HOME LEAVE 1953

Queen Elisabeth II and Prince Philip

Our  1953 home leave was the most memorable ever.  My parents and I arrived in England on the 21st  of June 1953,  The next day was the Coronation of Queen Elisabeth II.  We watched the ceremony on television, the first major event that was ever televised by the BBC, with millions of spectators in the United Kingdom.

London

Paris

Venice

Coronation London was festive, the residents were jubilant and very proud of their young queen.  We stayed in London for a month, and then we went for a short stay in Paris, for me the most beautiful city in the world, the city of light.  Venice was next, a unique city built on stilts on the sea, a city with history, tradition and dreams, a fascinating region.


From there, we sailed to the beautiful island Cephalonia, my Cephalonia, which we had left in 1945, after the tragic World War II years, to return to India. We rediscovered the beautiful landscape, small coves and lovely sandy beaches, high pine-covered mountains, small villages perched on green hillsides and flowers, flowers everywhere.

Argostoli

The Central Square

After the Earthquake

Argostoli is a gem of a town with neoclassical houses painted in pale pastel colours and 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 to the ground, leaving Ithaka and Lefkada partially damaged.  Unfortunately. some 800 of our compatriots died due to this catastrophe, on both islands, a terrible, heartbreaking tragedy.

Attalus Collonade 

The Parthenon

After the earthquake, we stayed in Argostoli for five more days and then we left for Athens.  Athens in 1953 was a lovely city, with streets lined with orange trees, the centre decorated with late 19th century and early 20th century houses,  Alecos Cocalis, one of my father's young colleagues invited us to his house in Kifissia to meet his parents, his brothers and sisters-in-law, who were all extremely pleasant. We also spent a week in Loutrski, a fashionable spa where we met with old 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 late November, bordered a Greek ship and sailed from Piraeus to Suez via Beirut,  The weather was wonderful, the ship was modern and the officers and staff were excellent professionals.

Beirut 

The Yellow Houses of Beirut

Our first port of call was Beirut, which is amphitheatrically built on mount Lebanon.  In 1953, Beirut was densely built, the boulevards congested with traffic. The centre of the city was full of trendy restaurants and elegant boutiques.  Driving up the slopes, one came across the famous "yellow houses" surrounded by gardens which were built during the French mandate period.

MS Batory

So we sailed for Suez where we boarded MS Batory, a luxurious ocean liner of Polish Merchant Navy which was then of the India line.  There we met with Mr Borg, a friend of my parents.  It was a wonderful journey, with calm seas and excellent service and food.

Aden 

We stopped at Aden, which was a free port, and my mother and I bought bottles of scent and my father enriched his stamp collection.  While trying to find data about Aden I read that it was referred to as Eudaemon, which is Greek for fortunate, in "Periplus of Erythean Sea", written in Greek by an unknown author.  In 1953, Aden was a British Crown Colony and a very busy port.

Karachi

The same evening we sailed off for our destination, Karachi.  There, to meet us were the Issigonis, the Maratos, the Widmers and Aleco Cocalis.



Aleco and I started going out together, fell deeply in love, got married on the 8th June 1954 and lived happily ever after.

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