For a while, we felt like we were bringing freaky events to the countries we visited on this Big Trip. After two blissfully peaceful months in Greece, New Zealand had a lethal volcano eruption, torrential rains, and destruction from flooding and Australia had unprecedented bush fires. But now that I think about it, the Aussie bush fires started before we got there and were extinguished while we were there because of more torrential rain. So maybe we mainly bring rain since that's pretty much what we got in Malaysia and even in Florida and Georgia while we there, too. Now things turn to plague and pestilence as the whole world wonders how to stay safe amidst this pandemic.
Here in Greece, they closed down schools a few days ago, and starting today, most shops other than groceries, pharmacies, etc. are closed. Taxi drivers, grocery store employees, and other shop workers all wear rubber gloves and frequently use hand sanitizer. When we pick accommodations, we don't usually think about what it would be like to shelter in place for a month there. Maybe online booking sites need to add this as an option along with 'recent guests said the place was sparkling clean!' Something like, "Recent guests would recommend sheltering here!" Thankfully we're in a pleasant place and have a couple balconies so we can get some sun and light and fresh air without having to venture far.
We spent several days in Corfu and it's a beautiful place. I'd love to spend more time there especially when life gets back to (presumably, hopefully!) normal. We're now in a town called Ioannina which is a lovely ferry ride and short bus ride from Corfu. People in Greece are taking the virus warnings seriously and are trying to avoid what happened in Italy. We'll be mostly in our apartment rental for a while. Seems like we'll get to catch up on some reading, drawing, and hopefully phone calls and emails with people. Many of our friends and family are doing the same type of thing in other parts of the world.
So feel free to get in touch with Sam or me! And don't worry about waking us up because of the time difference (6 hrs ahead of the East Coast, btw). We both have our phones set so that they are silent during the hours we sleep here (usually 11:30pm-7:30am). Please call whenever you have time!
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| Full moon over Corfu--view from the rental apartment |
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| View along the way to the Greek mainland |
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| Ioannina is set on a lake and is surrounded by mountains |
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| Sunset view from the Ioannina apartment patio |
