A small Odyssey

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 language books. 

A nice cafe next door, however, and we all had coffee, toast and omelettes. Corfu town quite cool and sophisticated these days I thought. The others did a spot of shopping, then we returned to the port, and then were taken the short hop to the airport. All good there, and Lorraine, Rahul and I had halves of beer before the flight. Among other conversations, I played him the AI music Toby had sent me. We all told each other how much we'd enjoyed meeting each other on this holiday.

The plane more cramped on the journey home. At the end of our three seats, a grumpy tall Chinese man, with his family across the aisle. Some turbulence over the alps, and a bumpy time of it circling to land at Gatwick. I had not enjoyed the flight, but had kept my anxiety under control, which pleased me.

 Fond farewells with Leanne and Rahul, and then Lorraine and I managed to catch the Lewes train, and were in Seaford Station in the teeming rain at about 6:50pm. If you add in the two hour time difference, we'd been travelling for almost 14 hours. Lorraine took our little wheelie cases home, and I zoomed into Morrisons, to buy some essentials and some pizza, which we guzzled happily on the gold sofa. To bed early, applying liberal amounts of hydrocortisone on mosquito bites, of which we have a healthy crop.

Below: The port on Paxos at first light, Venus just visible. Lorraine and I sitting outside in the wind. Clouds and turbulence over southern England.