Thread: Cyprus .... so far

Ok ladies, well after 3 weeks on the island (ish) I have now got some bearings and idea's of costs etc.

Firstly I would like to say that I am loving it, I am finding it much easier than Germany (not just because of language) and am finding the Cypriots much more friendly, approachable and helpful.

For example; we have been out shopping to several shops (as you do when your posted somewhere new) and purchased computer table, display unit, t.v stand, other odd's and sod's. I have found, like most other places, that you can either buy expensive, or reasonably.

Ikea is 30 minutes from Dhk, and is slightly more expensive than BFG (approx €30 per large item). However not far from there (behind it) you have a Superhome which has a lot of the same type of items in the same sort of style for half the price of Ikea.

Then you have kids toys. Everyone told me to buy and ship out, which I did on a lot of things for my daughter, and now I have found a shop called Jumbo's which is a little like Toys R Us but a LOT cheaper. They also have homeware in there too.

Food is expensive for some things (mainly imported UK food) but not for others - local produce - I bought a weeks worth of fruit and veg and salad things (we get through a lot of these) and it came to €8. You would find it far more expensive in the UK.

Samm

I am looking out of the window at the rain peeing down in the middle of August. Wanna swap?!

Sounds really great, Sammi!

No chance Heli. It is lovely here, and I think we will see how the next few years go before we decide if we are going to settle here after hubby's time is done.

CK - It is great.

By the way if anyone has any questions then feel free to ask and if I don't know the answer I will find out for you.

Originally Posted by samm1551

Then you have kids toys. Everyone told me to buy and ship out, which I did on a lot of things for my daughter, and now I have found a shop called Jumbo's which is a little like Toys R Us but a LOT cheaper. They also have homeware in there too.

Don't forget to check for your kite marks though!

Wow lucky i'd love to go out there....

sammi,
how is the language much easier, do you speak greek or is english very common over there ?

English is much more common.

BB the toys are all FisherPrice toys, so I know they are good quality. They are a good €30 off of the expensive stuff like the car walkers and things.

My Mum is over, and we weren't originally going to buy a pool, but my son is so desperate for one that Mum and Dad are buying one. It is €130 for a 10 foot pool. Not bad money at all.

I lived in Cyprus about 15 years ago and loved it, having said that I was a drunken teenager and booze was really really cheap!! There was nothing like going to the beach to sleep off a hangover. We lived the other end of the island, 1st in Limassol then to Akrotiri
We didn't shop in the naafi much, we used the local shops and found that actually the food is pretty much the same. I just didn't like the bread, found it too heavy and sweet.
I don't think I would want to live there now, I went on holiday about 4 years ago and found everything sooo expensive and nothing like I remembered it.
Glad you're enjoying it though

Cyprus is a beautiful yet frustrating place. It is expensive compared to the UK and a lot of us do go all misty eyed at the thought of shopping at places like Tesco, Asda etc but you just kinda get on with it, there's always the option of buying stuff online if you're prepared to wait a while but as Sam said, that's why we get LOA/COLA. I say it's frustrating because in my line of work we deal a lot with the Republic of Cyprus authorities and that can be a nightmare sometimes, they have no sense of urgency and if they can't be bothered to do something they have no qualms in coming right out and saying it.....customer service hasn't quite reached here yet! The key phrase is very much 'this is Cyprus my friend, slowly slowly! Getting things done is also very much a case of not what you know but who you know and trust me, everyone knows everyone else here, it's a very small island!

Sam's right about the language, almost everyone speaks English which does make life much easier. I'm learning to speak (and read/write) Greek and it is appreciated and acknowledged. It's also true what they say about learning to speak a language when you are actually living in that country, I'm really surprised how much I can pick up on after just a few months of lessons. I do have both Greek and Turkish speaking staff though so I'm also going to try to learn at least a bit of Turkish just to try and even things up a bit.

Weather wise, well right now I'd give my right arm for some rain! July and August are damn hot but it's not particularly the heat that's the problem, it's the humidity. It's horrible; I'm sweating in places I didn't know I had! Today I've drank about 3 litres of water, had 4 showers and worn probably 3 different lots of clothes and everyone's just waiting for the day the humidity breaks so that we can function a bit more normally!

So, all in all, Cyprus is gorgeous but it's not somewhere I could live forever, it would end up driving me mad! But I'm more than happy to be here for another couple of years and am very glad to have had the opportunity to live and work somewhere different for a while, especially when I think about where I would be if I wasn't here.

hi there ,
my son has just been posted to dhekelia garrison ,was hoping you could inform me of the nearest hotels i could stay in so he hasn t got far to walk to see me , regards donn

Donna,

You can stay in Dhekelia Leisure Resort, or the welfare flats - your son will be able to book either of them for you and they are €25 a night, or €20 a night depending where you go.

If he gets no joy with either of them (ie no availability) let me know and I shall have a scout round for decent hotels. There are a few not far but most I wouldn't put my ex husband in, hmm on the other hand :twisted:

Seriously though drop me a line if you need anymore help. I'm on here almost every morning at the moment.

thanks for your reply have told my son about the accomadation available so hopefully he can get that sorted for me, many thanks for your reply.

regards donna