CyprusVista

If you’ve ever fancied learning to salsa in the sunshine, take a holiday in Cyprus this autumn!

Renowned LA-style salsa teacher Francisco Vasquez is holding salsa dance classes at the La Excelencia Dance Studio in Engomi, Nicosia, over the next four months. Top pupils will have the chance to compete at Salsa Combat 2008, the second Cyprus Salsa Championships.

Vasquez is credited with creating the LA style of salsa, which involves fast moves, flashy footwork and the art of making it all look incredibly easy. Vasquez and his brothers formed the Los Rumberos dance troupe and have toured all over the world, as well as appearing alongside big name pop stars such as Jenifer Lopez in videos and films.

Vasquez told the Famagusta Gazette that he was impressed by the “Passion and vitality” of Cypriot salseros. “Our four months together will be an amazing and catching experience and will spread the energy of the quintessentially Latin beat across the entire country.”

Other venues offering salsa classes in Cyprus include the Casa Argentina Carlos Gardel in Nicosia, and Los Amigos club in Old Limassol. See the Latin Dance Cyprus website at http://www.latindance.com.cy for more details.

Photo by Ivan C at flickr.com

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Since 1974, the map of Cyprus has been dominated by the division of the island by the UN Green Line, marking the border between south Cyprus and Northern Cyprus. However, it should actually been the Green Lines, plural. Thanks to historical anomalies, there is a tiny pocket of North Cyprus territory tucked  inside south Cyprus, at Kokkina.

Kokkina lies on the west coast of Cyprus, along the main coastal road from Polis to Kato Pyrgos. Kato Pyrgos is the last major town in south Cyprus before the border, on the edge of the wide sweep of Morphou Bay. The closest border point  is at Limnitis, a small village near the ancient palace at Vouni, and yesterday it became a political hot-spot for all the wrong reasons.

Last July, South Cyprus had allowed around 1000 Turkish Cypriots to visit Kokkina for an annual event commemorating the bombing of villages in the area during the troubles of 1964. Kokkina is now a military zone, as the original residents were all evacuated to the Yenierenköy in the Karpas peninsula in North Cyprus. The Turkish Cypriots visitors were allowed into south Cyprus at the Limnitis border point, which is not officially open for border crossings.

However, when a group of pilgrims from Kato Pyrgos wanted to use the crossing to celebrate Mass at the Christian Orthodox church at the monastery of of Saint Mamas, (Agios Mamas) at Güzelyurt (Morphou), the authorities in North Cyprus decided not to give permission for the group to cross at Limnitis. The Mass was to celebrate the Saint’s day, in a beautiful church that shines with Byzantine art, embellished with gold leaf.

Crossing the border at Limnitis saves literally hours of travel via the normal open border route, which involves driving to Nicosia, back down to Peristerona, through pretty tortuous mountain roads to the coast, and round Pomos Point, to end up less than 15 kms west of where you started!

Sadly, such a decision comes just before the start of the UN-organised head to head talks between President Christofias of south Cyprus and  North Cyprus leader Mehmet Ali Talat. The two leaders had already met in March and stated that “The issue of the opening of the Limnitis crossing and other crossings is also on the agenda for the coming meetings of their advisers.”

However, the North Cyprus authorities still do not regard Limnitis as a a crossing point - yet.  Let’s hope it stays high on everyone’s agenda, for the benefit of residents on both sides.

Golden frescoes at the church of St Mamas. Photo by Ai@ce at flickr.com

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It’s not often that football teams from small nations such as Cyprus get a crack at the big time. Yet UEFA seems to be embracing the idea with confidence as from next season, the UEFA Champions League has guaranteed five slots in the group phase of the competition to any champions in leagues rated between 16 and 53.

However, Anorthosis Famagusta won their place in the Champions League by a 3-1 aggregate victory over their Greek rivals Olympiacos CFP. Anorthosis Famagusta’s team moved south in 1974, and are now based in Larnaca. They may draw small crowds compared with their Champion League opponents, but they do have a few aces up their jersey.

Their top scorer is a Polish player, Lukasz Sosin, their manager is the former Newcastle United striker Temuri Ketsbaia (Georgian by birth), plus they can call on the skill and experience of former Brazilian star Savio.

Coach Ketsbaia was under no illusion, however, about the task ahead of them. Speaking to reporter John Leonidou on the UEFA website, he said; “In football, you don’t achieve your dreams by going to bed at night and waking up in the morning to discover that you are in the Champions League. You need to work and that’s what we will continue to do now that we are in the group stage.”

