A Walk around Smygies

Today I was walking with Liselotte - I had planned a walk around Smygies which I hoped would afford us some shade as today was going to be a hot one.  We were meeting by the little church at 8.00am and from there walking towards the Picnic Area and then bearing left and walking up, up, up on one of the nature trails.

I had not been looking forward to this walk as I thought, in the current heat, it would be a toughie but we did have shade and the ascent was nearly all at the beginning when my legs were fresh and when we got to the top the view was unbelievable.  This picture does it no justice - to the left we could see the bay at Chrysochous and the the right was a view reaching down to Lara - it was beautiful.

There were a couple of times when we took a wrong turn but fortunately we did not stray too far and soon realised our mistake then got back on the right road.  We took another nature trail which was rugged and downhill through some stunning trees and we were grateful for the shade.

It was a fabulous walk - tiring but worth the effort and I know that Liselotte will have walked much, if not all, of it before but she never minds and her enthusiasm makes me want to push and challenge myself further.  I get a tremendous sense of achievement when I have completed a walk and, even more than that, I know this has to be good for me and it is free!!

We had a sit down at the Church and used the water from the well to cool down and wash the dust off and both had one of those "Ain't We Lucky?" moments when all the niff naff and trivia that the world can heap upon us just melts into insignificance.  Liselotte went on her way to Polis shopping and I returned home to John for a swim and a freshen up before going down to the Doctors to collect my blood results.

I wanted Dr Manolis to explain the results just to make sure I was reading them correctly and didn't have anything to worry about but he wasn't going to be back on duty until 4.00pm which was a bit of a bugger so we decided not to go back home but go for a bit of a wander and waste some time and then return.  We had seen that the old illegal and ramshackle camp site just beyond the Baths of Afrodite had been dismantled and had now been replaced with an official camp site with teepee's and a bar and restaurant.  There are differing opinions about this but we decided to see for ourselves what had been done.  The Baths of Aphrodite were absolutely packed - you wouldn't know that there was any difference in tourists numbers from any other year looking at the numbers there.  The old caravans and temporary makeshift holiday homes have indeed gone although there is still some evidence as to where they had been and the new site is there although I would guess it still needs finishing off although it would appear to be open.  It looks new, it looks a bit bare and in the heat looked in need of much more shade but I guess in time it will soften and develop into quite a nice looking place to go pitch your tent.

We stopped at the Souli to take a table in the shade by the beach and while away the time remaining before I could see the doctor.

It was lovely sitting there and to see Frixos and George and have a chat about life, tourists and Covid.  They have people in although not as many as they would like.  

The eagle-eyed amongst you will spot John with a Keo and not a Leon but that is because he was hankering after a shandy and for that, sometimes, only a Keo will do.

We sat there for a while before piling back into the car and off to the Doctors where I was first to be waiting for Dr Manolis.  There was a girl before me but she was waiting to get a Covid injection and a guy came in after me like the walking dead but Dr Manolis put him in his place saying that I was first and he was to sit and wait!  Dr Manolis went through my results and told me there was nothing to worry about and to go home and have a nice evening.  This was my first experience of using my GESY Doctor and I am suitably impressed.