# A Few Daft Questions



## Sandrapoy1 (Feb 22, 2018)

Hi Everyone....well I have introduced myself and hubby on the 'introduce yourself thread, so now if its ok I have a few daft things to ask, I will just ask a couple of things until more questions come to mind.
Does anyone know if they have seen Earl Grey Decaf Teabags for sale in any of the shops....I don't like regular tea and only seem to enjoy my cups of Earl Grey....not sure where I picked this habit up from as my parents only drank regular tea...but anyway it is what it is and I am not sure at this point whether to start collecting boxes of Earl Grey tea and fill a suitcase up lol.

Also does anyone know if they sell Sweetex sweeteners in any of the shops, over here in the Uk it comes in a push down white plastic tube.
Not that any of this is important but I think I would just like to be prepared that I am going to have to find another tea and sweetener.

My last question for now is water....would you mind if I asked what the best thing to do is.....using a Brita Jug,....a water cooler or is the general consensus that the water out of the tap is ok to use.
Hope my questions are ok....thanks in advance....Sandra


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## PeteandSylv (Sep 24, 2008)

There's an overwhelming selection of tea available in the main supermarkets but you'll find the prices rather more than the UK. We always import Sylvi's fruit infusions and my Gold Blend from our UK trips and via visitors.

There's a good selection of sweeteners available too. If you can't find Sweetex just buy generic saccharin for that's all Sweetex is apart from a higher price. Stevia seems to be the "in" sweetener at the moment.

Tap water is fine for drinking as long as you like the taste. Like anywhere else the taste varies with the pipes it is delivered in. If you don't like it you have the alternatives. Be aware that the tap water is very hard here.

Pete


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## David_&_Letitia (Jul 8, 2012)

Hi Sandra,

Not daft questions at all!

I like Earl Grey tea occasionally and it’s widely available in Cyprus. We also use decaf teabags for ‘regular’ tea most of the time, which is also widely available (we use M&S Food for our supply). However, I’ve never seen Earl Grey decaf teabags. This may be because we’ve never looked for them, however, so someone else may be able to identify a supplier here.

I’m not 100% sure about Sweetex as my wife uses Canderel, but I think I’ve seen Sweetex in the big supermarkets.

As far as water is concerned, it’s purely a question of taste and practicality really. Most kitchen taps here are fitted with a small knob at the base which denotes fresh mains water which is potable (drinkable). If your house doesn’t have one, then the supply is from a tank on the roof which is certainly not recommended. However, although we have one, we don’t use it for drinking water. Instead, we use a refrigerated water dispenser and also keep bottles as my wife prefers her water at room temperature. We do, however, use the mains tap water via a Brita water filter jug to fill our kettle, coffee machine and when cooking rice etc. The mains water here is very hard and therefore limescale/calcium deposits build up very quickly. Despite regular de-scaling, we went through 2 kettles and 2 irons in a very short period of time. Although the Brita water filter jug is not sold to prevent limescale - we find that it does!


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## nhowarth (Dec 6, 2017)

As I'm not a tea drinker and use the 'real thing' in my coffee I can't answer your questions about Earl Grey and Sweetex (although I have seen Earl Grey tea bags in hotels).

But water from the tap is fine - we've been drinking it for 15 years without any problems (apart from the odd occasion when you can taste chlorine.)

Brita jugs are available here.

Regards,


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## Sandrapoy1 (Feb 22, 2018)

Thank you so much for your replies, its good to know there are lots of tea’s available and great that there is earl grey….I didn’t know sweetex was saccharin so that is good to know….and I guess I will bring some Gold Blend with me until I can find an alternative….no Gold Blend in Cyprus…I hadn’t even thought of that….
I will definitely check out Marks & Spencers, and good to know there are decaf regular tea’s
I do seem to be sensitive to smells and tastes in water as even on the Isle of Wight I have to run the tap for a while before drinking the water and filling the kettle as I can taste an after taste….I will definitely try a Brita jug I think, but it’s good to know that you can buy them in Cyprus so I will wait until we arrive before buying one.
I did read about water coming from the roof, so that is good to hear about the knob on the base of the tap, I can’t imagine enjoying roof water lol….pretty scary really.
For the first time since February we actually have the same weather temperature as Cyprus…we are at 25 degrees, but of course our weather will at some point soon go down and yours will go up….I can’t imagine what it is like to wake up to sunshine most of the summer it must be fabulous….but we will soon be there (end of September) ….thanks again for your replies, I will read them out to hubby when he gets home from work.
Thanks….Sandra
I will post more daft questions soon lol.


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## PeteandSylv (Sep 24, 2008)

Just to clarify: Gold Blend is readily available in Cyprus but it's around double the already high UK price!

