Sete Cidades and some news...

We got off to a late start because we had both slept very badly; upset about our cat Billy whom we were beginning to think we would never see again. We are probably very soft hearted about animals but when you live with creatures and get to know their rhythms and their characters, they almost become part of the family.
The sun was shining and we felt we needed to get on with life and make the most of it, so after breakfast we set off, for the third time, to Sete Cidades. Apparently this is the most famous bit of landscape n the Azores - a series of interlinked volcanic craters, with two substantial lakes and a small town. This was our third visit in four days but the first occasion on which there was good visibility. Although there were a lot of people around the restaurant and the car park, once we got walking out along the bank of the Blue Lake we soon left most of the crowd behind. We made our way to a small bridge and then on along the shore of the Green Lake where, it being a hot afternoon, there was some welcome shade.
I had hoped maybe to swim in one of the lakes and, while it might have been possible - a few people were splashing about in the Blue Lake - it all felt a bit too busy.
We went on to Ferraria where there is a spa and a hot thermal spring which unfortunately had been exploited and turned into a rather ugly swimming bath with an inflated entrance fee. Not to be deterred we went down to the piscina naturais as they call them here... little rocky pools and coves where you can swim in the Atlantic sheltered from the full force of the waves. The sea was quite choppy but I went in for a quick splash - refreshing, but there were a lot of jellyfish driven in by the onshore wind. I picked up a slight sting but it didn't amount to anything.
About six we came home, a little tired and subdued, and were just parking the car when Hanne Lene got a message from our daughter Jess back home in Norfolk..."ring me". It is rare for Jess to initiate contact with us when we are away...usually the other way round, we are trying to make sure that she is ok, that the house hasn't burned down and so forth. I was almost certain she had some good news, though we both hardly dared hope. Anyway a minute or two later via the wonders of modern technology, there was a live feed of Jess holding up Billy to her iPhone....looking perky and none the worse for six days away from home.
It would be an understatement to say this was a bit of a relief. Sometimes you don't know what you've got till you think you may have lost it; actually that isn't true of our two cats, we take a lot of pleasure in them. But no doubt when we get home in a couple of days, one young rascal of a tom cat is going to get a bit of a talking to (and a lot of cuddles).
As often happens in adverse situations, a lot of kindness came our way. So many people, some of whom we have never met, looked out for Billy, offered help and sent warm wishes. Having lived with a cloud for a few days, it's a blessing to have found the silver lining.