Walk to Fitos...

It was not quite such a nice day today but there was sunshine and it wasn't tipped to rain so we had decided last night that we would either get the bikes out or go for a proper walk.  We reckoned that the wind was probably pretty keen and would be even keener down on the coast so we opted for the walk - deciding to walk to Fitos, reward ourselves with lunch and then walk back.

Boris was clearly not himself this morning - he did not winge for food this morning which is most unusual - in fact he didn't even try and get out of his bed under the coffee table.  I took some food to him but he wasn't overly interested - this is not like him at all and I was worried.   I wrapped him in his favourite blinkie and put him on the bed next to Charlie.

In fact Boris stayed on the bed nearly all day wrapped in his comforter and only moved when we returned from our walk.  Whatever it was that had been wrong with him seemed to have passed thanks goodness - we reckon he must have eaten something that disagreed with him.  Let's hope that is all - we shall keep an eye on him to make sure.

We set off on our walk going out the back of Droushia aiming to keep off the main road except to cross over it at one point.  It was glorious as we left but I was glad of my layers which I knew I would be needing on the return journey.  We realised that we had come without the Garmin which could have charted our route and told us how far we had walked - just going to have to do it again and bring it with us next time.

On several occasions we passed by people working in the fields trimming the vines.  This is clearly real backbreaking work - all the spindly shoots are removed and then burned and the vines are fertilized and the rows weeded.

You can see lots of little fires dotted across the countryside at the moment - these are good fires as they are just little piles of rubbish being got rid of - unlike the ones which we get in the Summer which seem to be set on purpose and are malicious and often get out of control - there are still swathes of the valley at Giolou still recovering from a massive fire last summer set by some stupid youths.

 Sadly en route we have to pass what we refer to as the Droushia Tip.  There is a vast area where stuff has just been dumped and the windy weather has strewn it all across the road.  We don't think this is an official tip as the island now seems to have embraced designated tips where the rubbish is organised into specific sections.  It is a real shame as this is a blot on an otherwise beautiful landscape.  Periodically the rubbish seems to be moved into one great big pile and burnt.

So we walked out the back of Droushia and turned off to come through the edge of Arodes and along near where Liselotte and John live - these are all minor roads and we met nothing on our way save some chickens and a rabbit!

We know that nearby you can often see one of the really large birds of prey and it is has been John's ambition to capture one on camera.  We spotted a Kestrel type bird in the distance and were just taking a look across the valley when John surprised one of the biggies which had been on the ground in the field next door - by the time we managed to get our cameras fixed on him he was long gone up in the thermals.

We couldn't believe it - it had been there right next to us probably laughing at us and then just up and flew away - we watched it for quite a while before it disappeared from view.  We shall be looking out for it again the next time we walk that way.   We then realised we should have taken the binoculars with us for a closer look so that we could try and ascertain exactly which bird of prey it was.

We carried on walking - crossing the main road and then doubling back a little so we could then get on a back road which would bring us out at the back of Fitos - once again minor roads and we met no traffic at all but had brilliant views across to the Troodos.  We were working up a good appetite and had taken our time - an hour and a half of our time getting to our destination!!

John's reward for his exercise was his favourite Fitos Dish of Village Chicken served with salad and a few chips.  I decided to go off -piste and opted for the beef soup - I had no idea what I was going to get but what I did end up with was a huge piping hot bowl of wholesome soup made with potato, carrot, cabbage and big bits of beef.  It was delicious. We were given some beautiful orange cake and a coffee to finish off our meal and thoroughly enjoyed it.  We then wrapped up well for our return trip home which must be mainly downhill as it only took us an hour to walk home and we didn't really pace it out.

We were met by Eva Braun on leaving Fitos - she is often to be seen in there - she has markings like a Hitler moustache but as she is a girlie we refer to her as Eva - I think she would have followed us for quite some time but we gave her a gentle nudge in the right direction and she disappeared into a shed - we didn't want her to try and cross the road when we did.

We retraced our steps enjoying the last of the afternoon sunshine - it was not as cold as we had anticipated - we must have been sheltered.

In Arodes Christmas is still being celebrated in places as we saw a Father Christmas still hung outside one of the houses - by the look of him he has been there some time!!!

Although the last bit of the journey from Arodes to Droushia is a steady uphill we made the trip home in about an hour and felt very virtuous after our efforts.

We were meeting Elena at the Droushia Heights later - she is doing a Lebanese Buffet at the Hotel with Bassam tomorrow and I am sorting out the music and the labels so people will know what they are eating.  I hate to have to tell her that the laptop isn't playing ball although I have done what she wanted.  I shall just have to do it all again tonight which is a bit of a bugger!!