Paphos People

WINTER IN THE MEDITERRANEAN

Living here in Cyprus, deep in the East Mediterranean, the climate is by and large quite temperate. Summer weather is mainly dry and hot, however as the Autumn approaches a marked change is apparent. Rain and comparatively cold days gradually turn into winter with early dark nights and late dark mornings. Of course we Europeans are a hardy bunch and are content to put up with it until spring reappears the following year. It is a very comfortable existence - for us anyway.
However driving along in the sunshine the other day in December with the local radio playing, my attention was caught by an advertisement by a holiday company urging us to up sticks and go ‘somewhere warm’ for the winter. Maybe any of the Middle East countries, Africa, Australia, or cruising around the antipodes in general, the options are many and varied. It led me to muse on the fact that if everybody is following the sun to that extent where do you draw the line? Obviously the equator must be the favourite, where in hell could be hotter, but would a Scandinavian person be comfortable in that sort of climate? Do Inuit people go to Norway for warm winter sun or even winter daylight, while native Norwegians all go cruising around the Mediterranean, because the ethnic population of the Mediterranean have all gone to Australia. The mind boggles at the massive movement the worlds sun seekers have adopted over the last fifty or sixty years.
Previous to that period in Europe generally, winter came and you wrapped up in warm clothing, put the heating on high, assuming you had heating, if not just wrap up even warmer! The winter threw ice, snow, fog, rain or floods at you and you just shrugged your shoulders and got on with it. Personally, that is why we moved to Cyprus some twenty odd years ago so that we didn’t have to keep chasing the mother planets weather systems around the world. We just let them come to us. Yet we did fall into the trap of the thought of an English country pub at Sunday lunchtime in winter, a big log fire, interesting people and conversations, followed by a brisk walk home for roast beef and Yorkshire pud.
We eventually went back ‘home’ for Christmas. The reality was, wet and miserable weather, beer that had become too expensive, a calor gas fire had been installed in the bar because of the expense of the logs and to top it all people had nothing to talk about except the high prices of everything. The Sunday lunch turned out to be a selection of frozen roasted vegetables, ‘Auntie Bessies’ frozen Yorkshire puddings and beef cut so thin that you could see through it, followed by a Mr. Kipling’s apple pie with Bird’s tinned custard. Delicious not!
So as we drift into winter in Cyprus for 2024 we look forward to long trousers, woolly jumpers, proper shoes and even occasionally a coat. Sunday dinners of fresh cut beef, lamb or pork and every fourth week a fresh village chicken all accompanied by fresh picked vegetables and homemade apple pie with proper custard. All this prepared by my good wife’s own hand at a very affordable cost. Winter in Cyprus? - BRING IT ON!