Summer pt2 Sidari

“The sky is often used as a metaphor,

I suppose it’s because it’s so big and expansive,

When a long stranded cloud sits just above the horizon,

Leaving a strip of clear blue beneath it,

It becomes the panorama,

And you turn your head 360 degrees,

And the same line follows you round,

If the land is sufficiently flat,

Really nothing can be compared to it.” – Paul Smith

So onto Sidari, which came at the right place at the right time with the right person doing the right things with me and enjoying every moment. Leaving the day after returning from Leeds the day of leaving was a strange one, an evening flight a strange un-day. Nathalie and I went shopping in the day time through want of not wanting to just sit around all day willing ourselves onto a plane.

Soon enough 5 came around, and so did 6, 7 and 8 and finally 10 decided to show up and we got on our plane. Flying scares me and enthrals me in equal measure. Deep down I believe it’s not normal or right that a human being with legs and arms can be 15,000 feet above land, sea and air but at the same time you get such abject beauty from the height that my mind forgets my worries for minutes at a time wherein I take it all in. I end up feeling small, overtaken by the vastness of the open expanses. Then we get turbulence and I fear for my unborn and previously un-thought of children.

We arrive after me placating myself with the greatest hits of Sir Elton John through some serious (read: minor) shaking and rolling of the plane. Well Tiny Dancer anyway. I could write an essay about Tiny Dancer. But for now the fact is that it’s brilliant and that’ll have to keep you going. Corfu has a strange angular airport with all sorts of styles being attempted, but one never actually having authority over the other. It’s dizzying after 26 hours on the go.

(Stray Lizard)

We arrived at the hotel at 5, local time and went straight to sleep. I don’t know what it is about foreign climes but in the dark they mostly have to look of a building site or war zone about them, it’s all a bit strange and scary. I assured Nathalie of this but she was very worried. I was secretly worried, but after years of having the parents that I’ve had you learn to keep those sorts of things to yourself and make the best of a warzone if you have too. However this really wasn’t necessary because the place was simply lovely! The wonky shower rail was fixed by the time we came out of the pool and the cleaner was really kind to us, we locked ourselves out on the third day and I had to ask her half naked (the acceptable half) and soaking to be let back in. To be honest she probably thought we were mental. We’d made friends with a cat which I’d named Timothy (later found to be a female Timothy with Kittens) and she’d come in and have food in our apartment, and twice Timothy left with me and Nathalie and walking past a rather confused maid, obviously wondering if we were sleeping with stray cats on holiday. We left 5 Euro, hoping this princely sum would buy her silence.

(Timothy's Kittens)

A lot of the holiday was spent larking in the very literal sense around the pool and sun bathing, whole heartedly unspectacular but I loved every moment of it. We did our own shopping and cooked our own meals and I felt as if Nathalie and I were living together just like we had done for a week earlier this summer and it was amazing. It wasn’t jarring, I feel more comfortable in her presence than I do at home. The miniature homes we make while together keep me happy. It’s in stark contrast to what we’ve got for the rest of the year on a whole, snatched moments and weekends together. I love our snatched moments, I can get out of situations and feel happy even if it is only for a few days at a time, and they’re no less special. It just excites me that we’re capable of being together for longer periods without wanting to kill each other.

(Part of Corfu Town Old Fort)

We joined in quizzes and did film nights; we went for walks along the beach and held hands.

Sidari is an inheritantly beautiful place. Its views are stunning but jarred against rapid and obviously un-planned development. Sections of Sidari seem rushed and un-kept but the parts where you can’t stick a block of flats on are simply gorgeous. The architecture in Corfu town is chaotic and draws from all sources but is beautiful.

(The Popcorn Seller, Corfu Town)

I loved my holiday; it was the best present I’d ever been given and was everything I needed and more.

I love her quite a lot. I don’t think I need to elaborate on that do I?