Longing lingering look …

In a new departure, I’m writing this in a plane heading for Glasgow - at last: we were held up because two people decided not to travel and their bags had to be taken off and then there was (another?) security issue. I do hope we make it …

I realised as I pottered down to the lakeside insanely early this morning that I really didn’t want to leave. It’s been so long since we were able to travel, and I realised with increasing clarity that it’s the otherness of foreign places - and in particular Italy and Crete - that I’ve missed. The warm air, the scents, the sound of the language… I think I needed longer, but not the hotel life. I get tired of too much food after a bit!

(Continuing this on the Dunoon ferry…) A thought about Covid. We didn’t, much - think about it. We were a group of about 24 all told, walking together (in two groups) and eating together, and it took very little time for us all to feel like a family bubble or whatever- we felt safe with everyone in the group. We had to wear these dire fierce masks on the flights and in buses, ferries and shops, but not in the hotel (where staff still wore masks; the rules for visitors had just been relaxed.) We reflected at the end of the week that this was maybe “living with Covid” - knowing it’s still there, but not being unduly concerned on a day-to-day basis.

Though I did hear some discussion of monkey pox…

Blipping the sunlight on Lake Garda at 7am today.