Matthew's Journal

Well, I made it, as did all my stuff. The hotel's a bit of a let-down given how much it's costing, and the 4* rating. Most irritating for me is the internet access, or lack thereof. They've run out of week-long wireless cards, so I've bought a 1-hour one, which will have to do me until they get more week-long ones ("later today, or maybe tomorrow", the receptionist said), since these are €7 a pop. Also, the only hotspot is in the lobby (there really is no signal at all in my room). While I'm moaning, I'll mention the lack of *anything* nearby, the iffy breakfast, and the leaking toilet in my room (the latter I'm told will be fixed later today).

Hm, this wireless service isn't terribly reliable, and/or is interacting with my browser badly - I keep getting connection problems, and/or re-directed back to the "launch the Nomadix console" page. Ho hum.

In the end, the flight out of LHR was even later (we left around 16:00), and I got off the plane at ATH at about the time my original schedule would have had me landing at CFU. The faff of Monday meant that my luggage was through-checked unlike the poor sods who hadn't gathered what was going on, who had to collect their baggage and then re-check it in. The transfer to the hotel worked fine, although still no-one can tell me when they will pick me up on Monday morning. I shall chase that on Friday if I've not heard by then.

I slept 7.30-9.30 local time (my only sleep since Monday night), and am feeling OK at the moment. If I last til tonight, I figure I'll sleep OK then :-)

The plan is to get through the email, and then put the computer away and go for a wander around the hotel complex. It's a bit cold for a swim (and was pissing it down with rain when I arrived), but there may be other distractions, and a walk along the beach is often calming.

The wireless has gone down (and no-one seems to know why, or when it might come back), so I'm typing this from one of the hotel's locked-down windows boxes. It won't even let me have >1 Exploder windows open at once!

I've not interacted with the conference all that much today, really. The programmes and name-badges are yet to appear(!), but despite that I've caught up with a few people I recognised. In the afternoon, I went for a swim in the sea, which was cool without being cold, and I avoided getting sun-burned! It's a shame atreic isn't here, really - I think she'd like spending a few days sat by the sea/pool while I did conference stuff. Ah well.

It occured to me in Athens airport last night that I could have done the mad train+ferry plan (train to somewhere like Venice, thence a ferry to Corfu), left home on Monday, and still got here this morning, having had more sleep! I'm no fan of flying, really. It's quite fun when the aeroplane rumbles down the runway, reaching around 200 kph, and then suddenly there's no vibration from the runway, and the plane is lurching upwards, as the engines continue to roar. But you spend so much time hanging around waiting for things, and you lose control of your luggage, and the "security" arrangements make the whole business even less appealing as time goes by.

This bit of the island is pretty run down, which you can't help but notice if you step outside the compound the twin hotels are in (which, I suspect, many visitors never do - there are plenty of facilities here or on the private beach, and there's a shuttle bus to run you into Corfu town, allegedly), but swimming in the sea this afternoon you could almost not notice, and just look at the hills rising around you, and other islands off in the haze. I think I shall try to go for a swim each day I'm here.

Food here is a bit odd - two meals are included (breakfast and dinner), and lunch is pretty tricky to come by. Both meals are buffet affairs, so the winning strategy is probably to eat a lot at both, and make do on two meals a day. Not my usual pattern, however! Also, despite the water fountains on every level (the water in the rooms isn't drinkable), you can't get the waiter to provide you with free water with your meal. A glass of the house white was probably a mistake, however!

I've been holding up pretty well given the lack of sleep, but I think I'm going to go and shower shortly, and then turn in; the hospitality suite will probably be happening, but I think sleep is necessary, especially as there are some vaguely-relevant papers in the first session tomorrow, which starts at 8.40!

ETA comedy typo fixed.