After a round of farewell celebrations with a number of friends we finally departed for Leros via Dunfermline, Heathrow and Athens.
 
We have had a really good time since getting back to Scotland . Being back at work again was a real pleasure and made us think about the comparative selfishness and sometime boredom of our cruising lifestyle. We have also managed a brief tour of the UK to see family and old friends. We were very sad to be leaving West Loch Shores in Tarbert on our way back to Greece but also looking forward to what the next few months will bring.
 
The Journey
We left Tarbert on 30th January, stayed overnight with Will and Angela in Dunfermline. Angela offered to drive us to Edinburgh airport. We left, in gale force winds, with 2 hours to spare for the half hour drive and took some cunning back doubles to avoid any hint of traffic. Unfortunately the back doubles were seriously constipated so we took the direct approach to the Forth Road Bridge. It too was blocked. After some brief debate we decided to get a train into Edinburgh and then a bus to the airport. This meant we would be ludicrously late; would miss our various flights and have to pay a fortune to get on later flights.
 
Lady Luck is a teasing wee biddy!! :-
Good News - we arrived at the station as the train arrived;
Bad News - in the rush Rob left his phone in the car;
Good News - we arrived at the airport with 25 minutes to spare;
Bad News - British Airways need 30 minutes to check in our luggage;
Good News - B .A. manage to re-schedule us onto later flights at no extra cost;
Bad News - Heathrow is suffering chaos due to high winds;
Good News - we board the flight
Bad News - our flight sits on the tarmac for an hour;
Good News - we take off;
Bad News - we circle Heathrow for 40 minutes and arrive 2 hours late;
Good News - we find a cheap eatery at Heathrow.
Bad News - flights are being cancelled willy nilly and in large numbers;
Good News - our flight is full of vociferous Greeks who mob the BA staff. It starts to look like a scene from Zulu as the staff retreats further into their circular office surrounded by more and more irate passengers. In the end the odds are evened out by 2 superb women BA staff who have the patience of particularly put upon saints, keep the whole situation calm and manage to confirm our flight will take off. Michael Caine and Stanley Baker couldn't have done it better - Respect!
Bad News - our flight is delayed until midnight;
Good News - we take off and free drinks are offered all round.
Eventually we arrived in Athens at around 5 .30 in the morning, have breakfast and check in for our next flight which departs at 07.30.
 
When we got on the wee aircraft to Leros we could tell we were back in Greece again. As we left the terminal the Hostess was doing the safety briefing when the drinks trolley leapt from its slot in the side of the plane and started to hurtle noisily down the aisle. This obviously happens quite often. The hostess grabbed the trolley with her left foot, retreated behind the curtain to the galley, kicked the trolley back in place and then continued the safety briefing as if nothing had happened.
 
Our next Greek experience was on arrival at Leros Airport. The terminal building is about the size of the average village hall but is equipped with the latest luggage handling gear including a conveyor. We all stood by this waiting for our bags to appear through a hole in the wall as usual. However, the luggage handlers of Leros do not trust technology so took the luggage truck to the entrance to the building where we all had to scramble aboard, retrieve our bags and then proceed (you can't hurry when carrying 60kilos of baggage - Gina had a bad `arm so Rob carried the major bags) to the taxis . Our driver proceeded to cram us and 3 other passengers into his Skoda Octavia. The luggage was stacked, contradicting all the laws of gravity, high in the boot and then secured with a large elastic band.
 
We left the UK in fairly typical UK conditions (wet, windy conditions; traffic chaos; ludicrous, inflexible security procedures) and arrived to the delightful, semi organised, casual mayhem that is the Greek islands.
 
The taxi deposited us in the square at Platanos and, as Gina sprinted ahead to our house Rob struggled up the steep, stepped hill (30 steps in all) to the courtyard. The house is a traditional Greek cottage on 2 floors with a bedroom, bathroom and tiny kitchen on the ground floor. There is a lounge and single bedroom on the floor above. The 2 floors are connected by an external staircase. On the ground floor is a small courtyard and on the upper floor is a substantial balcony with dining table etc. It is basically furnished with traditional stuff and has the most amazing collection of books and CDs. All in all a highly satisfactory result .
 
 After collecting the keys and settling in we discovered that we needed some stuff from the boat (4 km away) so got a taxi to the yard. On arrival we were told by the yard manager, Bob, that we had brought the good weather with us. Earlier in the week they had torrential rain and hurricane force winds.
 
We rushed over to see Tiercel and were reassured to see that she had suffered barely any damage at all and was dry as a bone inside. The only slight damage was some minor abrasion to the boom tent we had left up to protect the decks.
 
The weather has been a mixture of sunshine and very heavy showers. When it rains the alleyways around us become torrents. In these circumstances we stay indoors and enjoy the books and music.
 
On the drier days we walk the 4kms to the boat to work on her. Hopefully this will toughen us up after our lotus eating Winter in Scotland.
 
We have now settled down to Greek life again and are preparing Tiercel for the next stage of our adventures - a short trip to Turkey followed by a long trip around the rest of the Aegean Sea.