Here I am in Larnaca, most of the way to Georgia. I got up to Heathrow without any major problems – just when I got to short stay T4, I followed the Parking Meet & Greet lane only for the meet & greet barrier to be closed off, which meant I had to drive through the (ANPR-controlled) drop-off zone and go back round to go into the car park. Dropped off the car, strolled into T4 very happily, looked up at the departure board – and my flight wasn’t on there. It took a good moment for to realise that’s because I’m actually flying from T5 (I’m flying back into T4 at the end of this and I’d rather have the hassle of going between terminals when I’ve got plenty of time on the way than when I just want to get home afterwards). I found the trains – was expecting a Tube train or maybe a special Heathrow shuttle but in fact, I was having my first ride on the Elizabeth Line. That took me up to T1&2 (or is it 2&3?) and then I had to change onto the Heathrow Express (another first) to get to T5.

Security was no problem. Breakfast was. The only place that would do toast was Giraffe and that had a huge queue outside because it’s the first place you come to when you emerge from security. So I got a meal deal and sat at an empty gate for the best part of an hour. The board said my plane would be at the A Gates, which meant I didn’t have to jump on the transit across to one of the other buildings and when it finally came up, I was only sitting two gates away.

The flight was long but uneventful – long for someone who’s never done a flight longer than London to Moscow, anyway. There was a lady in my seat because assistance had plopped her there but actually, she was supposed to be in window seat on the other side. Then the man sitting in the aisle seat was asked if he’d swap so a girlfriend and boyfriend could sit together. He considered it, right up until he discovered he’d be swapping his aisle seat for a middle seat. Nope.

We flew over mountains. I thought I recognised Achensee and Pertisau and Flight Radar 24 says I was correct. I think Ljubljana was the place where the mountains unexpectedly stopped. Well, it happened somewhere, anyway. We also went over Skopje and Sarajevo and out into the Aegean near Thessaloniki. I guessed that one – I could see that the mountains had finally stopped and we were going over the sea. Google Maps obviously didnt work without signal but I could see a blurry part-loaded view of the Greek coast and the islands I could see below me seemed to match one off the coast east of Thessaloniki, with a second weird-shaped island seeming to confirm that. Flight Radar 24 confirmed it for definite. It very suddenly got dark over the Aegean. By the time we landed in Larnaca at just after 6.10pm, I was wishing I’d been able to find time earlier for my daily walk. Passport control was easy – UK passports were allowed in the machines, I scanned my own passport and received a kind of police receipt with my photo on it, which border control glanced at before stamping my passport and sending me on my way.

There’s a supermarket near my hotel but I was pretty sure I wasn’t going to get there before it closed so I got enough snacks for the evening at the airport and went looking for the bus. The signs said it was out the far side and there were buses there – the pre-booked shuttle bus, tour buses etc. No sign of an ordinary bus. Literally. No bus, no sign, no bus stop, no timetables, nothing. Undeterred, I looked up what bus I wanted to get and took a screenshot. Then I heard a bus! Up to my right, on a cliff! There was a glass walkway sticking out of the airport and crossing to the top of that cliff, which was apparently where the car park is. So back into the terminal, go upstairs, look for the walkway. Bus! I found the bus! I showed the driver my screenshot so he knew where I wanted to alight and I bought a ticket the old-fashioned way, with cash. 15 minutes later, I was jumping off into the Cypriot night and strolling 300m up the road to my hotel!

I didn’t particularly want to go out in the dark in a strange place on my own for my walk but I also didn’t want to break a streak that’s only three months off hitting four full years. So I strolled down the road towards the beach and discovered a well-lit promenade with just enough people walking on it to feel happy. Lots of fish restaurants, a full moon reflecting perfectly on the water, just cool enough that you want the hoodie but don’t feel the need to take it off, perfectly flat and I was back, 2km and 28 minutes later. Now I could actually look at my room, discover that I have a balcony and that the pool is closed and covered right outside. The photos make it look like it’s on the roof but it’s absolutely not. I have white towels for the shower and blue towels for the pool, which suggests it’s open. Whether it’s a suitable temperature to swim in, considering it’s January, I may find out tomorrow.