A note on the Limassol Marina

While I was in Cyprus the Limassol Marina had opened. Millions of euros were spent creating it, however many Cypriots were not impressed. It was not the architectural gem that many expected it to be. The restaurants in the Marina included McDonald's and TGI Fridays instead of luxury restaurants that were meant to accompany the high standards of the Marina. 

In fact, one man spent millions to buy and apartment in the Marina only to discover that KFC was the restaurant downstairs. That is a real shame and I assume the more inexpensive restaurants in the Marina are a symptom of the credit crisis brought on by the EU's bailout. How else can anyone afford rents in the Marina as many business closed because of the financial crisis of 2013? 

An Observation: it seemed to me that Cypriots did not know what they wanted. They created a Marina where an entertainment venue was open to the public so an not to have it be exclusive from the general population. At the same time, these same people were complaining that it was not exclusive enough. The word 'exclusive' comes from, to exclude, meaning keep people out. So what was it to be? Have a huge private Marina from the rich only or the combination that the have now: open to all but private berths. It seems the Cypriots cannot decide.

An insight into Nicosians: as per my previous post the square meant to be designer by Zaha Hadid was still not complete. We are talking about it being over 10 years in the making and all that Nicosia has is a giant hole in the road. Yet the Nicosians I met while there were complaining that the Limassol Marina was in their terms sub-par.

I could not help but point out that at least Limassol completed its public-private project. Nicosia's Square, a project that is not revenue-generating, that has had money thrown at it, is still not complete all at the expense of the Nicosians and the tax-payer.