Wanderings Lately :: September

I am surprised I have not heard from my mum this month, complaining about how late my September post is...

The first of September began as a fairly normal day on holiday. We spent the morning in Kos town, unfortunately failing to see the Agora ruins (the gates were locked), or the Castle (closed since an earthquake in 2017). Victor's mum and her partner arrived on the 1st so we spent the afternoon by the pool with them.

That evening we booked a taxi up to Zia, a small village in the mountains where the sunset is beautiful. Victor had booked for us to have a meal out, much to my surprise! After a quick walk around the few tourist shops, we headed to one of the tavernas overlooking the sea. Our meal was nice and the sunset was obviously the highlight... until...

After our meal, our taxi was going to take a while to come [or so Victor had told me] so we had another walk around the village. Victor suggested walking up some steep steps towards a signposted church to 'burn off our meal' which I vetoed - a shame as this could have been the site of the proposal. We walked towards a spot we'd seen earlier which overlooked Turkey. The view was stunning, so I thought I would take a photo. Unfortunately the real view was spectacularly superior to what was captured on camera. As I turned around to show Victor how dreadful the photo had turned out, he was on his knee proffering me a ring.

Well, shocked as I was, after a brief pause I realised that I needed to give an answer! Of course, I said yes! It was totally unexpected, but absolutely wonderful! After savouring the joy of being newly engaged, we headed back to the hotel to celebrate together and tell our families at home.

Disappointingly, after a night of celebrating, we managed to leave our camera unattended and when we went back to get it in the morning it was gone. So gone are our last photos as boyfriend and girlfriend, gone are the photos of the sunset, and gone is my dreadful photo of Turkey. I'm still very sad about the photos we have lost, but one day we will return to take replacement photos.

The rest of our holiday was fantastic, as we enjoyed day after day as a newly engaged couple and savoured the relaxing days sitting by the pool, soaking up the sunshine.

Back in London, we've started our wedding planning, as much as we can with a view to covid restrictions being lifted somewhat in the future.

For the rest of the month, I've tried to enjoy the last good days of summer. I'm still working from home, so aside from one visit to central London to meet friends, and a couple of visits to Essex, I've not left south west London. It's still a very strange time, but we make the best of it as much as we can.

Got caught in the rain on a run one afternoon.

Some bike rides I've taken recently - to Richmond Park and along the Thames. I haven't seen the river this high before and a little way along I couldn't pass along the embankment.

My flat is now full of pom-poms since I bought a device to make them in poundland!

My most recent sewing project was this Nina Lee Camden pinafore. It's a bit skewed at the back, and I have already had to do a little repair to the waistband after it went through the washing machine. But I love it so much! 

From Draft... to Published | Greece :: Solo

In Summer 2016 I went to Greece on my own. I wanted a holiday with some sunshine, but had no one to go with. I am very comfortable being alone. I lived alone in China and Korea. I enjoy being by myself, wandering around, sitting in a cafe reading or writing, minding my own business. |I enjoy lunchtime walks around Tavistock and Russell Squares listening to podcasts. I went to the cinema last week by myself. But I can't embrace solo travel. I don't like being completely alone. The only other time I have travelled for an entire trip alone, was in Bali. I wrote on this blog about the mountain that I climbed, the food I ate and the cooking class I took, but what I didn't write about was how I spent every evening in my room, watching Eastenders on youtube and going to bed early. How I wandered around alone, from one cafe to the next, wishing there was something I would meet up with later to talk about our day. How I signed up for the hike and the class to try and meet people, but only ended up feeling more lonely. How I was glad to leave by the end of the week. 

I thought that this time, in Greece, it would be different. I was different. I wasn't newly out of a relationship and feeling sorry for myself. I was only intending to go and relax, sit on the beach and read my book and I would be happy with that. But it wasn't. Turns out, I just don't enjoy solo travel. I don't like not having someone I know to chat to over a glass of wine in the evening or a friend to go off and explore with. At home, I am glad to spend time alone, but abroad, solo to me is just lonely.

Thoughts and observations from my trip:

Arriving at that in between time when people are still out from the night before but 1/2 hour later everyone else is up to start their day 

Watching the town/port slowly wake up. A lady sweeping her balcony, man walking his dog, recycling van and church priests chanting. 

Wandering the small street past bars closed maybe only an hour or so before, last nights' detritus still sitting on an outside table

The still and calm before the day has begun. 

Boarding the ferry and watching the dark blue water mix with turquoise and bright white foam as we chug along the water. 

Mesmerised by the flag blowing tirelessly at the stern

Deciding to try and walk there from the ferry with my case was foolish. Thankfully a taxi driver appeared who helped me get to the right place and then didn't charge me for it.

Lady at check in: 'Just one?' 
Me: 'Yep.' 
Lady: 'Hahahha' 

'Solo? One?' - Man in restaurant. No one likes to see a woman travelling alone. And this woman doesn't enjoy having people point out she is alone. It highlights the fact more. It reminds her, you're here alone and others are wondering why. You're reminded that you couldn't find anyone else to come with, and for the next week you have no one to talk to or spend time with except yourself.

I stop by a small kiosk on my way to the port to pick up a bottle of water & an iced tea. Lipton iced tea is my holiday drink. I never buy this in England, although it's readily available, but on holiday, particularly in Europe, it's the drink I always end up choosing, besides water of course. I place the bottles on the counter and look to the cashier to tell me the price. He stares back, mute. We stay like this a couple of seconds longer than is comfortable before I ask 'How much?'  'Ah!' he says '€1.50' [in English]  'Oh you were waiting to see what language.' 'Yes, because you look like you could be Greek'  Really? Perhaps that explains why so many people have spoken to me here first in Greek. In Asia I was easily identifiable as foreign & to be addressed in English. I was really happy the first time I was mistaken as a local in Russia, after so long being foreign. But I didn't expect that here, on a tourist island, pale skin and blue eyes. But maybe that's just my ignorance.