A great walk followed by a lovely meal

Today I was walking with Nicky who was suffering a bit from having had her Covid jab yesterday and who had reserved the right to finish early but who, in fairness, completed the whole walk - well done Nicky.   Actually when I got up I thought we may have to call the walk off, not for health reasons but because we had had rain overnight and the skies above were black as your hat but the strong wind was bowling the clouds along at pace so in the end once the sun came up enough it burned off the cloud and we then had a hot and windy day which meant that we got ever
so slightly pink during our travels.

The beginning of the walk I had chosen for today is really not very impressive as we start at the industrial area which is at the bottom of the road where John and Susan used to live - they would not recognise their old house now as the buyers clearly purchased for the plot and the view as the garden and house have been gutted.

Anyway within a yard or two of leaving the industrial area there is a whole magical vista laid out in front of you and pathways that take you through some stunning scenery - not to mention down into a valley and back up.  The route itself was not overly long - around 8km but there was a pretty steep long incline half-way through and it was getting considerably warmer as we walked.

There was no need for us to rush - our walks are about enjoyment, exercise and taking in the scenery and it is not about pushing ourselves to the limit.  We are probably nearing the time now when the lush greenery will give way to parched brown so it is a privilege to be out and about in the wild with such beautiful views all around us.  Unlike Tuesday we had clear blue skies and the sea was clearly visible in the distance.

We encountered very little by way of traffic or indeed civilization but at one point we walked past a field where there was a mare and foal.  What we had not realised was that they were not, or were no longer, tethered and I didn't realise that Nicky is pretty petrified of horses.  As we went past the mare came out to warn us off followed by the foal and they continued to follow us for a while until they got bored.

Due to a change in the roads we made a slight change to our route and I was glad we did because we ended up walking up past George Nikoxlitis Monastery in Droushia where we took the opportunity to sit in the shade of the trees and catch our breath.  Opposite they are in the process of building a new little church - it is a beautiful and peaceful area.

The final leg of our journey took us up past the back of the Gravity Road Diner and then we walked parallel to the main road and directly past John and Susan's old house (which gave me a chance to have a bit of a nosey) and then back down to the start of the industrial estate and Kenny.  It had been a really lovely walk and one which I would definitely do again.

It was a bit of a quick turn around because this afternoon we were treated to a Thank You lunch by Nicky and Mark, for all the things we have done to help them out since they have moved up to be our neighbours.  We had decided to go to Yiallos on the beach in Latchi because the food is good, the view is amazing and it is big enough for some real social distancing - it was a bit windy but it was a warm wind so that was ok.

Nicky and Mark had not been here before and I think they were impressed.  What was nice was that our waiter turned out to be Pani who used to be the bar manager at the Droushia Heights - he was filling in for his wife who was poorly!!!  We haven't seen him for months and months so it was good to have a bit of a catch up with him - he is such a nice guy.  Nakis the owner also made a bee-line to come and have a chat and see how we were doing - it is always nice when you go somewhere and they recognise you and make you welcome.

We had a lovely meal - got a bit hot and a bit pinker due to the combination of the sun and the wind and went home for a quite couple of hours before calling it a night.  Big thanks to Nicky and Mark for a lovely gesture and a great afternoon.