Sandy Coral Bay Beach sits inside a crescent bay and sports a shallow entry that allows a tall person to walk about 100 meters into the water before the ground drops to mandate swimming or diving. And regardless of how fancy the surrounding neighborhood or hotels may get, all beaches on Cyprus are public. Even villas sitting directly on the water have to share the actual beach with one and all. Bravo!

With roses and bourgainvilla blooming in the winter, orange and grapefruit trees, olive, nispero and Persian apple trees, the garden greenery surrounding our new house explains why the greater region is referred to as the fertile crescent.

The digs from the front below, with the lemons and grapefruit on the table above plucked from our own trees - in February.

Ivette scored a detached artist studio in the back.

"Hi Srajan: I always love going to 6moons to read the reviews as well as the industry features column and the industry announcements. For the past few weeks, there's been very little new stuff up. I mentioned this to Steve Eddy and he said you might be in the process of moving to Europe. So, I just wanted to check up and make sure your okay - and let you know that I miss my daily fix -:) Cheers and hope all is well, Mike Lafevre."


Mike wasn't the only reader to have noticed the unusual radio silence on the moons - but now you know what caused it. Instead of slacking off, we've been extremely busy preparing for our imminent move to Europe. The next four to five weeks will see us do the same in reverse here in Taos (taking down a household, selling off furniture and cars) while I'll finalize pending reviews and continue to publish new content from the gang as usual.

Speaking of which, the established 6moons crew will continue to cover US and other products that enjoy distribution in America. Yours truly will begin to focus on Euro product, some of which will not yet be imported to the US. With a massive 1.5KV Plitron step-down transformer on order, I'll be able to transplant my entire current 117V reference system to Cyprus. The 240/50 local wall power also allows me to plug European products straight into a Walker Velocitor S sans intermediate transformer. US manufacturers with European distribution will have me work with one of their Euro importers for review loaners. Those without will rely on my US-based crew for reviews unless they're prepared to shoulder transatlantic two-way shipping to have me handle things personally.


From Cyber to Cyprus in 33 Hours. That's in fact what the last trip amounted to - 17.5 hours in the air, 33 hours in transit due to layovers. From inception and as an Internet enterprise, 6moons was always designed to be mobile and transplantable. Dan F.'s surprise invitation to Cyprus over the New Year had us meet the island and its wonderful people to realize that this is where we want to be. Seeing that our Taos lease was up for renewal in April, the timing proved opportune to make it happen now. With thanks also to Georgio Ioannides of St. James Management Services Ltd. for invaluable assistance in setting up a business in Cyprus as well as for introducing us to Antonis Kalogirou, I can't say enough about the hospitality and friendliness of all the Cypriots we've already met. I herewith extend an invitation to European audio manufacturers to begin working with me directly beyond my current European writers. I'll start accepting review assignments in April. Once we're settled in, I will also make an effort to begin coverage of European audio shows as well as schedule visits to high-profile factories to conduct on-site interviews. (The latter are available to any interested manufacturer as long as basic travel expenses are covered. Basic means just what it says - no 5-star hotels or first-class travel, just something suitable but modest.)

Before I sign off, a confession. I've never been a coffee drinker but introduction to Cyprus coffee -- alternately referred to as Greek or Turkish coffee -- could well have me change my colors. Prepared with the grind inside the small cup and always served with water, it's an entirely different experience altogether.


Ditto for wine. I essentially restrict myself to the occasional Japanese plum wine or Port but Cyprus turns out to be home to a very special desert wine. It's made from the indigenous Mavro and Xynisteri grapes and called Commandaria after the Knight Templars who introduced it to Europe. Initial samplings suggest that the St. John and Saint Barnabas brands could be two of the best but I'm certain that further discoveries await.


And that's all for this report now. Cheers.
Official Cyprus website