The Idle Skiers are back in Cyprus, on the Akamas peninsula yet again. Our hotel has been open for about twenty five years and many of the staff have been here from the beginning. They greet returning customers with genuine warmth and enthusiasm. The hotel is a major employer in this remote part of the island and its continued success is vital to the local economy.
Almost as soon as we arrived, we heard of the death of HM Queen Elizabeth II. Cyprus fought an often bitter war for independence from the U.K. in the late 1950s, but joined the Commonwealth almost immediately upon becoming a sovereign nation. There remain many ties between the two countries and over the last week any number of people have expressed their condolences as if the monarch were a member of our own family. We are witnessing a moment in history from the far reaches of the Mediterranean.
Idle thoughts from a mountain 