Cyprus Shopping Tips by ozalp

Dizayn 74: Ceramics

Another last day visit. We stopped by on our way to Blue House and lost ourselves between shelves. Everything was shining like sun inside the shop. The place was full of plates, pots, vases and lots of small souvenirs. All ceramics.
There was an atelier behind the shop. A young girl was working. The man behind the counter started to tell us his story. He was studying arts in Turkey. Jale Yilmabasar, famous Turkish ceramic artist, was one of his teachers. Then the Cyprus Dispute began. He returned his homeland and he started his job in 1974.
We saw his works in almost every restaurant in Cyprus. Sunflowers are his most common figure. I bought a dark blue sugar pot with sunflower to mom and a spoon holder with garlic figure for myself. Every peace has the sign of the shop. It is a nice place to buy gifts.
Check the following photos for the goods.

What to buy: Lots of things, plates, pots, vases...

What to pay: 5 to 50 dollars, I assume

Address: Dizayn 74 Pottery, Girne Mersin-10, Turkey

Phone: +90 0392 815 2507-3817

Theme: Local Craft

Website: http://www.dizayn74.com/

Any market: Con Coffee

I couldn't decide where to write this info for a while. It could be a restaurant or a local custom tip. But also you can buy it, so I wrote it as a shopping tip.

Con coffee is a lighter version of our Turkish coffee. You’ll have this when you want to have Turkish coffee all over Cyprus. According to some people, its taste is smoother, because it has some roasted chickpea as ingredient. Usually I prefer not to drink Turkish coffee, or any other coffee. But even I could drink some of those here.

By the way, Con is the pronounciation of John in Turkish.

What to buy: Con Coffee

What to pay: Not much but I don't remember the exact price

Theme: Food and Drink

Website: http://www.contrading.com/coffee/index.asp?page=60

Any liqueur shop: Sema raki

Raki is officially Turkish booze. The most famous brand is Yeni Raki in Turkey but in Cyprus you can find local brands like Sema Raki. We had a chance to taste it in Archways and found it very delicious. Since all alcoholic boozes are very cheap in Cyprus, we bought some Sema Raki on our way home.
As for an example, a bottle of Yeni Raki (70cl) is about 25 lira in Turkey. I bought it for 10 lira in Cyprus and Sema Raki is 8 lira in the markets. And Sema has a better taste. Yeni Raki’s taste changes, you can’t have the same taste in two bottles. So I recommend you to buy or at least taste it in here.

What to buy: Sema raki

What to pay: 8-10 lira, 6-8 dollars

Theme: Food and Drink

Baf gum

In my childhood, one of my aunts always sent me a chewing gum. It was a natural gum from a pine tree, I think. It’s though pieces were amber colored. I needed to make them soften by waiting them in my mouth for a while. Then it turned into a crazy purple color with a nice smell. Now, my aunt is passed away and I haven’t seen this gum for years.
This is why I was so excited when I saw Baf gum in Nicosia. It smells similar –not same- but it is white. Baf is a city in Cyprus and this gum is from there. We bought a big package and shared it. This gum also can be used in pastry and deserts.
We bought it from a big market in Nicosia. You can also find vegetables there.

What to buy: Baf chewing gum

What to pay: We paid 10 lira to a big package with 20-30 gum sticks

Theme: Food and Drink