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Floor Mosaics from Roman Villas, Paphos, Cyprus

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Images from the Ethnographic Museum, Paphos, Cyprus

Cabinet of silver filigree, Egyptian scarabs, coral necklaces etc, a silver gilt icon, antique Chinese table with mother of pearl top and a French empire period mirror. This is a private collection put together by one family and is well worth a visit.

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Contemporary Art at the Municipal Gallery, Paphos, Cyprus - February 2018

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After Dante Gabriel Rossetti, my drawing of Fanny Cornforth from an 1859 original.

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Thoughts on Mortality - Emperor Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 170 to 180 AD

"Observe how transient and trivial is all mortal life; yesterday a drop of semen, tomorrow a handful of ashes. Spend, therefore, these fleeting moments on earth as Nature would have you spend them, and then go to your rest with a good grace, as an olive falls in its season, with a blessing for the earth that bore it and a thanksgiving to the tree that gave it life."

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Journeying Into Cyprus with Colin Thubron - Preparing for Paphos

Colin Thubron undertook his four month, six hundred mile walk around Cyprus at a more innocent time. The year is 1971, Greek generals have not ousted Makarios from power, Turkey has not invaded the north and Cyprus is not divided in two. A little more political wisdom and how different things might have been.

Thubron's book 'Journey Into Cyprus' is an account of his mammoth walk. It is a heart warming tale describing the loveliness of the island and the friendliness of its people. This warm welcome extends even to Thubron himself, an Eton educated Brit and son of an army brigadier. It is, after all, only a decade since Greek Cypriot nationalists showed the British army the way out of Cyprus.

One thing that strikes me about many travel books is that their writers spend very little time talking about their advance planning. I open the book at page one and the author is immediately ready to set off. The reality is very different of course. All travel requires some planning as I am discovering ahead of my trip to Paphos.

Here are some of the more obvious things that I have ticked off my to-do list. Passport is up to date, flights and hotel booked, checked vaccinations and obtained a European Health Insurance Card (EHIC), read a couple of travel guide books, shopped for some clothes - Paphos winter temperature highs of 19C don't require the hats and scarves that Sheffield winter highs of 5C demand. Printing my boarding passes, obtaining euros, packing my bags are not yet ticked off my to-do list.

Perhaps the reason why travel writers do not narrate the planning process is because it is so incredibly dull. Yet for me there is a strange satisfaction in the planning. I am very methodical and there is real pleasure in seeing the number of ticks against my list. More to the point as the ticks go up the number of days until departure comes down.

I am sure to forget something but thankfully that something will not be a valid passport or a boarding pass without which I will not be seeing the inside of an aeroplane, let alone the Roman mosaics of Paphos.

I wonder what Colin Thubron forgot to take to Cyprus. I'll probably never know the answer to that one. He found much more exciting things to write about.

Mike

February 2018

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Bitter Lemons From Cyprus

Looking out of my bedroom window I can see that a layer of snow has fallen on Sheffield. Already the pavements are turning to slushy ice and pedestrians are walking gingerly back and forth to the shop at the end of the road.

I am cosy inside with a mug of hot chocolate and a copy of Lawrence Durrell's 1950s memoir about his time in Cyprus, "Bitter Lemons". I have almost finished my book and in a few short pages Durrell will surely find himself to be an ex-Cypriot and the British to be unwanted guests. From Durrell's account I get the impression that we Brits were hopelessly out of our depth in the dying days of empire. Dealing with EOKA, the Greek Cypriot independence movement, Durrell quotes a local proverb to illustrate British policy: "He (the British) couldn't catch the mule so gave the saddle a good thrashing".

Thankfully the British are now welcome in Cyprus as next month (February 2018) I am flying out to Paphos for some much needed winter sun and an overdue escape from the office grind. February is well outside the main tourist season but I am looking forward to visiting the historic sites of Cyprus without battling against the summer crowds. Transportation is booked and accommodation will be before today is over.

Right now however I am going to consume the last of my bitter lemons. To the uninitiated I can recommend this book as it provides a rare eye witness account of a moment in time when the wheel of history turned. The British Empire went into decline but the British either couldn't or wouldn't see it. Until it was too late.

Mike

January 2018