under another sun

Up in the dark, a piece of toast and a cup of tea, last minute packing, then collected outside the bakery at 7:00. Leanne and Rahul already aboard the minibus. To the harbour near Gaios, half an hour before the Kamilia line boat left, so we stood about with our cases watching the sky lighten, with Venus bright  again. Leanne had give Lorraine som anti travel sickness gum. We boarded, and when given the chance, scooted outside to sit on the seating at the prow. The seats were wet but it was well worth getting wet bums, as we watched the sun rising over the Greek mainland, as we chugged north to Lefkimmi port in the south of Corfu.  From Lefkimmi, a coach to Corfu town port where we left our luggage, and as I'd found a bookshop online, 15 mins walk away in Corfu Town, we mooched off with Leanne and Rahul, to find it. It had looked massive online, but was actually small. I was hoping to buy some Greek poetry in translation, which I have done before, but they had no English langua...

A good sleep, and Lorraine brought us tea and we sat with the French doors open, looking out at the harbour and the hill, trees and houses across the bay. The day started cloudily, but by the time we'd eaten a slow peach and yoghurt, toast and cheese breakfast and had left for the nearby Mamari beach it was beautiful. The beach was almost completely empty, and utterly gorgeous. We swam together, then I did a bit of sketching, and reading George Seferis's brilliant poetry. Lorraine finished Mountains of the Sea , by Ray Naylor which she has been reading for a long time. Then she crocheted and we gazed dreamily into the distance. We're expecting rain tomorrow so we lapped up all the sun we could.  Photographing jellyfish -- not usual here -- in the shallows, but what came out was the beautiful look of ripples of light on the pebbles. I only noticed the jellyfish today, and it was then it clicked about the day before. We mooched back home, and Lorraine went to have a shower, I...

Our alarm set for 6:30 up and sorting ourselves out. I'd slept like a log so felt a bit better than the previous morning. I looked out of the window and saw the first flush of dawn, with Venus shining brightly. A nice buffet breakfast, then we checked out at 8:00 and were immediately taken in a minibus with the two other couples back to the airport where we hung about. Our fellow travellers, were all living London, Steve and Tony, and Leanne and Rahul. We liked them all immediately. Leanne is a designer, and had recently been doing some life drawing. Then off in the coach to down to Lefkimmi on the south of the island. A gorgeous morning, and lovely to be in Greece again. Lorraine had forgotten her travel pills so was focusing hard on not feeling queasy on the coach, and later the little Kamelia line boat. Sat inside on benches, luckily it was a smooth crossing, and Tony and Steve were talking to us all the way, distracting Lorraine from the general queasy business. Tony revealed h...

To Paxos then. A reasonable trip on a Germania plane, a small but reassuringly German airline. The familiar sensation of stepping from the plane into the Greek sun, walking across the concrete of Corfu airport like walking into an oven. Then a short coach ride to Benitses harbour where we were put aboard the Vicky B, a small charter ferry. Sat on the top deck drinking a can or two of cold mythos beer as we travelled south down the channel between Corfu and the mountainous Greek mainland. The islands and headlands like watercolour washes of blue.  Eventually we neared Paxos, looking mysterious in its heat haze. August is of course the time of year when Italians also take their break, and Corfu being a short sail from Southern Italy. When we arrived at Gaios Harbour in Paxos, a huge Italian motor yacht was harboured where the ferry was to moor. The Captain of the ferry employed his loudspeaker and addressed the Italian as malaka (wanker). The affronted Italian (an arrogant cazzo...

Below Odysseus's boat turned to stone, the rocky caves of the west coast of Paxos, and Voutoumi beach on Antipaxos.

More views from Paxos, the final three taken from our patio.