The first few UK days were quite dry
and fine which helped a lot and made things easier but later on, the
clouds gathered and the weather started to get much colder. UK
friends who helped give lifts, cooked wonderful meals and offered
storage space were so appreciated. I even braved South Quay in
Southampton on Black Friday weekend, which was a bit of a mistake as
the crowds were so overwhelming and I didn't need any shopping.
However the light lunch at John Lewis's Place to Eat in bright
sunshine made it slightly easier and we escaped in one piece.
Everywhere we went, the pressure of people and traffic seemed worse
than ever and I was glad not to be driving.
House clearing was hard going, but the
help offered was marvellous and the whole contents of the house in
Hampshire were divided and taken away by vans and car to various new
locations or for storage for a short while. The stress of getting
repossession of our home and dealing with the aftermath made it very
unappealing, so K and I were glad to cut our losses, sell up and
prepare to look for somewhere away from the crowded South East.
After a frantic week of packing and cleaning, I dropped off the keys
at the Estate Agents to await completion the following day and set
off for a stayover at Gatwick on Thursday night. Just as I was
turning off my mobile to board the plane on Friday morning, the
Solicitors called to say the transaction had completed. Brilliant.
It had all worked out surprisingly well. I slept all the way on the
flight to Athens and then after a short break at Athens airport was
wide awake to Heraklion.
I was boiling on the plane in my winter
woollies. The flight was stuffed to capacity with every seat taken
for Friday night and so squashed that even if the Greek travellers
had the self discipline to take one piece of carry-on luggage each,
there still would not have been enough bin space for all the bags,
bundles and boxes that people, air hostesses and strong men were
trying to wrestle into the space above their heads. Since Aegean
Airlines have started to charge for even one piece of checked
luggage, it has caused mayhem on the planes and they are always
requesting for people to check their hand baggage into the hold and
pick it up at the carousel. I did not mind doing it, but would not
always want to surrender my bag due to my odd assortment of ex-pat
stuff which is sometimes quite fragile. On this occasion, it
actually made life a bit easier.
I can't help thinking that the ground
staff who operate the luggage scanning machines at the security
department must see some odd sights. I
memorised the peculiar assortment I had packed: coat hooks, a door
knob, shaving oil, a new pan for the bread maker, new filters for the
water filter jug, Christmas wrapping paper (found in the loft),
various treasured bits which I thought had been disposed of, a hair
dryer from the UK house to replace the one that had broken here in
Crete and a small oven pan. You can buy oven pans here, but they
only sell ENORMOUS ones, and K and I have no need to cook so much
food at one go these days. Similarly cake tins and dishes all seem
to be made for huge family meals rather than sedate suppers for two.
There may be a lesson in that somewhere. Anyway, it was time now to
think about Christmas Fare Cretan style and to make some homemade
mincemeat (which I didn't have room for!)
The house was warm and welcoming on our
arrival, K had lit the log burner which was warming the whole of the
ground floor, my lovely friends who had met me from the airport
brought a bag of the most beautiful mandarin oranges freshly picked
from their tree as a gift and K had some food ready to cook if needs
be – but the hour was too late to tackle a meal after all the
journey food.
 |
| A stormy weekend was perfect for looking out the Christmas decorations |
Cretan weather had been really hot in
my absence and lots of people had been out in their gardens or on the
beaches enjoying some warm December sun. I stopped off on the way
back from the supermarket on Saturday and took a short walk down the
sea wall just to sit on a bench in the sun for a few minutes, look at
the harbour and count my blessings. It was so great to be back on
this beautiful island to enjoy a lead up to Christmas completely
emptied of the usual hassle. On Sunday the winter rain storms
started up like an orchestra – loud thunder, dips in the electric
power and heavy rain all night. We have been appreciating the new
porch roof sevenfold! Enough for now; it is time to sweep up after
the deluge!
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