I am relieved that my steroids seem to be working almost immediately because I woke this morning without any new eruptions and the existing ones are looking to have calmed down.  The areas still itch but the livid thick red rim is far less livid and thick.  Hopefully this will do the trick but both John and I are struggling with our breathing at the moment and we don't know if this is just the leftover effect of what we have had or something new but Dr Manolis did say to keep an eye on my breathing - it's not that bad but it's not that good either.  Anyway today John wanted to take JJ&S out and about and I had initially said I wouldn't go but we have really spend so little quality time together so far that I felt guilty so I dosed myself up and had my early morning cold dip in the pool and got myself ready for the Yiannis Tour which started with a walk up to the Baths of Aphrodite.

For one reason or another we none of us have had much physical exercise this holiday so John thought it would be good to get in a little walk today.  It is a Bank Holiday on the island today - Cyprus Independence Day - so the Baths of Aphrodite were heaving but there weren't too many people at the actual 'bath' bit and we walked out and back down to the car park and decided to drive away from there and along the coast to Pachyammos and the church at St Rafael stopping off at Koula's Sandwiches for a bite to eat first.

It was a lovely run along the coast - what we hadn't realised though was that it was very windy so when we got to Koula's and got out of the car we were nearly blown away!!!  We wondered whether the 'family table' (right near the toilets) might be a little more sheltered but I am not sure it was - thankfully the wind was warm but in order to enjoy our meal John had to do some running repairs to the awning!!!  We had a great meal there - the sandwiches are huge and only 4 euros a pop!!!

It was busier at St Raphael Church than normal but not surprising for a Bank Holiday really - we just had to wait a little while for Janet to get to sit near the 'tree with eyes' where she had discreetly scattered some of Hadge's ashes some years ago.

 

This is a beautiful spot and this impressive, imposing church sits overlooking the sea which today was the most exceptional colour although not really a day to be swimming as it was choppy and full of white horses.

Some of the people who come to this church pray for people with disabilities - we did it on many occasions when Hadge was alive - and it is quite a comforting to be able to come back to remember him here.  We were lucky that Hadge and Janet managed to come out as often as they did despite Hadge's difficulties and we made some pretty amazing memories whilst they were here.  This was one of those places.

At this point the weather over the sea was still good but rain had been forecast and behind us the clouds were amassing so we would not have been surprised to get a bit of a soaking - apparently it hoofed it down in Kathikas today for about five minutes!!!

We left Pachyammos to go and have a mooch around the harbour at Pomos in the hopes that the resident turtle might put in an appearance but it was far too choppy to see it if it was there.  What we did get to see though, albeit briefly, was a kingfisher which flew from one side of the harbour to the other.   Just a brief flash of brilliant plumage and the unmistakable outline of it when it was sat on a rock.   The taverna there was pretty busy with people enjoying the bank holiday so we decided to make our way back along the coast and stop at Santa Barbara for a refreshing drink before returning home.

It was lovely sat by the sea - we only stopped for one drink but it did round off the Yiannis Tour quite nicely and meant we could return JJ&S back to Polis Gardens with some daylight left and enough time for them to do something in the evening if they wanted to.  We needed to nip into Papantonious for some bits and pieces because they are going to be with us for lunch tomorrow after a visit to the museum in Droushia where they have restarted their tours which we thought they might like to experience.

We managed to grab a few minutes with Lakis and Argy as they were sitting out the front taking advantage of the evening sun and then received a text from our immediate neighbours Gregoris and Dora to say they would be popping in tomorrow and would like to catch up.  We haven't seen them for ages - they will see some changes in the neighbourhood and it will be good to keep them up to date with everything that is happening.