I should have known that today was not going to be a good day when I woke up and blearily wandered to the bathroom and proceeded to dip my dressing gown belt in the loo and wee all over it - too much information I know but that sets the tone for what was to unfold...
For the past I don't know how many weeks I have been telling everyone that we have two sets of visitors arriving on 29th August and that Janice, Mick and Co will be returning on that day. Firstly our old neighbours from Married Quarters days, Laura and Mark are arriving for just a week and staying at the Akamas Spa and secondly Barry, Lynne and Joseph (the Robsons), who we have been catching up with every year since we moved over here.
Then it transpired that the Robsons had been here for over a week already - how did that blooming well happen? Well on further investigation it would appear that Barry had sent me a text saying they were arriving on Sunday 29th August and I just saw the 29th and marked it in the diary - actually it should have said either Sunday 19th or Wednesday 29th - either way there is a bit of a difference and as it happens it was 19th so I was gutted because their annual pilgrimage to the Athena Beach where they meet up with Dave, Michelle and Nick is a highlight of our year. I thought we were going to miss them until we got a window of opportunity as Mick was experiencing the delights of Paphos General Hospital and a CT scan - all of which is explained below. We grabbed the opportunity to shoot down to the hotel and catch up with them. Joseph was a young 8/9 year old when we first met with a passion for cars and he fell in love with Charlie (as does everyone). Joseph is now a teenager, well over 6 feet tall and with a voice in his boots, he may well still have a passion for cars and would still love Charlie but now he is talking about becoming a barrister specialising in data law OMG how time flies. Barry and Lynne look no different after all these years and it was, as always, lovely to see them. They are planning maybe coming up to the winery in Kathikas having met Yiannis the owner the other day - if they do we will swing by to see them again.
The family had planned that, on their last day, they would start off with a ride on a banana boat at Latchi then mosey on up to Tsakkas for something to eat and a bit of a swim. Best laid plans and all that as they had only been on the banana boat for a few minutes when Paul and Mick cracked heads and Mick ended up in the water having lost consciousness for a short while. Needless to say everything stopped and Latchi Watersports got them all off and took them to Polis A&E where they x-rayed him and made an appointment for him to go immediately to see a specialist at Paphos General.
They had paid their 10 euros to register at Polis and been seen and x-rayed and then, once at Paphos, he was put on a drip, had a CT Scan, chest x-ray, heart monitor and thorough going over all for their 10 euros and whilst Paphos General may not be the most salubrious of establishments they certainly made sure nothing was left to chance.
When we got the call from Janice about what had happened John wanted to go to the hospital to lend our support and to help them navigate the vagaries of Cypriot healthcare. It took nearly all day before they declared Mick to be ok and thankfully fit to fly tomorrow.
We all breathed a huge sigh of relief and headed back up to this end of the island thankful that it had been nothing more than an inconvenience and experience, one which hopefully they will never repeat.
For the past I don't know how many weeks I have been telling everyone that we have two sets of visitors arriving on 29th August and that Janice, Mick and Co will be returning on that day. Firstly our old neighbours from Married Quarters days, Laura and Mark are arriving for just a week and staying at the Akamas Spa and secondly Barry, Lynne and Joseph (the Robsons), who we have been catching up with every year since we moved over here.
Then it transpired that the Robsons had been here for over a week already - how did that blooming well happen? Well on further investigation it would appear that Barry had sent me a text saying they were arriving on Sunday 29th August and I just saw the 29th and marked it in the diary - actually it should have said either Sunday 19th or Wednesday 29th - either way there is a bit of a difference and as it happens it was 19th so I was gutted because their annual pilgrimage to the Athena Beach where they meet up with Dave, Michelle and Nick is a highlight of our year. I thought we were going to miss them until we got a window of opportunity as Mick was experiencing the delights of Paphos General Hospital and a CT scan - all of which is explained below. We grabbed the opportunity to shoot down to the hotel and catch up with them. Joseph was a young 8/9 year old when we first met with a passion for cars and he fell in love with Charlie (as does everyone). Joseph is now a teenager, well over 6 feet tall and with a voice in his boots, he may well still have a passion for cars and would still love Charlie but now he is talking about becoming a barrister specialising in data law OMG how time flies. Barry and Lynne look no different after all these years and it was, as always, lovely to see them. They are planning maybe coming up to the winery in Kathikas having met Yiannis the owner the other day - if they do we will swing by to see them again.
The family had planned that, on their last day, they would start off with a ride on a banana boat at Latchi then mosey on up to Tsakkas for something to eat and a bit of a swim. Best laid plans and all that as they had only been on the banana boat for a few minutes when Paul and Mick cracked heads and Mick ended up in the water having lost consciousness for a short while. Needless to say everything stopped and Latchi Watersports got them all off and took them to Polis A&E where they x-rayed him and made an appointment for him to go immediately to see a specialist at Paphos General.
They had paid their 10 euros to register at Polis and been seen and x-rayed and then, once at Paphos, he was put on a drip, had a CT Scan, chest x-ray, heart monitor and thorough going over all for their 10 euros and whilst Paphos General may not be the most salubrious of establishments they certainly made sure nothing was left to chance.
When we got the call from Janice about what had happened John wanted to go to the hospital to lend our support and to help them navigate the vagaries of Cypriot healthcare. It took nearly all day before they declared Mick to be ok and thankfully fit to fly tomorrow.
We all breathed a huge sigh of relief and headed back up to this end of the island thankful that it had been nothing more than an inconvenience and experience, one which hopefully they will never repeat.
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