Great day today high up in the hills & visiting Kykkos Monastery and remarkable adjoining museum. For some, this might be a little commercialised, but whilst we were there in the church a mother and father asked that a monk might pray for their two sons. An attendant dashed off to find the bearded monk who came and prayed over the kneeling family. Quite a moment, especially for the family. When he finished, he found a queue of people asking for prayers.

One area of the monastery is a little spooky. It holds the treasures of the church. These treasures are relics, bits of bone or hair reputedly belonging to saints of old. Regardless of how valid these claims are, it shows, graphically, wonderfully, that they value their past and they value their fathers and mothers of the faith.

The monastery is fabulous, the natural beauty of the Troodos Mountains is captivating, the people are warm and welcoming .... and life, as in many places, is tough. But there seems to be a genuine connection, reverence and awe of things greater than the landscape and the weather. It's a world away from the usual tourist hotspots, this is a great place! And in the local supermarket Mary met a couple from Blakeley, Manchester, in the Troodos Mountains, Cyprus. It's not such a big world after all.