IMHO, the problem with British society is that booze is considered a taboo subject with younger children. Unlike in France, Italy, Greece etc. where children become socialised with alcohol at a young age and appreciate that socialising is important, not the alcohol per se, in the UK children and alcohol are not allowed to mix. It therefore becomes something mysterious and which one must experiment with. This leads to kids in the street drinking cider and other noxious tonics.

There is also a certain cache in much of British society that deifies alcohol and the consumption thereof. To claim that you drink 10 pints a night is a badge of pride rather than one of shame. Personally, I've never subscribed to this because 1. I can't stand the taste of most alcoholic drinks and 2. I find the ethos of going out and getting tanked up totally alien and unnecessary. I personally don't enjoy not being able to remember what I've done and spending the following day praying to the ceramic Gods. Quite why so many of my countrymen and women do, I'm really not sure.

[Svetlana]

Hi C-F

You are wrong about people only going to Agia Napa to get drunk, they go there to get laid too

Lana (I only went to admire the scenery)