Thursday October the 8th came around terribly quickly.
There was a strange moment, the previous afternoon, sitting in the courtyard of the National Museum, when I realised I was unwilling to leave although I was worn out and had a bad case of museum-foot, because so long as I was there I had an irrational feeling I could still stretch out my visit a bit longer.
It doesn't work that way, of course. I made my way back to the Athinaikon Hotel, packed my case, showered and changed and had a last meal at Oinopoleion and then a fairly early night.
I was up before dawn to get the metro to the airport. A rush-hour underground train is much the same anywhere, in my experience. A good last journey in a way, busy and efficient and spent among ordinary working lives.
The sun had just risen as we came out of the tunnel section, just a few stops from Eleftherios Venizelos International.
Check-in was very smooth, I had time to pick up some ouzo and olive paste in the duty free shop, and then all too soon I was on the plane and we were taking off. I confess to feeling quite a pang as the wheels left Greek soil. The sky over Athens was semi-overcast by then, but through breaks in the clouds I caught a last glimpse of the city and the coast beyond, and the silhouette of Aigina far off. Then it was masked by whiteness, and we were flying, no more looking back. We were over solid snow-white cloud banks all the way, till the clouds broke up somewhere near Frankfurt, and from then on till Heathrow it was clear viewing.
It was rather pleasant coming in over the Thames Estuary and the whole of London. It felt like somewhere I could be fond of, seen from above on a bright autumn day with a nice sharp view; the Kent coast, the Queen Elizabeth Bridge, the Thames Barrier, London City Airport and the Excel Arena... and then suddenly Chiswick Bridge, and the southern end of Kew Gardens, a glimpse of Richmond and the river shining away towards Kingston; streets and rooftops coming up fast, warehouses, carparks; and we touched down. And I was home.
There was a strange moment, the previous afternoon, sitting in the courtyard of the National Museum, when I realised I was unwilling to leave although I was worn out and had a bad case of museum-foot, because so long as I was there I had an irrational feeling I could still stretch out my visit a bit longer.
It doesn't work that way, of course. I made my way back to the Athinaikon Hotel, packed my case, showered and changed and had a last meal at Oinopoleion and then a fairly early night.
I was up before dawn to get the metro to the airport. A rush-hour underground train is much the same anywhere, in my experience. A good last journey in a way, busy and efficient and spent among ordinary working lives.
The sun had just risen as we came out of the tunnel section, just a few stops from Eleftherios Venizelos International.
Check-in was very smooth, I had time to pick up some ouzo and olive paste in the duty free shop, and then all too soon I was on the plane and we were taking off. I confess to feeling quite a pang as the wheels left Greek soil. The sky over Athens was semi-overcast by then, but through breaks in the clouds I caught a last glimpse of the city and the coast beyond, and the silhouette of Aigina far off. Then it was masked by whiteness, and we were flying, no more looking back. We were over solid snow-white cloud banks all the way, till the clouds broke up somewhere near Frankfurt, and from then on till Heathrow it was clear viewing.
It was rather pleasant coming in over the Thames Estuary and the whole of London. It felt like somewhere I could be fond of, seen from above on a bright autumn day with a nice sharp view; the Kent coast, the Queen Elizabeth Bridge, the Thames Barrier, London City Airport and the Excel Arena... and then suddenly Chiswick Bridge, and the southern end of Kew Gardens, a glimpse of Richmond and the river shining away towards Kingston; streets and rooftops coming up fast, warehouses, carparks; and we touched down. And I was home.
No comments:
Post a Comment