10 / 32
IPA Cyprus Section
Friendship Week
October 2016
David King
, Surrey Branch Secretary
Caroline and I arranged to extend our trip
by a few days either side of the friendship
week. We arrived at Larnaca airport late
at night and were met by Andreas from IPA
Limassol who took us to the Hotel Atlantica
Miramare Beach Hotel, which was our base
for our time in Cyprus.
O
n Sunday the President of IPA Cyprus
Michael
Odysseos and the President of IPA Limassol region
Kyriakos Pericleous warmly welcomed 27 IPA
members from Ukraine, Romania, Norway, and Moldova.
Caroline and I were the only members from the UK. Later on in
the week we were joined by members from Israel, Greece and
Macedonia for the 33rd National IPA Congress.
Our week included guided tours of the main historic sites of
Cyprus, starting with Kolossi Castle and the wonderful ancient
city of Kourion, with its theatre and ancient mosaics.
The following day we travelled to Nicosia the last divided city in the world.
We were shown the “green line” still patrolled and guarded by UN troops,
with Greek Cypriot troops on one side and their Turkish counterparts on the
other. We found this a very moving experience. In Nicosia we were treated to
a magnificent meze lunch.
After a rest day, our tour continued with an excursion to Paphos and the
surrounding area. We visited some of the most important archaeological
sites and the mythical Aphrodite’s Rock where we had lunch and enjoyed
a fantastic view from the cliff top.
Our final day of the tour took in the stunning Troodos Mountains and the
Kykkos Monastery which included the tomb of Archbishops Makarios and
Prodromos. We sampled the liqueur made by the monks and their hand
made sweets based on grape juice and almonds; all delicious.
Again we had a wonderful lunch in a local taverna.
The last day of the formal programme ended with a gala dinner
with traditional Cypriot music and dancing. Caroline and I were
persuaded to join our hosts in the dancing which went onto
the early hours. I presented the president of IPA Cyprus with
a Surrey Police Plaque as a thank you for hosting a wonderful
friendship week.
Our hosts and their partners gave up so much time and energy
to making their Friendship week very special. The majority are
still full time serving officers with busy lives and family. However
despite all of this they couldn’t do enough for us and made our
stay in Cyprus a very special one.
With Gal Sharon from Israel
at the Gala evening
POLICE WORLD
Vol 62 No. 2, 2017
Article
10