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Swimming the Straights of Corfu; A Prior Escape Route From Communism
I was sitting in a bed with a woman I had just met days before. She too, was a mother of two; both teenagers. She too, loved swimming. Her backpack had her last name monogramed across the back. Sure, I checked her out when we met at the airport. Something about her told me she was a talented athlete, or maybe, it was just the backpack. Unlike how I see myself, she was initially reserved. I came to discover she was indeed physically elite, however best of all, a high quality kind of friend I wanted to know better.
This was a unique kind of vacation; requiring trust in my physical abilities. However, I was along to enjoy, with no pressure to perform, only the delight of exploration and stretch my limits.
Getting up from bed, I went outside onto the balcony. The stars were out and the moon was rising. The sound of the shoreline pulsed rhythmically and the feel of warm air, agreed with my senses. I took both my wetsuit and swimsuit and brought them inside, to keep dry for the night. Tomorrow was going to be a big day and I was happy to have chosen, this way, to spend my 54th birthday!
In many ways, I was so unprepared for what was to come; yet, the unknowing is what thrills me. The alarm was set and gear prepared. This felt like other times prior to a competition, only different. I slept, I guess. I tried to lie quiet no matter what and when the alarm rang, I knew I had rested despite my excitement. We got out of bed, saying only “good morning” to one another; it was dark and the hour, early.
Our hotel was stupendous; small white stucco clusters of rooms, hugging the hillside, each looking out over the Mediterranean. There was a private white beach below, followed by a vast expanse of the aquamarine sea and nothing else. The dining room too, only looked out to the water below. There was no town, private homes, commercialism, nor even the likelihood of obtrusive lighting to be of any visual distraction.
After a quick breakfast, we gathered our things for the day and headed up to the parking lot where we meet our group. I asked, “do you have your…
