The many faces of the Cyprus Carnival 2008

The annual carnival parade happened two weeks ago in Limassol, Cyprus. The Cyprus carnival is not so "famous" as the brazil one, nevertheless it is a good sight to watch and is a popular tourist attraction in Spring. I didn't watch the entire parade this year, it got a bit boring and monotonous after the first 2.5 hrs with every fifth group consisting of Cypriot guys dressed up as women with overtly plunging decolletes and obscenely big bottoms! I don't know why Cypriot guys are so obsessed with cross-dressing particularly when it comes to the carnival season. But, the carnival fortnight as a whole is a festive time here and is a good time to be in Cyprus. Below are some of the photos from this year's main carnival parade on Makarios Avenue in Limassol.

Technorati Tags: cyprus carnival limassol carnival brazil carnival limassol downtown

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Make a difference: Join the Earth hour movement

Earth Hour 2007 was a great success in Sydney. Now, in 2008, a global event is planned.

About Earth Hour: From Earth Hour Website

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On March 31 2007, for one hour, Sydney made a powerful statement about the greatest contributor to global warming – coal-fired electricity – by turning off its lights. Over 2.2 million Sydney residents and over 2,100 businesses switched off, leading to a 10.2% energy reduction across the city. What began as one city taking a stand against global warming caught the attention of the world.

In 2008, 24 global cities will participate in Earth Hour at 8pm on March 29. Earth Hour is the highlight of a major campaign to encourage businesses, communities and individuals to take the simple steps needed to cut their emissions on an ongoing basis. It is about simple changes that will collectively make a difference – from businesses turning off their lights when their offices are empty, to households turning off appliances rather than leaving them on standby.

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Even in Cyprus, this movement has been initiated by the Green Party, who are calling all Cypriots to take part in the Global Blackout on Saturday night between 8 and 9 pm. Are you in ? I hope that there is no major football match going on at that time. If so, no Cypriot would participate!

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Scavenger hunt held in Cyprus

Last week, i organized a scavenger hunt in our office. Given below are some of the items related to Cyprus. If you want to see the full list of items from the scavenger hunt, go here.

• A movie ticket from K-Cineplex --> One team got a ticket from the bushes around K-Cineplex
• A completed Cyprus Weekly crossword
• A Cyprus flag bigger than 4*4 ft --> Few teams decided to draw the flag on a big sheet of paper rather than search for a big flag.
• A starbucks takeaway coffee cup
• A pine cone from troodos
• If you didn't know, the euro coins have the same face on one side and a country specific face on the other. Get a set of 1 cent, 2 cent, 5 cent, 10 cent, 20 cent, 50 cent, 1 Euro and 2 Euro coins each from a different country in the Euro Zone.
• A bus ticket from Limassol to Nicosia
• A bill from Orphanides for more than 100 CYP
• A bill from Orphanides for less than 30 cents.
• The Cyprus 1 pound note has a serial number of the following format: 2 alphabets followed by 6 numbers. Find a Cyprus 1 pound note with all the 6 digits different from each other.
• A CYTA bill for a month more than 400 CYP
• A greek newspaper from the month of Januray 2008.
• An used Cyprus postage stamp
• A photo of the 2 team members in front of Kalidonia Waterfall.
• A photo of two of the team members with snowballs in their hands with the troodos white globe in the background.

The event was great. Few teams managed almost 90% of the items. For the full list of items, go here.
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Renting or buying apartments in Cyprus

If you look at the construction boom going on in Cyprus and then look at the population of Cyprus, it is easy to conclude that apartments are easy to buy or rent in Cyprus. You are wrong!
Every year, hundreds and thousands of tourists from Europe and rest of the world swarm into Cyprus and to enjoy the year-round sun and the calm beaches. In fact, Cyprus holidays would feature high up on the list of most tourist operators in Europe. English tourists are the ones who dominate this lot, not surprising considering the weather in England. Also, the prices of apartments and real estate in Cyprus is still low compared to the rest of Europe in spite of the constant rise in the last few years. So, this means that many expats pour in their retirement funds into a beautiful sea-side villa in Cyprus rather than for a dinghy apartment elsewhere. People prefer Apartments in Larnaca or in Limassol, as these are the more famous touristy places.
No, I am not planning to buy an apartment in Cyprus. But, it is that time of the year when we start looking out to rent apartments for our annual project event. The problem is that we need 40 apartments, preferably in the same complex for a day. Now, who can satisfy this requirement?
Every year, we spend almost two months deciding on the place to go, be it larnaca, paphos, Ayia Napa or maybe to the mountains. After this is agreed upon, then comes the difficult task of finding a resort to host us. We are picky about the prices, but a call from us is in demand. What does it mean to the resort ? If one team goes to a particular resort and gives a good feedback on it, then dozens of other teams make a beeline for the same resort. This means that, in a span of 2-3 months, that particular resort would have rented out an average of 30 rooms per team for a single day. Some years, the tourist season might not be so good, but our project events happens year after year. So, it is pretty good business for the resorts.
So, are you ready to host us this year?

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