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...

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...

I woke up at 4:30, half an hour before we had to get up for a some breakfast and the trip off to Gatwick. A bit tired and a bit sorry for myself. But we met no problems, and simply flew smoothly to Corfu, with only isolated moments of existential unease. Nobody sitting next to Lorraine meant we had more elbow room. Very cheery stewardess.  Once through the airport, we were spirited off to the nearby Corfu Holiday Palace, with two other couples who were both pleasant. A few days ago we learned that the ferry times had recently changed, and we were too late to travel to Paxos. A 4 star hotel, and our room had a nice view down on the pool and the sea and the coast of the mainland. I crashed out for a nap, then once revived, Lorraine and I set off for a walk. There was a novelty funicular from the poolside which went down to the beach below. Walked around the coast for a minute, and found ourselves looking at Pontikonisi island, aka Mouse Island, and The walkway across the water to the...

A supremely lazy day mainly lounging on our balcony and looking at the view. I got some bread and water and then mainly loafed. The day slightly overcast, but the temperature still lovely. As Lorraine worked  cross-stitching tiny ornate squares and I fiddled with a new poem about moths. We both slept in the afternoon too.   In the evening we sauntered down the path where the little lizard zooms, down to Thomas's taverna. The sky tonight unbelievably pink in the east, and it turned the sea purple. People from the taverna, including the staff, popping out to photograph the phenomenon. Utterly beautiful. Thomas himself came and talked to us, saying he had his taverna for 37 years, and the sweet natured woman who served us was his daughter.  Lorraine and I shared a Greek salad, and Lorraine ate chicken souvlaki and I had spaghetti with a vegetable sauce and lots of grated cheese, and then we both had orange cake. Lovely stuff.  Happily sauntering home. Below the purple e...

Already tired, we had a patchy night's sleep, up at a hideous 4.30 am, we were out of the house at 5 and Lorraine drove us off to Gatwick for a week of holiday. The motorway from Ashford busy at such an ungodly hour and was deeply impressed with Lorraine being able to stay awake, let alone negotiate the trucking traffic. Amazing out of term experience... Through check in and security in minutes. Lengthy lurking about and breakfast before boarding the Polish based Enterair Boeing 737 on time. Lorraine and I had been given either side of aisle seats, but as there were few passengers  we were soon on a row together and I had the window seat so could, by sheer force of will, could avert disaster. Lorraine got busy with Suduko -- without trying to teach me it again as she did once to distract me from bucking and plunging on a plane once. Over the Alps the cloud cover below began to break up, and there was an excellent view of the mountains and Italy as we few down it then nipped across ...

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...