Drinking in the Past

It takes my breath away every time I travel in Turkey or North Cyprus. Everywhere you look there is history, every stone you see has been stepped on by a famous foot at one century or another, every time you look at the olive trees you think of those who have benefited from the fruit of these Mediterranean beauties, the same trees that provide generously for the mezes (starters in Turkish cuisine) and olive oil for our kitchens, may have sheltered a prophet or a disciple.
Our car rumbled on the dirt road of Karpaz Peninsula in Cyprus, we were approaching St Andrew’s monastery. There were tourists roaming about, Christians who came to pay respects and pray to the Saint and those who just came to pick up some fresh water from the stream near the monastery.
We know from the New Testament that Andrew was a brother of Simon Peter and that they were both fishermen by trade. They became the followers of Jesus after he called them to be the fishers of men. In the gospel Andrew is referred to as one of the disciples more closely attached to Jesus, Eusebius of Caesarea, c. 263–339 AD, scholar and a historian quotes Origen as saying Andrew preached in Asia Minor and in Scythia, along the Black Sea as far as the Volga and Kyiv. Hence he became a patron Saint of Ukraine, Romania and Russia.

In Kyiv there is a beautiful St Andrew’s Cathedral on top of the hill also named after the famous Saint. If you ever comet o Kyiv, the Cathedral should be definitely on the list of things to see.

The ancient monastery in Northern Cyprus is simple, there is no intricacy or pompousness of architecture of more modern churches. It is a very basic and rustic building, definitely beaten by time and in need of serious repairs and maintenance. The church is lovely, the icons are there and you can light candles and make a wish and pray for your loved ones. But it breaks your heart that it is not maintained as it should.

Crystal clear water is still streaming from the ground where St Andrew found it upon his arrival with the boat crew who were going blind from thirst. The story has it that Andrew prayed to God for water and beautiful crystal clear stream appeared from under the rocks. If you saw the scenery you’d be amazed at how in this extremely hot and arid land such beautiful stream could appear.

We partook from a stream along with other people and filled some water bottles to take home with us. The water tasted sweet and it made us feel connected to the days bygone but still not forgotten.



Greetings from the Island of Love,

Your Tanka Lou