One of our "complaints" here is that there is sometimes too much selection in the big supermarkets. For example at Alphamega we counted at least 10 brands of coconut milk. You'll find there's very little you can't get here including a bewildering selection in the Chinese Supermarkets which has been feeding my excursion into Chinese cooking for some time.

Pete


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## Sandrapoy1 (Feb 22, 2018)

Thanks for the info on Gold Blend, isn't it funny the little things in life that become important when you think they might be taken away lol....now I am wondering about marmite lol.
The supermarket Alphamega sounds totally amazing, I am excited just thinking of wandering around the store and trying different things....and all that beautiful fruit that you get in Cyprus that grows over there....it is definitely exciting.
I would love to have the time to play around with Chinese cooking as well, what a brilliant idea, I will add it to my list of hobbies that I hope to take up when we finally get settled, at the moment I have an allotment as I love to grow things so I have been researching container growing as I can't see me giving up growing our salads....hubby will be happy when I tell him I have added Chinese cooking to my list lol.


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## PeteandSylv (Sep 24, 2008)

Without wanting to dampen your enthusiasm I have to say that I don't know anyone that grows their own salad goods although many have tried. It's rather different in this climate and the ultimate problem is that when your items are ready to eat so are all the others. Much produce is grown "locally" and unlike the UK will be as good or better than any you can grow. Shop bought salad is excellent, cheap and it's easier to pay 35 cents for a lettuce, cents per kg for cucumber, tomatoes, onions etc. Even vast bunches of celery appear for just over €1. You might be on a winner if you can grow green, orange, yellow and red peppers, mushrooms, leeks and berries in enough quantity though.

One thing I don't understand here is why there are no lime trees. Given the ease with which oranges and lemons grow, I would have thought there should be limes given that the only ones in the supermarkets are imported and expensive.

Pete


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## nhowarth (Dec 6, 2017)

There was a piece on Radio 4 yesterday about a shortage of lettuces in the UK. The weather has been too hot for them to grow and this problem has affected all the northern European countries (where most of the lettces are grown) and supplies are short everywhere.

They were talking about importing them from the USA - at a huge expense.

The critical temperature is 25 degrees - lettuces stop growing when it gets any hotter.

Local fruit and veg is excellent - *MUCH *better than the stuff you get in the UK supermarkets.

Regards,


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## Sandrapoy1 (Feb 22, 2018)

Thanks for letting me know....it is better to be prepared in my mind that growing things will be difficult rather than being disappointed....I am sure I really could do with a rest from it all if I was honest, I have done a bit of research and have read of lots of problems with people trying to grow tomato's etc in their gardens, I think the last thing I was reading a few days ago was that people living in Cyprus were trying to find shade for their tomato plants....the opposite from the UK lol as we are always trying to get them into the sun.....so it really doesn't seem very feasible, I do appreciate you telling me, so now maybe its time for me to move on to different hobbies and give myself a rest from it all, it was good fun though over these last few years although tiring....

nhowarth….I didn't know that about lettuces that they stop growing at 25 degrees, that explains why everything is going mad on my allotment and not the lettuces...its like they are frozen in time lol.
Its lovely to know how fabulous all of the salad things are over there, you are all so lucky to be over there now....I just wish I didn't have to wait until September lol.
Thanks again for your replies.
Sandra


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## nhowarth (Dec 6, 2017)

I wouldn't give up on growing vegetables, etc. When you find somewhere to live you can see what others in the area are growing. Many Cypriots grow vegetables and fruit, but generally speaking, not in their garden but on plots of land they have elsewhere.

And there are some things you can find here that are relatively scarce in the UK.

Kohlrabi (Kouloumbra) is very nice in a salad or as a healthy crunchy snack chopped into bite-sized pieces sprinkled with lemon juice and a little salt.

Romanesco, which I've only seen a couple of times in the UK, looks like a cross between a cauliflower and broccoli. It has a buttery flavour and much tastier than a bland cauliflower.

Kolokasi is a root vegetable you may wish to try - personally I don't like it but it's very popular in stews.

Watermelon (Karpouzi) very refreshing but be careful you don't damage your back carrying one of them!

Regards,


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## Sandrapoy1 (Feb 22, 2018)

Well I quite enjoyed telling everyone on the allotment site this morning about the lettuces not growing when the temperature gets above 25 lol....that was a fun fact to know.
I found the other things really interesting and have never heard of any of them....I have a book that I am writing things in....mainly things we will need to know like the internet...tv etc from research I have done....so I have now added a section on food and added the three things you mentioned so I won't forget, I love trying out new things, I really fancy the Kohlrabi (Kouloumbra)….anyway I will search them out as soon as we are settled so thank you for letting me know.
I do adore water melons, and always know that in July it is watermelon month here in the UK, I would live on them if I could, I can't imagine living in a place that grows them and I bet they are a lot bigger than the one's sold over here, they are probably cheaper as well lol....thanks for all the interesting foods....now I am feeling hungry lol.


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