One of the best things about coming to Crete has been the interest it has stirred in Greek Mythology for Evan. And if you asked him what his favourite story was he'd tell you it was The Odyssey. He'd be able to tell you about the Lotus eaters, Polyphemus the Cyclops, Circe, visiting Tiresias in the underworld and how Odysseus finally got home to Ithaca. His pronunciation of lots of these words is unusual - but gorgeous.
You know where this story is going, don't you? So, as I'm not a Classical scholar like my 7 year old son I'm a bit shaky on the details but I think I've been Cassandra for the past few days: the soothsayer of doom who is fated never to be believed but is right. I've been saying we need to set off over land and sea because it's not when the planes start flying again, it's if. And the situation in the UK is deteriorating again.
So, a journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step. I've had another virtually sleepless night and have been frustrated by the fact that neither Aegean airlines nor Minoan ferries websites are compatible with the iPhone. I've decided to undertake the odyssey home and I've got the most difficult part of the journey to undertake in an hour or so: getting my parents to understand that I can't just sit on Crete for an indeterminate future. According to Seat 61 it takes 4 days to travel from Crete to London overland. Factoring in the disruption it might take me 6. But my first flight off this island is an entire week away and there is absolutely no guarantee that airspace will be available next week.
So, I'm going to face frustration, tiredness, overcrowding and boredom. Sounds better to me than Sirens and Scylla and Charybdis. But maybe that's what Homer was writing about all along: the overwhelming desire to see home again. I might be on odyssey to LS15 rather than Ithaca.
With huge apologies to Homer, classical scholars and my son I'm about to misquote... Tell me, Muse, of the resourceful single Mum and wee boy who were driven to wander far and wide ... We will see the cities of many people and we might learn something of their ways. I'm hoping to avoid great anguish on the high seas. And as a vegetarian I'm pretty safe from devouring the oxen of Hyperion, the Sun-god.
Wish me well - and if you're enjoying this blog please promote it. I'd like to see comments from well wishers as I struggle across Europe. Evan could tell you that the continent is named after Europa a beautiful woman carried to Crete by Zeus in the guise of a white bull. I have to say I've tried putting that into Google as a method of escape but www.godsofolympus.gr is incompatible with the iPhone.
Yamas!
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You should read the poem called Ithaca by Constantine Cavafy....may your journey be a long one....
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