An Adventure Back To Ordinary

Yesterday, the Parthenon. Today, Calgary. We are making the headlong dash back to the confines of our every day life. We are leaving the incredibly sublime to return to the daily grind, at least Cheryl is. She will take the long trek home today, and return to work tomorrow. I will have a day of rest, an opportunity to welcome Mom and Ray to Calgary, and then on Saturday I am off to Edmonton to see my brother Jim perform in a stage musical.

It is the usual set of mixed feelings that lives within me today, the want for familiar, the saddness of leaving this wonderful adventure. Over the last few weeks, Cheryl and I have done a pastiche, the buffet approach, the Grand Tour. From London to Paris, from Paris to Milan, from Milan to Florence, from Florence to Santorini, finishing here in Athens. We have traveled by plane, train, automobile, and ferry. We've sat in a sidewalk cafe, had lunch in the Milan Galleria, dined in a remote Greek taverna, and taken High Tea at a five star hotel.

I love this kind of vacation, this kind of exploration. I am, at heart, a wanderer, seeking always that which is just over the horizon. One of my friends once called me a "grass is greener" kind of guy, implying that I was always seeing something better somewhere else. I think he was partly right; I was ambitious and wanted to improve my standing. But there was something else, an innate curiousity which has always driven me. I just want to know what comes next, to see the next mountain, to find the next village, to touch and feel the next treasure, to learn.

Today will be the toughest day of travel. We leave here in Athens soon, a few minutes from now, heading out to the airport. Our flight will take us 10 1/2 hours to Toronto, a layover, and another 4 hours to Calgary. We will be trapped at 35,000 feet in a giant winged cigar tube with a couple of hundred other unhappy travelers, most of them likely as sad to leave Athens as we are. We are both tired already; I expect to sleep on the flight as much as I can, using the 20 hours of transit time to at least try to gain a few hours of needed slumber.

Jet lag will attack tomorrow. At least I have the option of sleeping in; Cheryl has to be at work in the morning. For both of us, it is back to ordinary.