First Walk of 2021

Day two of 2021 and the girlies who walk were slipping in an additonal sortie on a Saturday!!  This shot may look familiar because about half of the walk (including the nasty bit by the dump) was included in this one but we started and finished in Arodes not Kathikas and the early part of the walk took us down, down, down into the valley on the way to Kritou Terra which was breathtaking but for every downhill there is, of course, an uphill!!!!

We had started out at 9.00am rather than our usual 8.30am because I thought, it being the weekend, we deserved a little lie-in but that was an error of judgment as the weather was glorious and half way through we were all so hot we had to walk in our skimpy sportswear (on top if you get my drift) but as we were truly in the middle of nowhere we weren't likely to offend anyone!

The long uphill was a challenge but we took it carefully, selecting areas in the shade where we could have a water break and catch our breath, we encouraged one another and we made it - this gives you such a tremendous sense of achievement.  This was by far the most strenuous walk we have tackled so far and I guess we will all be feeling it in the morning but the views made it all worthwhile.

We made a little detour towards the end of the walk to go into the hidden Church in a Cave - for those of you who aren't familiar this is dedicated to Panagia Chrysospiliotissa and is an ancient temple dating back to Byzantine times.  Inside there are a few painting and evidence that in the past the walls were adorned with frescoes.  Apparently if you have poor eyesight you should smudge some of the soot from the ceiling onto your eyelids!

Neither Rachel nor Nicky had been to this place before so not only are our outings good exercise we also get a bit of education and culture thrown in for good measure!!!  It was a great morning - so good to be able to get out and get some fresh air and the weather is unbelievable so it would be a crime to be in all day.