My Covid Walk 4. Flores Island

Where would I be if, in Covid year,  I had walked in one direction instead of up and down the paths of North London?

While the northerly walking would have left me shivering on Shannon Island or in Arkhangelsk, warmer options unfold walking South West!

Flores Island.  The Ilha das Flores and one part of the Azores that I could reach (again walking on water).  Here's the tourist blurb: 

The island of Flores is the westernmost point of the Azores and Europe. It offers some beautiful landscapes and, together with the nearby Corvo, it shapes the western group of the archipelago. Just like the other Azores, also Flores has volcanic origins and it has a mountainous territory cut through deep hills. Its highest peak is Morro Alto, with an altitude of 914 meters. The water flows create several waterfalls and its coasts are characterised by very tall cliffs. The inland of the island is filled with craters that turned into lakes. The most popular is “Caldeira Funda“, which is located between laurel trees and hydrangeas plants. A world made of nature, walks, and breathtaking landscapes.

Is it Covid-safe?

The Azores have fared quite well, and this is an isolated isle.

On the Plus Side:

Warmth, natural beauty, seaside and generally a big improvement on East Finchley High Road.

On the Minus Side:

The odd hurricane - plus a legal ban on leisure travel.

Has it got a Football Team?

Clube Desportivo Santa Clara are only an island hop to another Azorean island, and they play in the main league of Portugal.  And during the pandemic they have been playing in Portugal itself for home games due to quarantine restrictions. On Ilha das Flores there is Gremio Recreativo FC.

Has it got a Baptist Church?

I think I'll have to settle for https://igreja-ilhadasflores.wixsite.com/adflores , the Assemblies of God.

Prospects out of Ten:

Eight.  Difficult to beat, but  perhaps a little small to stay too long.

My Covid Walk 2. Arkhangelsk

If, during my year of walking in the pandemic, I had walked in a straight line sort of North East (and across water) I would have reached Arkhangelsk (or Archangel as traditionally in English atlases) in the Russian arctic.

Encyclopedia Britannica says . . .

Founded in 1584 as the fortified monastery of the archangel Michael it was the first port of the Russian Empire to conduct trade with England. The port reached the height of its prosperity in the 17th century but subsequently declined with the founding of St Petersburg (1703) and the exorbitant customs dues introduced by Peter the Great to divert trade to his new town. Arkhangelsk later revived with the building of a railway from Moscow in 1898.

Is it Covid-safe?

Not too sure about Russian cities, but this April it is moderately OK - at least it has big city medical facilities. 

On the Plus Side:

Emerging from its winter deep freeze with a riverside promenade and some sights to look at if they're open, including the brand new Orthodox Cathedral which is part of the Russian Nationalist resurgence.

By Екатерина Борисова - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=68543618

 On the Minus Side:

Fairly bleak urbanscape and a winter to avoid at all costs (for 6 months).

Has it got a Football Team?

Bandy (sort of Ice Hockey) is unsurprisingly the thing here - but it has/does have some low level football - as far as I can tell the only professional team went out of business in the 1990s.

Has it got a Baptist Church?

Yes, at least two, including the Arkhangelsk Bible Church which appears to meet in part of a shopping centre.

Prospects out of Ten:

Five.  Based on arriving now in late April into tolerable weather, and finding someone who knows about the city's positive historical connections to England and so is anglo-friendly.

My Covid Walk 1. Mariupol

I've been walking.

During the past year most of us have.  Exciting destinations like East Finchley, Friern Barnet, Bounds Green and Hornsey.

But what would have happened if I had just kept walking in one direction in a Forrest Gump-like fashion?

First, I'd have walked a long distance away, and secondly the results are, at best, mixed!

Heading East (for these purposes I can walk on water of course) I would be at MARIUPOL.

Wanderer777, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Wikipedia says . . .

Mariupol lay within a broader region that was largely devastated and depopulated by the intense conflict among the surrounding peoples, including the Crimean Tatars, the Nogay Horde, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and Muscovy. [More recently] The city was seized on June 13, 2014 by Ukrainian troops, and has come under attack several times since.

Is it Covid-safe?

Ukraine is not doing very well at the moment. 

On the Plus Side:

It's by the sea!

On the Minus Side:

Russian border tensions are rising in the news this week.

Has it got a Football Team?

FC Mariupol haven't shaken the world, but are a respectable representative of a steelworks city.

Has it got a Baptist Church?

Ukraine has one of the largest Baptist communities in the world, and some remarkable churches.  Here the link to one http://domboga.com/index.php/o-tserkvi

Prospects out of Ten:

Two.  Based on the prospect of a walk with a Baptist pastor along the beach.