www.ithacagreece.com Winter on Ithaca Menu 2012-2013 Winter Specials hOME ithaca greece menu Accommodation real estate
It's not every day you get a lift to the airport with a ZZ Top member... not really, my brother isn't a ZZ Top member, but a bikie.
The holiday is over. Not ready to say goodbye after a month marred by illness, but all good (and bad) things come to an end. Sad to farewell my family and friends and a life I barely remember having in Melbourne once upon a time. I'm actually more at home with the Greek way of doing things than the Aussie way. Wish the 2 countries were a little closer together so I could have them both in my life.
Life is full of coincidences, that our friend from Loch in South Gippsland would be on the same flight from Melbourne to Abu Dhabi as we were was a nice surprise. He heading on to London, we to Athens. When next we see him, he'll be brewing beer as his new profession.
We had heard that a few days prior to our return to Greece, it had snowed in Athens. The mountains showed the proof as we drove toward Patras from Athens.
There's nothing like a very long flight to numb the senses and blur a holiday. Once back in Patras, the old smells and sounds stirred a longing to get back to the island, the rock, Ithaki, but alas, wait... there is only 1 ferry per day so it meant an overnight stay. Guess the longing will have to stir another day.
It rained and the temp was a chilly 8 degrees, but having driven from Athens to Patras immediately after landing, we pretty much passed out and heard and felt very little during our slumber.
In the morning we walked around Patras a little, but our attention was now on getting back home. Little interested us apart from an espresso for Demetri and a cinnamon doughnut for me, and confirmation that the ferry was leaving for Ithaki as usual.
Once at the port there were plenty of known faces disembarking the Ionis ferry which had replaced the Andreas Kalvos only that day. We said hello and goodbye to Luka from the Nostos Hotel in Frikes who was heading off for some R & R with Taki from Polis Beach, all short haired and distinguished looking after his stint in the army.
The Ionis ferry looked tiny and reminded me of the ferry I took the very first time I went to Ithaki back in 1983. It happened to be that very ferry, refurbished a little and moving a little faster, but still as small as a sardine can when it came to loading trucks into the hull. At 1.30pm we sailed for Ithaki, the place I've made my home now for the past 12 years.
Leaving Ithaki South Gippsland 1 2 3 4 Melbourne and Inner city Coastal Return to ithaki
A stormy sky and black sea welcomed us back onto the Ionian.
Leaving Ithaki South Gippsland 1 2 3 4 Melbourne and Inner city Coastal Return to ithaki