Category: Cyprus

I live in Cyprus for many years now. It is a beautiful little island in Mediterranean Sea. It features warm weather for most of the year, sea, very kind and hospital people, plenty of jobs in IT industry, good food and plenty of alcohol, stable currency, and more. It’s really a nice place to live if you can handle small towns and villages. It’s also a great place to raise the kids.

Not much happens here. It is a quiet and simple place. Yet, when something happens or when I write about it, I post it to Cyprus category.

Cyprus National Internet Portal for Open Data

It is via this Cyprus Mail article that I’ve learned that not only Cyprus has an official Open Data portal, but that it’s also the best in Europe:

Cyprus is one of the top five European Union countries in the field of Open Data for 2018, while the new National Open Data Portal data.gov.cy scored highest among 31 open data portals in Europe, a special honour and recognition for the Open University of Cyprus (OUC) that developed and implemented the National Open Data Portal in collaboration with the public administration and personnel department of the finance ministry.

So far I’ve only had a quick look around, and I have to say that it’s quite impressive!  Even though most of it is in Greek, Google Chrome translation handles it nicely.  Here are a couple of interesting bits to get you started:

And there is so much more … Well done, Open University of Cyprus!

Cyprus shipping photo competition


If you are a photography enthusiast in Cyprus, Cyprus Mail has some exciting news for you:

The deputy ministry of shipping has launched a photo competition in cooperation with the Cyprus Marine Club and the support of the Cyprus Photographic Society.

[…]

The competition – launched this week – will run until January 11, 2019 and is open to persons over 18.

All images should be related to merchant shipping and/or the Cyprus maritime tradition. Participants may submit up to five colour and/or black and white images. Images should be the original work of the entrants. Photos that have received awards in other competitions or have already been publicly posted will not be accepted. Participation in the competition is free of charge.

A five-member committee will choose the three best photos. The first prize is €500, second €250 and third €125. The three winners will also receive an engraved glass trophy.

There aren’t that many photography related events in Cyprus, and even less so for amateurs and enthusiasts.  So here’s your chance to participate, showcase your skills and creativity, compare yourself to other photographers, and win some money and recognition while you are at it.

Cyprus has changed significantly in the last few years, with new ports, terminals, marinas, skylines, and possibilities for aerial photography (hello drones), opening up new opportunities for photographers of all levels.  Don’t miss out on this one.




City Sightseeing in Limassol, Cyprus


Cyprus Mail reports:

The international chain, City Sightseeing, has begun operating in Limassol and plans to expand to other towns on the island.

The red double-decker open-top tour buses officially made their apperance in the coastal town on Saturday, CNA reported.

Four buses are set to operate in the city and Limassol region.

[…]

Hop-On Hop-Off Limassol, will  be operational season: all year round. First tours begin at 9am and the last of the day at 3pm. They start from 25 euros.

More information:
https://city-sightseeing.com/en/145/cyprus/1794/hop-on-hop-off-limassol

These are very good news, especially with the expected tourism increase due to the Limassol Casino project (stop number 5):




EU : Compensation of employees per hour worked


Eurostat reports the compensation of employees per hour worked.  This includes 28 member countries of the European Union, and the data for the last 10 years.

Cyprus stands at 14.3 EUR (that’s 2,288 EUR per month, given 40 hour working weeks) , slightly up from 13.9 EUR ten years ago.




A pint of Guinness gets cheaper when it leaves Ireland


This article examines what happens to the price of the Guinness pint outside of Ireland.

In almost all cases, the price of a pint of Guinness gets cheaper when it leaves Ireland. In some cases the difference is enormous.