Today is sunny but blustery.  Blustery means there is a medium wind.  Two days ago there was a howling wind which we’d had for days so blustery is ok.  I have two loads of laundry blow-drying in the sun and wind.  Later I’ll go for a walk.  Yesterday Sharman and I did another one of our 4 hour walks to find a path from the stone statues back to the marina walking the ridges rather than the main road.  It was a perfect sunny day to celebrate her birthday! 

Our Cyprus 90 day visa runs out toward the end of this month so we will have to cross the border to the south at some point to get new stamps.  Luckily being over the age of 60 we will be given 90 days.  Under 60 years and you have no clue what they will do.  Some people get 30 days and some 60.  It isn’t a big deal, just a schlep to Nicosia or Famagusta. 

This set of photos completes our visit to Heidi and Kalle.  You can see we packed in a great deal during our weekend visit.  Thank you again for the wonderful visit Heidi and Kalle!

Ru

After our walk through Karaman we drove down the hill to Starling Market to get some supplies for dinners Saturday and Sunday night. On our way back up the hill we stopped to visit Green Heights Park, a botanical garden, aviary, day resort and restaurant. We just made a quick walk around, but Heidi and Kalle have been there in the heat of summer to spend time relaxing by the pool. When we visited it was much too cold and damp to think about a cup of tea in the garden never mind a dip in the pool! But maybe another time.

Where we were.

Green Heights is located on the road up to Yeşiltepe. I’ll know I can speak Turkish when I can easily pronounce Karaoglanoglu! The green line between Ilgaz and Karaman is a walking trail. The blue is, of course, the Mediterranean which you can see from Vila Manzara.

Green Heights Park

Walking through the gardens.

Peacocks and pheasants in the aviary.

There were lots of different birds; pigeons with curly feathers, a turkey, tufted headed chickens which were hard to tell front from back, some guinea pigs and bunnies. The cages seemed quite clean so seeing them cooped up wasn’t so bad……  They seemed to have lots of shade too for the hot summer weather.

The pool which on a hot summer day in Cyprus must be lovely.

Ilgaz

Sunday we took a walk through Ilgaz which isn’t so “storybook” looking as Karaman but quite lovely none the less. Our Cyprus travel guide has no info on Ilgaz. It seems more a place where people actually just live. Apparently it was once a Greek city before Cyprus was divided in 1974.

“Ftericha, or Phteryka, is situated on the northern slopes of the western part of the Five Finger mountains, only two miles southeast of Karavas (Alsancak) and five miles west of the town of Kyrenia. Ftericha was always exclusively inhabited by Greek Cypriots. The name means “large farm” in Greek. However, the village’s name was changed to “Ilgaz” in 1975 by Turkish Cypriots, after a mountain in Turkey.” http://www.prio-cyprus-displacement.net/default_print.asp?id=436   This is one version of events.  In Cyprus there are always two versions….

A sign for the Brit restaurant Hoots just across from the “abandoned” Greek Church.

"Ilgaz Ladies Lunch, Last Tuesday Monthly."

12.30pm for 1pm, Hoots bar, Ilgaz. A charity fundraising lunch with a different theme every month. The cost is 25TL, and bottles of wine are available from 16TL. Numbers are limited, so booking is essential on 0392 821 1229 or 0542 873 8068     This was something I found on the net searching for Ilgaz.  Hoots sounds a bit like Deks.

We parked the car near the church and then went for a walk around town.

Parts were expat renovations….

A discussion about how to build a stone wall…..

Some parts of town were more “local” in flavor and character.

And then there was the valley itself……………..

Then back to the church and the car.

One last stop for the day, Club Ilgaz for a walk around and a cup of coffee.  www.clubilgaz.com

We only wanted coffee and atmosphere but the desserts looked great!

Actually the restaurant was fully booked for lunch which would begin about 1 pm.

One photo of me…. I had my Sox sweatshirt over my wool sweater over my turtleneck……

Then it was back to Vila Manzara. Heidi had invited friends Marilyn and Stephen Bosworth for an afternoon visit. Marilyn is a retired librarian who now is pursuing her real love, art! Stephen just retired from his professorship at one of Cyprus’ universities. They have lived in Cyprus for 20 years. Amazingly I took no photos as power failed and we sat by candle light and were warmed by the fireplace. Hopefully there will be a chance in the future to take photos.

The End…for now.