So we raced back from Nicosia and grocery shopping and had Passover dinner on Eve’s catamaran.  Here’s the story.

Ru

Passover on Eve’s Catamaran Karpaz Gate Marina

There were no Haggadah, matzos and no bitter herbs, but there was also no bread and we drank wine and sat back and relaxed while we ate, drank and enjoyed a lovely evening.

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/low_concept/
2006/04/the_twominute_haggadah.html
has a very funny explanation of Passover and the Seder which sort of fits with our “Seder.”

Charmaine and Linda enjoying this unique Seder.

Ünal Dede and Hülya Koçak Cypriot friends of Eve’s. You met them in an earlier email not that long ago.

Not your usual Passover fare; we ate Chinese food cooked by an Israeli in Muslim North Cyprus.

Our first course was unleavened shrimp puffs. The second was eggroll filling wrapped in blintz wrap and fried. They were great and eaten too fast for photos. Fruit salad and ice cream for dessert. We talked and there were some questions and answers but not the traditional 4 Questions of Passover. And we drank a lot of wine!

Eve, our hostess and chef and Charmaine.

Sharman maybe celebrated her first Passover. Randal has had Passover in the past at the home of our friends Ellen and Gabriel Szego so maybe that’s why he seems to be telling the story to Eve.

We had a great time and lots of fun. We hope Eve will be home in Israel to spend time with us while we are there.

Next adventure, our visit to Heidi and Kalle and our new friends Robin and Tugberk

  Had a long walk with Charmaine and Linda yesterday.  I lead the way but was unsure of the path because normally I have Sharman to follow.  We started at 12:30 and finished at 3:15 with just enough time to have a cup of coffee/tea before driving off for our hair trims.  It was your usual salon experience with hair cut a bit shorter than expected, but that’s par for the course when you utter the word "cut" in a hair salon.  Today more walking, two loads of laundry, visit with the veggie man, and a trip to the village pharmacy to begin the process of revitalizing our meds thanks to Linda and Charmaine.

Ru

Besi Güzellik Salonu (Nourishing Beauty Salon)

Besime Cecer Direktôr

Charmaine getting her trip and Linda showing off hers.

Nicosia Part 3

Yena, a future tour guide, taking notes during the tour, something I wish I’d done.

Sultan Mahmut II Library

“The library was built in 1829 by Ali Rouhi, the governor of Cyprus. It is located near the east entrance of Selimiye mosque, and is a fine example of classical Ottoman architecture, with its twin domed arcade and large domed room. The interior walls of the library room are covered by a golden-coloured adorned poem praising Sultan Mahmut II.

Over the entrance door, is an inscription written in Arabic which states "This is a Library"

Over 1800 books in the library were donated by Sultan Mahmut II as well as many other well known people of the time. The books are mainly of religious subjects, and written in Arabic, Turkish and Persian.

These extremely valuable manuscripts have been taken to the National Archives in Kyrenia for preservation and research purposes. http://www.whatson-northcyprus.com/interest/nicosia/north_nicosia/mahmut_library.htm

Book stands for the old manuscripts. Computers, microfilm and digital photocopies.

We arrived just as the library was closing but the librarian allowed us in and he and I had an interesting chat about how users accessed the materials.

Kütüphane Sokak Library Street

Through the Lapidary Museum window.

We didn’t have time to visit the museum but they had some interesting architectural renderings that I couldn’t photograph because we didn’t have a ticket. They probably weren’t too happy that I took the photo either.

Linda, Charmaine, Randal, our guide Selin, and Tatiana, and Yena apprentice tour guides.

“The "Blue Line," a path laid out by the tourist office, leads visitors on a walking tour past stalls selling grilled sandwiches made with a rubbery white cheese called halloumi {Helium in the North}, a covered market and Gothic churches converted by the Ottomans into Turkish baths and mosques.”

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/travel/2002443599_nicosia21.html

After our tour lunch was more important than antiques so we just walked on by.

We had lunch in the Büyük Han, made a too quick tour of the shops and then headed back to the car. We still had to stop at the “really good grocery store” and be home in time for Passover dinner on Eve’s catamaran.