Somewhat cruelly, the UK is experiencing some lovely weather this April weekend. My Mother and I are supposed to be in Bath celebrating my 29th birthday (which is next week by the way). We had plans to bathe in a rooftop spa and wander the beautiful city all weekend. I’ve never been and I was so looking forward to it as it would have been the first of many long weekends I had planned this year. Of course this is just a sad ‘if only’ now but all is not lost. My parents, dog and I are lucky to have a lovely garden where we have spent most of our day lounging.
One of my favourite pastimes is to imagine where I might be if I had the money, time and health to do so. I think one of my particular skills is describing my dreams quite well, just small snippets of life rather than long adventures, for instance;
Today, if Coronavirus weren’t a thing and if I were wealthy enough to do so; I’d be on a yacht, bobbing in the Greek seas. I’d be with my parents because they love boats and the sea and, because this is my dream and I can do what I want, I’d have Oscar with us, who really wouldn’t behave any differently than he is now, which is to say he’d be roaming between lounging in the sun and seeking cool air in the shade without any idea of what he really wants other than to find comfort.
It would be 30 degrees but the sea breeze flowing over the yacht is making the heat bearable and we’d have a table on the deck laid out with fresh fruit; strawberries, grapes, melon, greek salad with the kind of beefy tomatoes and onions that my friend, Ruby is still hankering for 2 years after our holiday to Rhodes, freshly caught fish and, if I must, meat for the carnivores. We would have ice cold beers stocked high in a fridge on board and my mum and I would experiment with cocktails; Aperole Spritz, Sangria, Pimms, anything fruity and we’re sipping on it.
Whether this is true or not is irrelevant, but the sea would be vacant of Jelly fish and other creatures that ruin my dreams so we spend the day intermittently jumping in to cool off. The sea is so deep and so clear we can see the varied fishes swimming in and out of our limbs. I’m not a confident swimmer so we’d have lilos and noodles (or woggles, or floaties if you prefer) aplenty and even a little life jacket for Oscar.
I’ve no idea if Oscar can swim but I know he’s not a fan of water; He will paddle his feet in the river but won’t go very close to the sea if we take him to it but I assume he can swim because apparently this comes naturally to dogs. As I said, this is my dream and I can do as I wish so currently, Oscar is cooling off beside me in the deep sea, doggy paddling his way round us, the sun beating down on our faces.
We’re not far from the port, so in early afternoon – say 2 or 3 o’clock – we’d dock and go for a wander around the Greek town (i’m not inclined to be specific here), we’d wander in and out of white buildings and air conditioned shops full of trinkets and souvenirs. We’d stop for a drink and an early dinner in a small restaurant that over looks the port, one of those places where the owner chats away to his customers, teaching you Greek but also chatting away about English television. We’d feed Oscar slips of meat and fish from our plates and (this is nothing like Oscar in reality) he’d settle under our table, content to let the world go by. The restaurant is busy with families and friends chatting over dinner, but not so crowded that you can’t enjoy your own meal. Much like the streets which are adorned with tourists and locals going about their day, but not so buzzing that you can’t get where you want to go.
People are hugging and kissing, holding hands and enjoying their lives.
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