Business - Through the eye of a needle

Stitch woke and tore around the garden looking for his cat friends, I'm beginning to think we don't need to exercise him as just running around like a numpty in the garden is exercise enough, not once has he walked out into the garden at a leisurely pace, he chomps at the bit to get through the door and does circles around the shrubbery every time, I make him sit inside until he is given the command 'OK' then he is off, but even before the ok he is all excitable and tail wagging, he has actually come across one cat that just sat looking at him from behind a bush, one that could easily have been walked around, but Stitch preferred to bark at the cat and the cat just sat and looked at him, if only they wouldn't run he would have some playmates, but no they run off and he chases, the one cat that refused to be chased only left the garden when I shooed it away, did I mention I don't like cats so having a dog that chases them out of the garden is not really a problem. The problems only occur when Stitch is under a table in a cafe and a cat walks past, being tied to the table in Starbucks yesterday meant't he nearly took the table with him when he tried to chase a cat.  Cyprus like Israel has way too many cats for my liking and there are very few of them that are scared of a dog!

We took Stitch for a walk up the hill before we set off to Nicosia, on the way up I kept him on the lead but on the way down I let him run free, thank all that is merciful that he has been trained to leave it because in front of us as we walked back down the hill was a snake, slithering across the road, Stitch spotted it first and ran after it, luckily we saw this event unfold and shouted for him to leave it, he did have a look but thought it best to do as he was told and the snake slithered off into the grass, the beasts in this country just get better and better. The snake we saw was a Whip Snake and around 1.2mts in length, listed below are just two of the local snakes although the second one tends to be on the Turkish side and lets hope he stays there, but do snakes really know boundaries, would they even know if they popped over the border into Cyprus? Only if they tried to buy coffee cos the Lira doesn't work here.

Large Whip snake – this snake is fairly common, and you’re most likely to spot it crossing a road. Its black and shiny, growing up to around 2 metres in length. It is aggressive and will stand its ground if threatened. It is a constrictor, with no venom, but bites are painful as they chew rather than give a single bite. Interestingly it likes to eat blunt-nosed vipers, so is actually a good one to have around.

Blunt-nosed Viper – this is the most dangerous snake in North Cyprus, so it’s worth knowing how to recognise it. It’s a large, fat snake, around 1.5 metres long, and is silvery beige with rectangular markings along its body and black spots on its head.  It likes being near water, as this is good for hunting and staying cool, and consequently is occasionally found in swimming pools.If bitten it is essential to get medical attention quickly as a bite can be fatal if not treated (all medical centres stock anti-venom). The bite is particularly painful as the fangs stay embedded in the skin and continue to pump venom. However, fatalities are extremely rare, with around 20 bites reported a year but no fatalities in the last 15 years.

We packed everything into the car, leads, dog food (as we would be late) poop bags, we had it all, and I thought traveling with children was difficult! We set off for Nicosia and arrived around 2pm, we took our lunch at a restaurant on one of the Ledra side streets, sitting outside which was pleasant most of the time and windy the rest of the time, I have yet to visit Ledra the street that runs through the border to the Turkish side without there being any wind, it whistles down the alleys and streets which would be fine in the height of summer but not when although a hot day it was a touch on the chilly side in the shade. 

My beloved decided on Baked Salmon with rice and vegetables and I chose Seafood Risotto, I have to say it was the best Risotto I have ever tasted, quite impressive really when you think the fish is shipped in from the likes of Limassol or anywhere else on the coast, ten out of ten was the score on my dish, and my beloved's Salmon was pretty damned good too.

After lunch we thought it best to take Stitch  for a walk as he had sat under out table being very well behaved we thought it only fair, we were off the main drag thankfully when a business stop in the drain (phew) was required, to say my poor pup is feeling the revenge of the oil incident yesterday was an understatement, he looked up at us as if to say 'I know it's my own fault, but make it stop', poor little hound must be empty now! 

We headed around Nicosia until it was time for our appointment, Stitch and I waited whilst my beloved took care of the appointment, luckily there was a Costa around the corner so Stitch and I sat ourselves down and waited. I really don't like Costa as I find their coffee be burnt and way to strong, Starbucks is and will always be my Cafe of choice, I like their coffee, I love their staff, their friendliness and most of all I like the different choices of beans they sell which invariably make their way into my cupboard, really I don't need to drink coffee out as we have our own machine but a coffee out in the sunshine and with like minded people is far better than making your own.

Poor Stitch is still having issues with his belly as we found out when we took him for an evening walk around Parekklisia on our return but you can bet your bottom dollar this will not put him off slurping anything that falls onto the floor if he gets a chance, dogs are like that they don't care if it will go through them as long as it goes in them.

The weather for Nicosia was supposed to be thunderstorms today, but one spot of rain is not a thunderstorm by any stretch of the imagination.

Ledra