CyprusVista

Cyprus Transport Minister Nico Nicolaides is not amused. Just weeks after visiting the new building works at both Larnaca and Paphos airports, the Minister has issued a warning to the two ground handling firms at the airports to “put their houses in order” - or risk being closed down.

Cyprus airport ground handling services are provided by Swissport and LGS (Louis, Gold Air and Service Air) Handling. However, the companies have made a series of embarrassing and image-damaging mistakes, such as bus loads of passengers being taken to the wrong plane and passengers waiting up to 90 minutes for their luggage. As a result, the government has not ruled out revoking the companies’ licenses if the situation does not improve rapidly.

Hermes, the owners of both airports and responsible for the improvements, are said to be unhappy with the two companies, although Hermes are not themselves responsible for the operations of the handling firms.

However, the two ground handling companies may be thrown a lifeline from cheap flights to Cyprus, such as those offered by easyjet. Since the airline, amongst others, now charge for every item of hold baggage, more and more passengers are flying with just hand luggage. This, of course, reduces the number of bags carried in the hold. With less bags to unload and load, the job of ground handling will be quicker and easier. Won’t it?

If you are coming this summer to Cyprus on holiday this summer, do bear in mind that temperatures have already reached 40 degrees in the past fortnight, and a further mini heat wave has been forecast. You can easily fit your swimsuit, shorts, shirts, sun dresses, flip flops, chic lit novel, sun hat, high factor sunblock, etc, in a hand luggage-sized bag of 55×40x20cm. In relaxed and laid back Cyprus, you probably won’t need a lot else…

Checking in at Larnaca Airport, Cyprus. Photo by sunshineandbeyond at flickr.com

Popularity: 11% [?]

The continuing saga of the shortage of water in Cyprus took another twist yesterday. As the container ship full of imported Greek drinking water spent its 15th day day moored off the coast at Limassol in soaring temperatures, government scientists confirmed that the water was no longer fit for human consumption.

The water chemical make-up has altered due to the levels of chlorine added to keep the water potable during its journey, and in addition, the water ’smells’ due to the time spent sloshing around in the ship’s tanks.

The much-needed water delivery should have been piped ashore last week, until it was discovered that the rapidly-constructed pipeline was just over 3m metres short.

The water shipments are costing the Cyprus taxpayers a massive Euro45 million. While the Greeks are only charging Cyprus Euro0.67 per cubic metre, the final cost to the Cyprus taxpayer is Euro5 per cubic metre.

Therefore, over 86% of the final cost of the imported drinking water is accounted for by transportation and distribution costs. In contrast, water from the country’s existing desalination plants costs just Euro1 a cubic litre. (Did somebody actually bother to do the maths on this one before ordering the water?)

However, the good new is that the shipload of water will not be wasted. The precious cargo will be pumped to the Yermosoyia reservoir for agricultural use only - when the pipeline is fixed…

Popularity: 5% [?]

Cheap Car Hire this Summer in Cyprus
According to a UK Post Office survey, Cyprus has the second-cheapest car hire in the whole of Europe. Based on a day’s car hire and a round trip of 100 miles, Holland won the honour of the cheapest destination for car hire in Europe, while neighbouring France was the most expensive.

Cost of One Week’s Car Hire in Europe
The Post Office report also compared the average cost of one week’s car hire, with the cheapest available in Spain. Cyprus again provided the second-cheapest weekly car hire deals in Europe, while the most expensive average rental hire prices for a week was in Greece.

Gazing the View: Photo by LaRezistance  / Kyriakos at flickr.com

Cost of Three Days Car Hire in Europe
For three days car hire, including fuel costs for 200 miles of motoring at 30 miles per gallon/5 litres, Cyprus was the fifth cheapest holiday destination in Europe. None of the European destinations surveyed, however, could rival the cheapest deal of all, which was in Florida USA, where the price was almost half that in Cyprus.

Petrol and Diesel Prices in Europe
Of course, the USA has an unfair advantage in any comparison where fuel is included, since US ‘gas’ (petrol and diesel) is so much cheaper. The cheapest unleaded fuel prices in Europe were in Switzerland; in June 2008, prices were still less than GBP£1 a litre. The cheapest diesel prices in June 2008, at less than GBP£1 a litre, were in Spain.

Popularity: 33% [?]

If you love home make-over shows or property programmes, then the Paphos Mosaics are a must-see on your holiday in Cyprus.

