Tuesday, September 28th...
Alright, I admit, I've gone away, to Cyprus for a family wedding, to be exact. And you know how it is, you don't exactly want to advertise the fact that the house is empty because, whilst we don't have much in the way of crime in Creeting St Peter as a rule, you don't want to take any chances.
It is unseasonably warm in north-west Cyprus, with the thermometer peaking in the mid-eighties Fahrenheit, and the sun beating down relentlessly out of a perfectly blue sky. There's nothing to drink except gin and tonic, but at least the limes are easily available - it's harvest time in Argaka.
We've hired a villa, mostly because they're really rather cheap, at least, compared to the cost of a hotel room of a similar standard. The reason for this is, in part, due to the financial crisis. There has been a vast level of property development here, and clutches of speculative development ran into the sand two years ago. If you borrowed to buy your villa, you will now be almost certainly in negative equity, and if you need to sell, you'll probably have to accept a significant loss.
In the meantime, many are rented out, by the week or by the month, in the hope that something will come along. There are plenty of shells of part-built properties too, left in suspended animation, awaiting the return of the good times.
There is a growing expat community here in the Polis area, north of Paphos, mostly retired, avoiding the spiralling cost of heating, enjoying the greater spending power of their pensions. Those living off of their investment income have struggled as interest rates and returns have fallen, but it is widely felt that things won't get any worse, and the community tends to look after its own.
But you'll excuse me if I end here. After all, a gin and tonic isn't quite as perfect if you let the ice melt...
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