1953 PART VI - END OF OUR HOME LEAVE

Our 1953 home leave was the most memorable ever.  To recapitulate, my parents and I arrived in England on the 21st of June, 1953.  The next day the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II took place.  We watched the ceremony on television, the first major event that was ever televised by the BBC, with millions of spectators from the United Kingdom and abroad.   Coronation London was festive and residents very proud of their new, young Queen.  Obviously, the whole Commonwealth was rejoicing!

We stayed in London for about a month.  Then, we went for three days in Paris, for me the most beautiful and fascinating city in the world, the city of light.  Venice was next,  a unique city built on the sea, a scene of history, fairy tales and dreams, with very interesting food.

From there we sailed for my beautiful island of Cephalonia, where we discovered the beauty of the landscape.  Small coves and lovely beaches, high mountains, small villages perched of green hillsides and Argostoli, a gem of a town, with neo-classical houses painted in light pastel colours and of course the "wine-dark" Ionian sea.

Suddenly, in mid-August, a monster earthquake, measuring 7.2 of the Richter scale levelled the whole of Cephalonia and Zante, leaving Ithaka and Lefkada partly damaged.

After the earthquake, we stayed in Argostoli for five more days and then we left for Athens.  Athens in 1953 was a beautiful city, the roads lined with orange trees, and the centre of the city decorated with elegant late 19th century and early 20th century houses.

We also spent a week at Loutraki, a fashionable spa and met with old and new friends and had a wonderful time.   Our home leave was coming to an end and we had to return to Karachi.    So we left Greece in November 1953, boarded a Greek ship and sailed from Piraeus to Suez, via Beirut.  The weather was wonderful, the ship modern and the officers and staff were excellent professionals.

Our first port of call was Beirut, which was amphitheatrically built on the slopes of Mount Lebanon.   In 1953, the centre of Beirut was densely built, the boulevards congested with traffic.  The fashionable part of the city was full of trendy restaurants and fashionable boutiques.  Driving up the slopes we came across the famous "yellow houses" that were built during the French Mandate period, surrounded by gardens.   Apparently, a few years later, major European urban planners, like Constantinos Doxiades, Lebret IRFRED's team and others were commissioned to remodel the centre of the city and the infrastructure.

We sailed for Suez and there we boarded MS BATORY, a luxurious ocean liner of the Polish Merchant Marine, which was then on the Indian Line.  There we met Mr Borg, a friend of my parents.  It was a wonderful journey, with calm seas and top-rate service and food.

An Old Drawing of Aden

We stopped at Aden, that is situated at the north coast of the homonymous gulf and is an important port.  While trying to find out data about Aden, I read it was referred to as "Eudaemon" which is Greek for blissful, abundant in "Periplus of the Eritrean Sea" written in Greek by an unknown author.   Also, until the 3rd century AD, it was one of the termini of the spice road of Arabia.  During the middle ages, Aden was under Yemeni, Ethiopian and Arab control.  It attracted many merchants from Egypt, India and China who had excellent relations with the port authorities.  Being a coveted possession, as it was the only bunkering port in the East, Aden was later conquered by the Portuguese and the Ottoman Turks.  In the middle of the 19th century, the East Indian Company sent marines to defend the territory and prevent attacks from pirates against the Brittish Shipping Company from and to India.   Thus, it became a British Protectorate and was considered part of British India.  In 1937, it became the Colony of Aden, a British crown colony. 

In 1953, Aden was a bustling, small city and a free port.  My mother and I bought scent and cosmetics and my father bought stamps.  Then we boarded MS BATORY and sailed for Karachi. 




         

Poppies in a Vase by Vincent Van Gogh