A day of houses, half built houses, farmland and large cow sheds, followed by an evening visit to the sea front at Larnaca.
After a Full English Breakfast (the Tsialis hotel was a very British hotel (although a Russian flag was also flying)), I made my way north through quiet streets with concrete villas. After a little farmland there were more villas, many half built. Who will buy them I wonder? Reaching the village of Pyla for the second time this trip, I decided it was too early for a coffee and walked down the road to the next village of Oroklini which I also visited before on this trip. At the latter an obviously ancient church sits incongruously among the modern apartments.
The area is flat or low lying around Larnaca, but beyond Pyla and Oroklini the hills abruptly rise up some 80 metres to a plateau. My route out of Oroklini climbed up the side of this steep hillside on a new road. The Profitis Ilias church is a little off the path, near the summit, but I went the extra distance, only to find it locked. From the outside it looked like an old church with a big, newer extension at the front. Beyond the church was a viewpoint across Larnaca. In the distance lightening was discharging into the sea and the rumble of thunder followed. A few showers swept across, the few raindrops raising the smell of baked earth. I descended the hillside among some small trees and then it was across farmland to the next village of Kellia. More farmland followed, stubble left from harvest or ploughed fields. As I neared Aradippou the smell of manure preceded a number of farms with large herds of cows under huge open sided sheds. A few fans moved the air around.
I am now back at Villa Thermopilon in Aradippou, a kilometre or so south of the E4, where I stayed on my outward trip to Cape Greco.
The owner kindly drove me into Lanarca where I walked along the promenade, an area known as Finikoudes. Too late to visit the fortress, I wandered by it and the adjacent mosque. Eating some vegetarian mezze over a glass of wine, I watched people (and an occasional dog) walking up and down the sea front as the day darkened into night.
After a Full English Breakfast (the Tsialis hotel was a very British hotel (although a Russian flag was also flying)), I made my way north through quiet streets with concrete villas. After a little farmland there were more villas, many half built. Who will buy them I wonder? Reaching the village of Pyla for the second time this trip, I decided it was too early for a coffee and walked down the road to the next village of Oroklini which I also visited before on this trip. At the latter an obviously ancient church sits incongruously among the modern apartments.
The area is flat or low lying around Larnaca, but beyond Pyla and Oroklini the hills abruptly rise up some 80 metres to a plateau. My route out of Oroklini climbed up the side of this steep hillside on a new road. The Profitis Ilias church is a little off the path, near the summit, but I went the extra distance, only to find it locked. From the outside it looked like an old church with a big, newer extension at the front. Beyond the church was a viewpoint across Larnaca. In the distance lightening was discharging into the sea and the rumble of thunder followed. A few showers swept across, the few raindrops raising the smell of baked earth. I descended the hillside among some small trees and then it was across farmland to the next village of Kellia. More farmland followed, stubble left from harvest or ploughed fields. As I neared Aradippou the smell of manure preceded a number of farms with large herds of cows under huge open sided sheds. A few fans moved the air around.
I am now back at Villa Thermopilon in Aradippou, a kilometre or so south of the E4, where I stayed on my outward trip to Cape Greco.
The owner kindly drove me into Lanarca where I walked along the promenade, an area known as Finikoudes. Too late to visit the fortress, I wandered by it and the adjacent mosque. Eating some vegetarian mezze over a glass of wine, I watched people (and an occasional dog) walking up and down the sea front as the day darkened into night.
21 kilometres walked today with a 230 metre total ascent.
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| View across Larnaca from the Profitis Ilias picnic site viewpoint, there is distant thunder and squalls of rain. |
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| Promenade of Larnaca in the evening. |
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