I can see you

At last a passenger enjoying the view I shouted 'Stop!' as we drove past the school at Antimachia. Once a teacher always teacher as my Radar honed in on three boys having a sneaky fag at the back of the bike sheds. Always on the alert for the naughties, years of working in a pupil referral unit had taken its toll and It turned out to be a day of now you see me now you don't

First stop, the Springs at Antimachia so near to the road yet hidden from view. As we descended down the rough hewn steps , dodging trailing stems of prickly plants the pervading smell of wild mint abounded and the roots entangled all the undergrowth about. The nearer to the source the soggier underfoot and even now wellies would have been better. This quiet watery glade looked like something from a film set long since abandoned yet ready to spring to life the moment out backs were turned. The sign long since covered by the plants taking back their space. As we returned to the car and looked back you couldn't help feel things were heaving a sigh of relief.

On to Antimachia Castle where the stage had been set centuries before and the end of the tourist season meant fewer and fewer people retraced the steps of the ancients. Another stage set background of silence yet heralding back to the sounds of Masons working on the stones, farmers tending their crops and rearing their animals. Knights Templars practicing their art of warfare, forever on the look out to defend their Island, just as the lizards today were forever hovering underfoot and darting away at the last moment. Abandoned stone buildings, crumbling rocks and dried , dying vegetation with hints of new growth peering through, nourished by the Autumn dew.

Lunch of course in Mastichari where the end of the season was evident as waiters vied for fewer and fewer tourists and the three of us dined alone before setting off for the Garden of Hippocrates.

The back route running parrallel with the sea, clear of cars all but the garbage truck soon had us bouncing along the dirt road flattened by tyres with deep tread and with teeth juddering we made it to the carpark. A remarkable place of silence, serene in its portrayal of days gone by and still the lizards watched and warmed themselves on rocks and stone steps before running ahead. The school room awaits the children after the tourists have gone. Time to learn about Hippoctratis, ancient medicines from herbs and flowers and chance to act and play on the stage and read poems and recite prose.