30 days and Counting

30 days to clear blue Mediterranean seas
30 days to the start of another adventure ..
From books and Muse,
Long have I dreamt
Of the dances of matadors & flamencos
The art of Gaudi, Dali, Goya
Places Alhambra,Andalucia, Sevilla
Of Aegean legends
Apollo, Zeus, Athena,
The epics - Iliad & Odyssey,
Hector, Achilles, Cassandra.
Epics,history, philosophy
Troy, Alexander, Socrates!
Will my imaginings and dreams be seen small
when i get there?
Will reality be bigger, grander?
I can't wait to experience it all!


So this is a dream journey for me -
and when opportunity knocks - with no hesitation - I accepted a very generous offer from my uncle to board the brand new SV Skylark on her maiden voyage through the Mediterranean. The Skylark is due for commissioning early July 2009 at La Rochelle, France. (Sailing Vessel Skylark is found at svskylark.blogspot.com).

The PLAN:
Flight KL- London
then London - Lisbon
Boarding SV Skylark in Lisbon
Lisbon through the coasts of Portugal,
Southern Spain and then disembark in Barcelona
Walking through Barcelona
Driving from Barcelona to Grenada, Seville and Andalusia
Back to Barcelona
Flight Barcelona - Athens
Athens - Plane or boat to Mykonos
Mykonos to Santorini
Santorini to Pireus,
Drive on Pireus to Corinth, Olympia, Delphi and back to Athens
Flight Athens - London
London back to KL.

The PREP:
It has been months of trying to get most of my work completed and looking for kind souls (in the legal profession!) to be caretakers of my ongoing files. So far, I have managed to clear my diary for 2 months. Bonus, the loveliest of surprise, Colin will be joining me on part of the journey! However, planning the trip with him in mind does not come naturally, save to say I believe he is now leaving me with a very wide discretion as to the details!
We have started looking at guide books, travellers' tales and online sites. Part of the joy of travelling lies with the anticipation, the research and the day-dreaming!
I am playing with the idea of writing some creative travel tales of my own, perhaps in the form of poetry or with the focus of comparing my readings with my reality of exploring all the magical places!

Hence this blog.

Colin has started practising his Spanish! and listing the activities we can do together - many involving music and dance. Especially after I revealed that my planning consists ruins, museums, ruins, art galleries, ruins and food.

So, at 30 days before :

I have flight tickets - checked!
Travel - Reading - ongoing - Portugal, Southern Spain and Greece
Sailing - One crash course (checked) and still reading ...
Sailing jacket - check! (all form and no substance but I look the part of a sailor!)
New underwater camera - checked!
Still debating whether to bring along the laptop!

Guess I will start packing, unpacking and packing again - to travel as light as possible but with enough (is there such a thing for a city oriented kampung girl?!). My motivation on packing will be to avoid the incredulous looks on the faces of the crew uncles when I board with my ultra-huge trunks! (Saw a 100 cubic litre pantzer trunk at HOL Pavillion, sorely tempted to travel with it.)

I will start the packing stage posts and more on what I hope the trip will be like soon!