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A sweet return home, with an airport pickup from these cuties.  By the way- the coolest thing happened... I was upgraded to biz class! Waaaaaaat?! Best flight ever.  London: round two. The depression had already started when I left magical Milos. Santorini just wasn’t my jam. I wasn’t jazzed to pass through London again, because I was ready to get home, but there are worse places to layover. I had made arrangements to meet up with Rose, who works for the Feminist Library in London. We had coffee in Little Venice on the canal and it was perfect. We got to chatting about all sorts of things political and non. The Feminist Library is in the process of moving to a new location so I wasn’t able to visit or donate zines. But if you can, check them out.  After my coffee chat with Rose, I met Jemma at the Bayswater station to check out ‘carnival’ which is London’s Caribbean population celebration. Caribbean foods, and flags abound, and floats representing different nations parade down the street. The streets were packed with festival attendees -dancing their arses off in the streets, huffing nitrous balloons, sipping cocktails and live drumming and bands. A bit too much merry-ment for me. Also- whip-its? I haven't hit them since...? High school? We used to do them at festivals and Dead Shows. My sister was famous for dropping into a seizure in the old Giant's Stadium parking lot because she kept huffing the stuff back and forth into the balloon without taking in any oxygen. So, yeah, there's that. Glad that is no longer a part of my lifestyle.
 Santorini is the iconic Greek island... however during the summer season this, for me is unbearable. I’m not a big fan of huge crowds. When I travel abroad I don’t like to hang out with Americans. Is that snotty? I don’t know and I don’t really care. Santorini was packed with people, and it was very expensive compared to Milos and Athens. The sunsets are gorgeous. The white buildings are beautiful. The beaches are nothing special compared to Milos. The food is no different than I had in other places. But expect crowds and high prices.  Thankfully, by the time I landed in the tiny, one lane airport in Mílos, I felt 💯 %. The many divine meals...  Phew, finally feeling more like myself. I left a rainy, cold London afternoon and after some delays, Athens welcomes me with mid 80’s warmth. I really enjoyed Athens- for the short time I stayed. I stayed at the Athens Backpacker which was very close to the Acropolis. This neighborhood had loads of cafes and restaurants and has buses and the metro so you can get anywhere. It’s 15 minutes walking to Syntagma Square. I had a killer view of the Acropolis from the rooftop bar of my accommodation. I got my arse up early to tour the Acropolis one morning. On public bus, I managed to get myself to an AA meeting. I also got myself to the pop-up Athens Zine Library to drop off some of my zines.  Worst withdrawal ever. I haven't been this ill since the last time I experienced withdrawal from heroin. My psychiatric nurse is a jerk because she is responsible for my serotonin withdrawal. I detoxed from my medication because I did not have enough in my system. My nurse switched the medication I was on and assured me that I would not have any issues because of the amount of serotonin in the med. Wrong she was. I crapped my brains out, felt woozy, sleepy, hungover, had the chills and was sweating, couldn't sleep and walked around in a daze for four days. Thanks. I was really angry with myself because I know better and should have taken extra pills of m previous meds along on this trip.  Holding it together during bouts of illness. I got to meet up with an old drinking buddy, Ian while visiting. Ian and I met in Los Angeles at the Banana Bungalow, in 2000 or 2001 after I drive cross country with my friend George, and then decided to make my drunken way up the coast of California. I also met up with Barney, a cyclist that we met on our first west coast bike tour. Housemans Bookstore now stocks several of my zines. Housemans is very cool, the selection was akin to Bluestockings. I hung out and chatted with Christina for a bit.  Billie Holiday welcomes me with a happy tail and snuggles. Billie keeps me coming home. She’s the sweetest pup. I am home for a week before my next adventure and I’m spending all my time with her.
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AuthorHi, I'm Reverend J, a queer+ sober wanderer, activist, writer and ordained minister. Archives
November 2020
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