This takes us down an alley to a T Junction, where we turn left again. Across the road I could see the remnants of another old shop. You would be mistaken if you assumed the whole area was rundown though. Some of the residential houses in the area have some very nice furniture in their gardens.

I hadn't noticed until I sat down to write this article what the sign on the shop said. "TURKISH TROOPS OUT OF CYPRUS. CYPRUS FREE AND EUROPEAN". Often on Social Media, the fact that Cyprus is a divided island gets overlooked in favour of people's desire to have a good time. The truth is, the issue is highly contentious to the local population, understandably. As guests in the Republic of Cyprus, we need to respect that, and not brush their feelings aside. The reality is that mistakes were made by all sides, including the British. Personally I think the best way for long-lasting peace would be to have Island-wide elections with Parties divided by ideologies rather than religious grounds. So you could have a left wing party made up of Greek and Turkish Cypriots, and a right-wing party made up of Greek and Turkish Cypriots. Whether that could ever be organised I have no idea.

However, in order to facilitate that, we need more grass-roots collaboration in the form of groups like Peace2Peace. This is an intercommunal group of ladies who celebrate peaceful coexistance by making crochet art installations. The Old Town has hosted a number of their projects. Indeed, the front gates of the mosque used to be decorated with little crochet spiderwebs. And in Part 2 we shall see an exhibit of theirs that is still in place, by the entrance of Ibrahim's Khan.

Once the politicians realise that the people can get along just fine if given the chance, a lot of the political problems will go away.

Or maybe I'm a dreamer...

Anyway, we have arrived back on the main road that loops round Old Town, so turn left and head back this way.

It is worth exploring all the roads in Old Town as they all hold little treasures in them. It is easy to get lost for a bit, but there's no harm in that. Sooner or later you will find yourself back on the main road that runs through the area, and you can use that to get your bearings.

So, we have followed the main road back round to the front of the mosque, and then turned right. Immediately, you will see this turning, which leads into the Market. In the past, the market was covered. It had a majestic looking roof which provided shade during the hot summer days. I have heard reports that the roof will be returning. You can see that they left the Supports in place. I certainly hope it does return, as the roof had a certain quality that gave the market a lot of charm. You felt like you were entering a special place. It is difficult to explain, but it had character.