Defender Andreas Konstantinou was equally pragmatic; “For a lot of us, this could be our one and only chance of playing in the Champions League so we need to savour this moment. I think celebrations are in order but we will then need to get our feet back on the ground and concentrate on our upcoming league game.”

And chairman Andreas Pantelis would go to any lengths to support his new heroes; “Some people have told me that they were surprised that the chairman of a club would travel in the coach with the players. Never mind the coach; I will go by bicycle if need be.”

Anorthosis are in group B, playing against Werder Bremen, Panathinaikos (in a Greek speaking derby) and  the legend that is FC Internazionale Milano (Inter Milan). Their fixtures are as follows:

16.09.2008    v    Bremen                (A)    20:45
01.10.2008     v    Panathinaikos    (H)    20:45
22.10.2008     v    Internazionale    (A)    20:45
04.11.2008     v    Internazionale    (H)    20:45
26.11.2008     v    Bremen                (H)    20:45
09.12.2008     v    Panathinaikos    (A)    20:45

Photo by hasan_e_beton at flickr.com

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Canine residents of Cyprus rejoice - you now have your very own dog beach! Whilst pet dogs are banned from every other beach in Cyprus, Ayia Napa beach is now an official a leads off, pooch-friendly area. Mayor Antonis Tsokkos said; “It’s a place primarily for dogs, not people, and we hope they have a nice time there.”

Many Cypriots have strong views about dogs on beaches, but the whole issue took a dangerous turn back in June. Shortly after an argument on the beach with a 50 year old Paphos resident and his dog, another Paphos man ran over both the offending dog and his owner, killing them both.

George Perdikis of the Cyprus Green party told The Telegraph newspaper that this was not an isolated incident; “There is a lot of hostility towards dogs on this island… Very often you’ll see fights erupt between people who take their little dogs to beaches and other residents who just can’t stand them being there.” At least in Ayia Napa, dogs may safely scamper, sniff and swim without fear of reprisals to them, or more importantly, their human owners.

Some British beaches ban dogs during the summer months, usually between early May and mid October, with stiff fines of up to £500 if Fido’s paw strays onto the sands.

However, in Brighton where a total ban was suggested, the RSPCA and other groups cited many benefits of allowing dogs onto beaches:

• less dogs would be left in hot cars during the day by visitors unaware of the ban
• many elderly people rely on dogs for company and need somewhere safe to walk them
• both dogs and dog owners would be at more risk of obesity without regular exercise.

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In Spain, a group of animal welfare supporters in Santander took to the sands illegally this week to protest over the law banning dogs from Spanish beaches. The ThinkSpain website reports their major demand to be, “The creation of separate dog-friendly areas with a view to tackling the problem of the sharp rise each summer in the number of dogs abandoned by their owners immediately prior to setting off for their holidays.”

So, the Cyprus Ayia Napa initiative is very much to be welcomed, and let’s hope the rest of the world is watching this innovative experiment. After all, when dogs and owners can come to the beach together, it’s not the dog paying for the ice-creams, beers, renting the sunlounger, etc. Drive away the dogs, and you drive away the owner’s spending money too….

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photo by RobW_ at flickr.com

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Here’s a question. One nation’s tourists are flocking to Cyprus in ever-increasing numbers, up almost 23% from last year, but which one?

The UK?

No. Tourist numbers from Great Britain were up this June on last, but only by 1%. Mind you, that’s still 187,000 Brits coming to Cyprus on holiday during June 2008, over 30% of all tourist visitors.

Greece?

No. The Greeks are actually staying away, their visitor numbers down almost 20% from last year.

Germany?

No - same applies as to Greece.

Russia?

Bingo! Visitor numbers from Russia are up a staggering 23% from last year, with just over 28,000 Russian tourists visiting in June 2008.

However, the most interesting tourist statistic may be the number of Cypriots going abroad for holidays in June, up 19% from last year. Just over 101,000 Cyprus residents went abroad in June 2008, and only 35,000 of them going to Greece. Indeed, the new figures from July 2008 back up this finding, with over 137,000 Cypriots leaving behind the sunshine for foreign climes.

So, is this the start of a new trend? If so, perhaps the canny Cypriot property owner will let out their rental properties to Russians, and jet off to somewhere with more water during the summer months! Certainly, anyone building holiday web sites in Russian must be in for a boom time…

I’ll drink to that:  Две водки пожалуйста !

photo by dreizehn28 at flickr.com

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