The Last of the Travel Diaries #5

Sunday the 19^th of August

T

 oday is my last day on Meganisi and it was one I spent mostly in tears. I have been dreading this day and willing it not to come. One month passed me by in a blink of an eye. Once I managed to shake off my hangover from the night before I walked to the cemetery to visit my Papou (grandfather) and light a candle and some incense for him. I took with me some flowers I picked from my garden. I had never met my Papou as we had not visited Greece prior to his death, and he had not visited Australia after my birth. He passed away in 1998. People often talk about him to me, they call him Takis Benias (his real name was Dimitrios) followed by my family nickname of Tzanou. They say that he made the best wine and that he was famous on the island for it. I wish I knew more about him; I don’t really even have a picture of him.

On the way back from the cemetery I found a donkey, finally! I have been looking for a donkey since my arrival. He was very friendly, and even let me pet him.

After visiting with the donkey I ventured down to Spilia beach to relish my last day in the summer sun and bathe in the soul healing Ionion Sea.  I enjoyed a farewell dinner with Tony and Sandra, my pseudo English adopted parents, at the pizza bar followed by my last banana daiquiri at the café over the Stefani. Later this night (early Monday morning) I sat in the port of Spilia, where the ferry docks, to enjoy my last remnants of the night summer air and reflect on the past few weeks.  There is something about this island that just feels like home. It’s nice to be in a place where people know you and genuinely care about you. To be in a place where I am not embarrassed by my real name and where I do not have to correct anyone in the pronunciation of my last name. In Australia I only have my immediate family, my parents, my two sisters and their husbands and children who all live in Adelaide. I've not grown up with cousins, aunties, uncles or grandparents so be surrounded by so much family, acceptance and love is an amazing feeling. I may be an Australian by birth but I am Greek by heritage as it is Meganisi blood that runs through my veins. I’ve collected every beautiful sight, smell, thought, emotion and experience and bottled it up so I can return to this elixir at any point.

On Monday the 20^th of August I left my paradise and Greece to venture to London to visit friends and do a spot of shopping. Never in my life have I experienced such a strong feeling of not wanting to leave somewhere. I again cried, on the ferry and then in the middle of the bus terminal (embarrassing!) I made the stressful and long trek from Meganisi to Lefkada, Lefkada to Athens and Athens to London all in one day. Exhausting! 

So to close off my trip to Greece here are some last pictures

xxx