Welcome Back to Blighty hey!

The season is not quite over but I am back in the UK for a wedding. Within hours of my return I was sitting on the M25 in traffic in the rain! Welcome back to Blighty hey!

       Luckily the rain stopped just long enough for the newly weds to take some photos outside!

After months of being in hot weather, wearing shorts and sandals it’s been hard adjusting to the cold, wearing closed shoes, jackets and covering up my legs. In Kefalonia I would wake up each day to blue sky and temperatures in the late 20’s/30’s. Sometimes it was too hot but other times there was a gentle warm breeze that the trees swayed to.

Now......No flowers, no scent of jasmine, no animal sounds, no animal smells, no goat bells, no Greek music, no wasps, no church bells......the only sound I hear is the motorway buzzing in the distance and the drilling of my neighbours DIY project!

In the UK I wake up in the morning to what feels like a black and white unreal world. I feel disorientated. I’m unsure where the floor begins and where the sky ends....it’s all different shades of grey!  After months of not watching any TV, now the only way to see any colour IS on the TV! But what a load of rubbish I watch....... listening to pathetic MP’s justifying their existence and news that really isn’t news!

As I go about my business even the people in the UK look grey! It hits me just how much the weather effects our physical and emotional well being and I remember my time in Kefalonia that was not even a week ago but seems like a lifetime ago.

It was so nice to be in the real world, living my life in real time. Needless to say I am definitely having withdrawal symptoms! I would get up early in the morning, do the shopping, get the meat from the butchers and fresh vegetables from the market stall in Argostoli and go down to the Lady O getting ready for the day ahead. If we were lucky, Areti would have bought the crew something fresh and warm for breakfast from the local bakery.

The day ahead was sure to be a busy one. We have a coffee, preserve our energy and wait for the customers to arrive. Once everyone was on board, we’re off! I would be talking to people all day long, ensuring they were happy and cared for, hearing their stories, them hearing mine (you know the one.....I was looking to buy a house but bought a boat!), serving cocktails on the beach, dancing to ‘Raining Men’ and ‘Desposito’. By the end of the day Dennis, Andrea, Areti and I would all be exhausted but on a high. We would do this every day and we loved it.

We met some lovely people, some of which have now become friends and I look forward to seeing them again. We were very fortunate and we are very grateful for the wonderful reviews we received this year, which I enjoyed reading and responding to. I strongly believe if someone takes the time to write a review it’s only right that we should take the time to read them and respond to them individually.

I’m looking forward to going back in a few weeks time to wrap up the season  where Dennis and I will also sit down to reflect on how our first season together has been,  and think about how to make things even better next year.

I can’t wait!

Let’s cruise together!............

Nicos Nicolaou