Grey tones

The first grey day. The lake always at its best. I love it, any time of the year, in every possible tone of green or grey. And I miss it already.

Cruel

Why is the sea always at its best on the day we're leaving?

For Colin

Who loved that mountain. Who wrote the most beautiful poems in ancient greek. Cambridge and Tomaros will miss him, as well as his many good friends.

Luxury

From 7.30 to 9.00 I have this beach almost to myself. Ten days, 7 really good books, lots of thinking, peace. I could get used to it.

Breakfast by the lake

Early in the morning, without annoying music and hordes of barbarians. Sometimes I dream of this peace when I am far away.

Road to exile

Road to exile is the name of this work by Barthélémy Toguo. It's so elegant, it looks so fragile and it refers to such a harsh reality. Bottles of vodka form the sea beneath the vessel. It instanly captivated me. It's part of the exhibition Islands never Found at the State Museum of Contemporary Art in Thessaloniki.

Before I found out what is was called, when I first looked at it, I immediately thought of Eldorado, by Laurent Gaudé, one of my favourite novels, on illegal immigration in the Mediterranean.

Back home

Funny... We are back home and all of the sudden it's as if we were sixteen years old again.

But at the same time it's not as if we never left. Taking the plane from Athens, I don't know any of the passengers anymore...

Survival manual (iii)

"I wept like a child. It was not because I was overcome at having survived my ordeal, though I was. Nor was it the presence of my brothers and sisters, though that too was very moving. I was weeping because Richard Parker had left me so unceremoniously. I am a person who believes in form, in the harmony of order. Where we can, we must give things a meaningful shape. (...) It´s important in life to conclude things properly. Only then can you let go."

And thus, the story ended.

Life of Pi, by Yann Martel.

Survival manual (ii)

For those who haven´t read Life of Pi, it is the story of a boy, Pi, who spent 7 months on a lifeboat, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, together with Richard Parker, a tiger. As you can imagine, the survival manual did not, could not, cover every aspect of what lay ahead of them. And it didn´t prepare them (or us) for this:

'"I love you!" The words burst out pure and unfettered, infinite. The feeling flooded my chest. "Truly I do. I love you, Richard Parker. If I didn´t have you now, I don´t know what I would do. I don´t think I would make it. No, I wouldn´t. I would die of hopelessness. Don´t give up, Richard Parker, don´t give up. I´ll get you to land, I promise, I promise!"'

And with this outburst he took my breath away.

The huge tanker had just passed next to them, without seeing them.

Survival manual

"(...) Don´t let your morale flag. Be daunted, but not defeated. Remember: the spirit, above all else, counts. If you have the will to live, you will. Good luck!"

From Life of Pi, by Yann Martel.