D153 -- Theft at the church

This morning we set out to attend mass at the oldest Catholic church on the island. It was built in the 1100s by the crusaders on their way to the Middle East. It is a tiny church, and so we had to arrive about half an hour before mass to ensure we could get seats. But when we arrived there were a lot of people were already standing outside, which we figured meant all the seats had already been taken. But it turns out the church had been burglarized the night before, and all of the Stations of the Cross had been taken. The police did not want anyone entering the church as it was a crime scene and they needed to preserve it for their investigation. So the priest decided we would have mass outside, which would have been great but for the weather. It was probably in the 90s and there was not a cloud in the sky. We didn't mind so much ourselves, but the parishioners were mostly retired couples in their 70s. Yet all of them were real troopers, and father took mercy on us (his words) and kept his sermon to a few sentences in which he talked about the need to pray for those who are against the church.

For lunch we had a traditional Turkish meze, which is a type of meal made of small dishes that just keep on coming. We had about 5 different servings of grilled meat, and lots of veggies and dips. It was way too much food, but luckily we had Colter with us, and so collectively we were able to finish everything.



In the afternoon we walked across the harbor to tour the Kyrenia (Girne in Turkish) Harbor Castle, which is home to a recovered 4th century Greek shipwreck, as well as some pretty strange “recreations” of the torture chambers employed by the crusaders. In the evening Caitlin organized some stir-fry for us and we headed to “The Spot,” a pub up the mountain, to play cards and enjoy the cool night breezes.

-Tom