CHRISTMAS FESTIVITIES

We all moved into the Merit Crystal Cove Hotel (to give it its full title) on Christmas Eve afternoon, that is Barbara and Michael, Pat and Brian and Jeff and me. We had left extra food to keep Kedi going until morning so with a clear conscience we checked in. We were given a lovely large bedroom, warm and comfortable, sea views


and a real novelty for us - a telly, as we don't have one. The deal we had signed up to was for Full Board from Christmas Eve afternoon until after lunch on Boxing Day to include Christmas Day traditional lunch, a Christmas Day Dinner Dance and all local drinks throughout, costing - wait for it - £80 per person. We couldn't lose.

Once we'd unpacked and joined our friends in the lounge area we did a recce of the public areas and very nice they were too. That evening we enjoyed a very nice Buffet dinner - all the food you could wish for, both hot and cold presented so well. There was a duo to entertain us and a free bar that went on long after we had given up.

We awoke to a cloudy Christmas morning but nevertheless we were looking out over the Mediterranean sea. We had a scrumtious breakfast from so many choices of food you couldn't be disappointed. We did a quick dash home to give Kedi her breakfast and open some of the Christmas presents we had been sent from UK, lovely surprises. We had a great thermometer from Debi that as well as giving the temperature it had suitable comments alongside like "Nice Day", "Time for a beer", "Too hot to work" etc. Sharon must have sensed that it might get a bit chilly as I had a wonderful cosey wrap from them and our friends the Smiths sent a great outdoor garden clock.

Jeff and I then went on to church

and as we came out the sun shone and stayed with us throughout the day.

View from church over Kyrenia Harbour

on Christmas morning.

Back to the Merit for our Christmas lunch. They provided a traditional Christmas lunch plus all the trimmings (the only thing it lacked was crackers) and there were a multitude of Mezes and salads to choose from. Well, the only thing to do in the spirit of entente cordial was to have some of each.




After such a feast it was time for a walk to shake it down and while we were out we discovered the hotel had their generators running. We later learnt there had been a power cut from 12 noon Christmas Day until 7pm, difficult for anyone trying to cook dinner at home but that is par for the course in NC.
Our walk was followed by 40 winks and a bit of TV. I even managed to catch the Queen's Speech.



Then it was time for some titivation as we preened ready for the evening's Christmas Ball.
We met up in the lounge and checked out the rest of the frocks and outfits.
Everyone had certainly made an effort,





some in their own special way.













We enjoyed a lovely champagne reception followed by a silver service 5-course dinner with musical entertainment, cabaret and dancing. A great evening by any standard.






Boxing Day morning dawned with storms on the horizon. We went home and topped up Kedi's food and made sure all was well, then back to the Merit for a leisurely buffet breakfast. Before the weather broke we went for a short walk but it was not long before the wind whipped up and the rain lashed down. We enjoyed another superb lunch and dawdled over coffee and brandy before packing and making our way back to Karsiyaka and our gas heaters.

The general consensus was that it had been an excellent Christmas and one to be repeated in the future.