What a wonderful awakening the bird-call is!!

I stay in bed enjoying all this singing outside my window and it is as if the birds in the neighborhood are giving an early concert this morning . It is actually the first strike of dawn. I remain in bed for the next 3 hours enjoying my morning serenate.

The other guests who are Italians are already up much earlier and by the time I have my shower they are already in the back garden having breakfast. Italians seem to prefer other destinations and you scarcely see them touring around Cyprus.

I have breakfast in the hotel's back garden surrounded by pine trees and the amazing beauty this fabulous forest. The morning mountain air is cool and fresh while the bird singing goes on.

I am ready to leave the hotel for a morning walk before my friends come, but Mary and Rob have already arrived in Pano Platres and she calls to ask for directions. They get a little confused and drive a couple of miles to another direction with my first guidance so Niki undertakes to give them further instructions.

So, here they are my new TravelPod friends. Mary is Cypriot but has been living in Australia for years and Rob is an Aussie. She has recently become a member of TravelPod when she came across my blogs while she was still in Australia.

I consider Niki a friend as from yesterday so she comes out to meet my new friends and insists to offer them a cup of coffee. Rob has a slight sore throat so he is having some tea . I am happy that Mary and Rob have driven all the way up here to the mountains to meet me and walk the Kalidonia Trail together. I am sure they will be happy to hear that Niki has a surprise for them.

You see, I happened to see a picture of the Tzielefos Bridge yesterday while we were talking and expressed my desire to visit it one day. So she is driving the three of us in her jeep to this place this morning.

I give my friends a small tour around the premises until Niki returns to the kitchen to sort out a few things. She shows up a few minutes later holding a plastic back with some fruit and bottled water. It is not long when we are off.

From this point on I leave you enjoy the beautiful pictures.

Troodos National Forest Park, was declared as such in 1992, while four areas within the N.F.P. were declared as Nature Reserves. Troodos National Forest Park hosts the largest number of plants compared to any other area of Cyprus and also the largest number of endemic plants.

Moreover, it has been designated as one of the 13 "Plant Diversity Hot Spots" in the Mediterranean.

The bridge we are visiting is located in the Platis Valley between Milikouri and Kaminaria, villages near the Monastery of Kykkos.