Bowling Abroad

2nd March

The Ramage Raiders were met at 6pm at Paphos Airport by Sarah & JIm their tour managers at 6pm after a tedious 5 hour flight from Edinburgh, but in true Scottish style they were all in high spirits when they got off the plane and were looking forward to their 2 weeks of fun and frolics in Cyprus! After a 20 minute journey to the Hotel Louis Ledra Beach by coach ,the ladies were booked in quickly and were offered brandy sours or orange juice on arrival, the group leader, Sandra Williamson booked in for all 21 ladies in the group. They all got their keys and went to their rooms to freshen up and unpack. All rooms as requested were all on the same floor, which was the ground floor,the same as reception and the bar area. The ladies who had hired bowls, found them in their rooms as Jim had arranged this with the hotel previously. They all then met up again for dinner around 8pm. After dinner, most of the group went to bed early as they had been travelling since 6am, but the hardy few stayed up until late and danced the evening away Greek style!

3rd March

After a good nights' sleep in the most comfortable hotel bed, the ladies were raring to go and after waking up to a lovely bright sunny day they all went to breakfast.
A welcome meeting had been arranged by Sarah and Jim for 10am. The hotel had kindly provided orange juice for our meeting and every member of the group bowlers &non bowlers were given a pen & notepad as their welcome gift, a map of the area,leaflets on excursions, a 10% discount card off a local restaurant and a discount card off the local taxi company, all pre arranged by Jim. The itinerary was explained in detail and the meeting ended with everyone happy! We met outside to meet the coach at 1pm for the first match against Coral Bay Bowls Club, set in the countryside. After a long hot afternoon of bowls the Ramage Raiders were sadly beaten, but it was close. Helen Shaw & Sandra Williamson presented the club with a very nice wooden plaque. The members of the club stayed behind for a friendly drink or three and it was time to board the coach back to the hotel for dinner. We watched the sun set as we drove along the spectacular coastline. Perfect end to the first day. After dinner most of the ladies met up in the bar and later played bingo in the other entertainment bar, probably the biggest con ever but we enjoyed it!

4th March

Day off for everyone. Some ladies went for a 20 minute walk down to the Marina and its many shops, cafes etc. Others got a local bus and explored further afield. The buses are cheap and air conditioned, and the easier option for tired legs after walking around all day in the Marina! Everyone swapped stories at dinner and they all seemed to enjoy the choice of delicious food and desserts! Another successful evening!

5th March

Today was the 10am match versus the Louis Phaethon Bowls Club. The Phaethon players picked all the raiders up by car and took them a short ride up the road to the bowling green. The sun was shining, every one were in high spirits and enjoyed the game although the Ramage Raiders lost overall, they were not defeated in attitude! Everyone went back to the Ledra Beach Hotel for drinks as the Louis Phaethon hotel was closed for refurbishment. The rest of the afternoon was spent lazing around the pool or gardens somewhere quiet, reading a good novel or relaxing in the sun. Everyone met up at dinner and discussed the day's events animatedly! More dancing more bingo and it was time for bed again, deciding what to do the next day on their day off!

6th March

Today was a Sunday and most shops were closed apart from the tourist shops and restaurants. Some of the ladies went down to the Marina and watched the world go by with a nice coffee, others stayed around the hotel and had a swim in the hotels lovely indoor pool. All had a good day and met up for dinner filling each other in on their day and making plans for the following leisure week.

7th March

The group all met outside at 9am on a cloudy day for a trip to Limassol. This day is a Bank Holiday called Green Monday in Cyprus,traditionally the Cypriots only eat green things and fly kites on this day! Another tradition is that it always rains, which it did but it was really just a drop or 2. Maybe it was the grey skies but Limassol look dreary and tatty. The promenade was dug up and boarded up so there wasn't anything to see apart from leftover rubbish from the previous day's festival. So after killing 2 hours by sitting in a cafe and drinking tea and coffee it was relief to make our way back to the coach for a 20 minute journey to Aphrodite Bowls Club (Erimi). The clouds had parted leaving blue skies and it was getting hotter by the minute! Things were looking up! We were met by some of the members and were shown to tables and a buffet of filled rolls & fresh chips. There was plenty of tea,coffee and soft drinks supplied and the ladies enjoyed their food then got ready to dress for business! We had the group photo taken and then it was on  with the match! The sun shone but again no overall win for our Raiders but a couple of winning rinks! The weather had been kind to us but it was getting cloudy again and we set off aboard the coach at 5.20 hoping to see a spectacular sunset but alas,it was too cloudy to see anything so most of the ladies had a little power nap, it had been a long day! The ladies arrived back at the hotel just over an hour later and retired to their rooms to dress for dinner. Overall a good day with everyone still very happy and enjoying the tour , even though Limassol was a bit of a dead loss it didn't dampen their spirits and they all finished the evening off having a good laugh about the day's events!

8th March

We all met in the foyer at 9.20am to go across the road for a 10am match against the Aliathon Bowls Club. The weather was against them but the troopers the Ramage Raiders are, battled the rain to have a couple of winning rinks before the heavens opened. At least they were warmed up afterwards with hot tea and coffee and the friendly club members made them feel at home while the rain cleared. Everyone enjoyed their bowls and although the day ended on a rather wet note, the Ramage Raiders still had another week of leisure before they faced the snow back in Edinburgh! That evening we had the presentation meeting, where Sandra Williamson, the group leader was presented with a personalised porcelain mug by Sarah as a personal thank you for all her hard work co- ordinating the tour. Jim announced the winners in reverse order and the overall winner was............. Betty Trayner, who received a beautiful bowls bag and a winner medal which she was very proud of! Well done Betty! Everyone received a prize and was thanked for travelling with Bowling Abroad. Sarah thanked Jim for all his hard work and his wife Catherine for putting up with him! In all seriousness, Jim was a star, he goes way beyond his job description and arranged a game of short mat bowls, a night out with an entertainer and hired all their bowls to order and arranged the whole tour from the Cyprus.

 Thank you Jim and thank you to all the Ramage Raiders for making the tour the success it was!

 See you all in April 2012
Sarah