I think that walking has actually been my salvation during this part of lockdown.  I am beginning to find the news quite depressing - there seems to be no end to the situation the world finds itself in.  Even with vaccinations taking place the idea of any sort of normality seems a long, long way away - in fact I doubt our lives will ever return to the way they were this time last year.  There has been so much hardship and as a result too many things have changed.

So when I walk nothing else seems to matter save whether or not I can get up the next hill and if I do what view will there be in front of me?  Our neighbourhood provides some absolute no contest "ain't we lucky?" moments and it is hard to believe that it is all on our doorstep, it is fresh, healthy and best of all free!!!  Today being Thursday was my day to walk with Liselotte - this is my extreme walking day as there will be no sitting on a strategically placed bench to take in the view!!!  

Thursdays are always my longest and toughest walks but I have no-one to blame but myself and Narky Nora (aka Kamoot) because I plan the route and Narky Nora never quite gives me the correct distance or ascent - Narky Nora is always a bit short in that respect so the walks are harder and steeper then they say they are going to be.

I met Liselotte at her house and we set off from there - with only three hours to complete our route including my traveling to Arodes and back meant that we were on a tight schedule and despite striding out at our fastest pace yet I got home with only 90 seconds to spare!!!  Our route started the same as I did with Nicky on Tuesday which took us along the road which runs parallel to the main Polis/Coral Bay road and then we cross and skirted around the edge of Kathikas.

Whereas Nicky and I had walked up the Akoursos Road into Kathikas I had spied a right turn which looked like it would add an extra loop for today and despite taking the wrong right turn to begin with (there were two close to one another) Liselotte and I got on the correct path and we were guided through some really beautiful scenery and the weather was stunning for this time of year and lulling us into a false sense of security as next week is going to be cold with possible snow.

How beautiful does this little resting place look (not that we had time to rest here) but this is on the edge of Kathikas and we drive by it every time we go to and from Stroumbi - I have never noticed it before!  We crossed the main road here and continued on the last third of our walk which took us along the back of the Farmyard and then back across the main road and back to Liselotte's - 13 kilometers and nearly 300m ascent overall!!!  

A great walk and having discovered an area we have not walked before it makes me want to investigate further to find more new and beautiful places without having to travel far to get there.

We had half our Thai left over from last night but no starter and we didn't want to waste the fabulous satay sauce so I made a salad and added a little fishcake and some onion rings - it doesn't look "Instagram Ready" (apparently that is how you describe a plate of food dressed to its best for social media) but it tasted absolutely fantastic.