Tuesday 12^th April – Messolonghi (There and Back Again)

38:21.668N 21:25.004E

Regular readers will recall that we left you in October listening to the sound of rain on the deck.  The following day we were up bright and early, to finish our packing and say our good-byes.  Just as we were closing up the stitching on the old cockpit enclosure, it split once again so Richard had a last impromptu repair job to do – it’s going to have to go.  Mid-morning Chris & Dave gave us a lift up to the bus station and soon we were on our way to Athens to catch our flight back to the UK where we were pleased to find Gill & Mark waiting at the airport to give us a lift back to Richard’s mum’s... 

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We spent the winter catching up with friends and relatives and I went back to work for a few months - the company I worked for last winter had been sold but I was invited back into the same role for the new company, so I spent a busy but enjoyable time catching up with old colleagues and clients together with meeting a number of new ones.

Shortly after we were back we celebrated Gill & Mark’s wedding which was a great chance to catch up with all of Richard’s family and to meet Mark’s family.  We then celebrated Dad’s birthday with a visit to Sheffield United for a hospitality event.

In December we did battle with the heavy snows that covered the UK, and spent Christmas and New Year with R’s mum and my parents.  Christmas dinner was completed with a Heston Hidden Orange Christmas Pudding (courtesy of Waitrose, not at £300 on eBay), a trip to the panto (Oh yes we did) and a visit to Mercedes World.

In January we visited the London Boat Show and then Richard went out to check on Pyxis for a few days whilst I went on business to Italy.

London Boatshow; Winter sunshine in Messolonghi

In February, we continued our tour of Greek antiquities by visiting the British Museum to see the Elgin marbles.  I have to say that they were in much better condition than the ones that have remained in situ in Greece exposed to the elements.  Having visited the Acropolis in Athens, we were able to really appreciate them.  By the way, it rained!

British Museum

Lastly we took a trip to Brooklands Museum with R’s mum which allowed us to get up close and personal with Concorde and a Harrier jump-jet.

Brooklands Museum

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… this evening we have arrived back in Messolonghi ready to start our summer travels.  It has been a long day of travelling with my parents giving us a lift to Heathrow at the crack of dawn to catch our flight to Athens.  Our neighbours welcomed us with a cup of tea on board their boat and having caught up with the news we settled in on Pyxis for the night, which brought with it the familiar sound of rain on the deck overnight.

We’ve had a couple of losses over the winter; we had left the bikes ashore and one of the bicycle saddles has disappeared, as has the plank we use as our passerelle to board Pyxis – fortunately Pyxis is still here and seemingly none the worse for her time without us.  Gains have included a couple of cats, both pregnant, who have adopted our cockpit as their home since Richard visited in January!  I guess that means that we have been protected from rats but means quite a lot of cat hairs around (fortunately nothing else).

Heathrow T5; Athens Bus Station

© Pyxis 2011