Sunday, 16th August, 2026
As the weather changes … allegedly … and the heatwave slackens in the North of England, we are preparing to set off for the inferno that is Athens. Twenty years ago today, I was a Greek God looking down from on high over Kamares harbour as the ferries came and left for other lumps of rock in the Cyclades. Although I was still teaching – for another 3 years – we had driven across Europe, sailed down the Adriatic, driven through Athens to Piraeus and taken a ferry to our house on Sifnos.
We spent five weeks on the island in very hot conditions and then packed everything up to drive all the way home. The order of the day in our Greek house was to open up all the windows and doors in the morning to channel any sea breeze through and then close all the shutters in the afternoon to stop the baking sun raising the temperature so high that we cooked. Evenings were offset with air conditioning thank goodness.
Twenty years on and back in UK, we are duplicating that principle with all the doors and windows open in the mornings and blinds closed in the afternoon as the intense sun bites into the south facing kitchen. We don’t have air conditioning installed yet but we will this Winter which will almost certainly guarantee that next Summer will be very cold and wet.
Hair cut this morning in preparation for travel. My hairdresser has just arrived – well, she will do when she’s stacked the dishwasher. Shorter than usual because of the heat I’m told. Someone who knows about Biology tells me that sunshine encourages hair to grow faster. A natural sceptic, I asked AI who/which told me:
A little sunshine can support healthy hair growth, but it does not make hair grow faster. The key mechanism is vitamin D — sunlight helps your skin produce it, and vitamin D plays an important role in keeping hair follicles cycling normally.
Greek Gods need to know this stuff. Anyway, I get ‘free’ haircuts so I just nod in ascent to any old ideas that come out during the process.
Upstairs, the bed in one of the spare rooms is currently becoming more and more cluttered with items to be packed and the available clothes in my wardrobes seem to be declining at a similar rate. Downstairs, I’ve done all the paperwork/digital record keeping – checking in online for flights and downloading Boarding Passes, even checking in at our hotel online.
I hate the cattle-market approach of airport life but going early makes it so much more palatable. I’ve booked a Gatwick Airport Lounge but I don’t think we’ll use it because we fly so early. It will be a matter of driving to the Long Stay Carpark, getting the shuttle bus to Terminal, straight through Security and down to Gate. The flight is 3 hrs 50 mins and I will probably sleep straight through it at that time in the morning. We arrive at 11.00 am(EET)which is still 9.00 am in our body clocks so we will have almost a full day available from the start.