Walking through the vast Paphos Archaeological Park in Cyprus is like wandering amongst ancient Roman show homes, where the chief attraction was not the walls but the floors. If you were a seriously rich Roman and wanted to show off, which most of them did, you had the finest flooring money could buy - mosaics.

When a farmer ploughing a field in 1961 near modern Pafos in south Cyprus dug up some stone fragments, little did he know that under his feet were some of the finest Roman villas in Cyprus, complete with elaborate mosaic floors. Each mosaic is a work of art in its own right, made with thousands of coloured stone fragments to form an elaborate picture, usually depicting a mythological story. Four different Roman villas at Pafos have been excavated to reveal the mosaics treasures that lay under the earth for so long.

At the House of Dionysus, there are over 34 rooms decorated with the delicate mosaics. Look out for vain Narcissus admiring his reflection in a pool in Room 2, and the Four Seasons in Room 3. The most spectacular room is the ‘tablinum’, a long dining and reception room decorated with a massive carpet of mosaics depicting the god Dionysus giving the gift of wine. See if you can spot the two drunken peasants slumped beside an empty wine jar in the final panel!

The Villa of Theseus is palatial in scope, and contained a wealth of statues as well as 1400 square metres of mosaics created between the 3rd to 5th century. In Room 36, Theseus battles the mighty Minotaur in the labyrinth at Knossos, while in Room 40, the infant Achilles is dipped into the bath that makes him invulnerable - apart from his heel by which his mother grips him.

Compare the rather raunchy style of the House of Dionysus mosaics with the elegant images in the House of Aion. Dating from the 4th century AD, these mosaics are in the so-called ‘beautiful’ style, and remarkably similar to the later Byzantine icons painted in the Cyprus Troodos churches.

Last but not least, it is well worth the short walk to the tent-covered House of Orpheus, where you can see the famous musician calming the beasts of the forest with his lyre.

Part of the fun of a day out at the Pafos Kato Archaeological Park is just walking around, imagining horses and chariots driving down the wide streets, the market place (or agora) packed with stall holders selling everything from local fish to exotic spices. Raised walkways give you a bird’s eye view of the remains, and you can also walk on genuine mosaic pavements in several areas. Most fun of all, perhaps, is to watch the archaeologists at work, excavating new areas of the site. (On our last visit, there was much excitement as an almost intact earthenware pot emerged from the soil before our very eyes.)

The Paphos Archaeological Park is open from 8am to 7.30pm from June to August, closing earlier out of season. Entry is very reasonable at under Euro5. The park covers a large area, so make sure you wear shoes for walking, take a hat, and a bottle of water to drink on your way round. You can park your Cyprus hire car in the shade in the large free car park. Make sure you allow enough time for lunch in a harbourside café, where the local pelicans come in to beg for scraps from the tables, much to the restaurant owner’s annoyance!

Popularity: 22% [?]

The arrival of a tanker full of drinking water off the coast of Cyprus this week will bring welcome relief to the island’s dwindling water reserves.

Two tankers a day for the next six months will leave the port of Elefsina in Greece to sail to an offshore pumping station at Limassol in Cyprus, ferrying a total of 8 million cubic metres of water. Cyprus water supplies are at their lowest since 1908 due to four years without significant rainfall. The emergency shipments, dismissed back in early spring as “pure science fiction” according to a BBC report, will cost the Republic of Cyprus government 38 million Euros.

The Senior Engineer at the Cyprus Department of Water Development, Kyriacos Kirou, explained how the fresh water from Greece has been fully tested before being pumped along a specially constructed underwater pipeline. Most of the imported water will join the supply network in Limassol, with some channeled to the storage depot near Yermasogeias to cope with tourism requirements. Any surplus will join the southern pipeline to supply the Famagusta and Larnaca districts.

Cyprus is not alone in shipping in water to alleviate water shortages. Back in May this year, the Spanish city of Barcelona was forced to bring in tankers of water after the city’s main reservoir dropped to below 18% capacity. 2008 has been the driest year since records began in Spain in 1948. Each shipment of water to the parched Spanish city contains 28 million litres, with up to 12 shipments arriving every month.

Water is also at the heart of negotiations between Israel and Syria over the Golan Heights area. This large plateau provides around 30% of Israel’s fresh water supplies.

Popularity: 15% [?]