UK pilgrims complete a 10-day tour of Cyprus
FORTY-eight pilgrims from the UK completed a 10-day tour of Cyprus on Thursday under the leadership of the Very Rev James Atwell, former Dean of the Anglican Cathedral in the English city of Winchester. Mr Atwell leads annual pilgrimages to the Middle East where, he said, participants can “enjoy a Biblical landscape” and become absorbed in rich local history and culture. The group spent six nights at Alsancak’s Denizkızı Hotel and four nights at Limassol’s Ajax Hotel, with Mr Atwell saying their impressions of the North were “overwhelmingly positive”. “The people we encountered were so thoughtful and keen to make us welcome to the extent that we departed feeling that we had left good friends behind.” He said the group had been on a boat tour from Girne, visited Bellapais, Gazimağusa and Salamis, and climbed to the top of St Hilarion and Kantara castle before travelling to the Karpaz peninsula. “There we enjoyed meeting local people as they demonstrated cheese-making and baking bread in a traditional oven. We also experienced the golden sands of the coast, fed donkeys a carrot or two and visited ‘Land’s End’ at Apostolos Andr eas.” He added: “Our understanding of the local situation was deepened by hearing a talk by a former Turkish Cypriot negotiator and the long history of Cyprus was summarised in a talk by the Anglican Bishop of Cyprus and the Gulf. “The hope was both to find a blessing and to bring a blessing. We certainly found a blessing and we hope we may have left some continuing ripples of friendship.”