Novel adventures
WORDS: JACK PALFREY
Follow Odysseus’ voyage home
For most, a journey home is a grey realm of in-flight
movies and muffled sobs. Not for Odysseus, hero of
Homer’s ancient Greek epic The Odyssey, whose island-
hopping return from Troy took ten years, thanks to
storms, monsters and a herd of divine livestock.
Travellers wishing to visit some of the isles on
Odysseus’ route, and who don’t have a decade to spare,
could focus on the final stretch of his journey.
Start by touring the pretty villages
of Corfu, where Odysseus met the
hospitable Phaeacians – the ship they
used to transport him home was turned
to stone by a vengeful Poseidon and still
sits in the bay as the islet of Pontikonisi.
Before angering any gods, hop on the
ferry south to pebble-beached Paxi
(pictured above), a tranquil isle that
some claim to be modern-day Aeaea,
where the witch-goddess Circe turned
half of Odysseus’ crew into pigs with
cursed wine – drink responsibly! Top
off the tour by sailing to Ithaki, Odysseus’ homeland,
where you can lay eyes on the great warrior himself; his
bronzed figure greets visitors at the port.
The prologue: fly to Corfu from UK airports during the
summer months. From there, three ferries a week go to
Paxi and on to Ithaki, via Lef kada (lef kastraveller.com).Retrace Frankenstein’s doomed
journey around Europe
Inspired by the author’s travels around Europe, the
classic tells of the gifted but unorthodox scientist Victor
Frankenstein, whose attempts to reanimate dead
tissue result in his creating a monster that dogs him
throughout his life.
Frankenstein is not a travel book but Victor, on the run
from his progeny, covers a lot of ground, and readers can
follow him from the grand Bavarian
town of Landshut, where he makes the
monster, to the mountains of Geneva,
where creator and creature reunite.
From there, head to the Orkneys
(pictured above), where the scientist
tries to produce a mate for the beast.
Victor’s final words urge his readers
to ‘avoid ambition’, and not following
him to the North Pole might be a good
start. A more tranquil alternative
is to visit Frankenstein’s Castle in
the Odenwald mountains, which
supposedly inspired the masterpiece.
The prologue: the nearest international airport to the
German town of Landshut is Munich airport. From here
it’s a 30-minute train ride to the city. For Frankenstein’s
Castle, the nearest international airport is in Frankfurt,
which is 40 minutes away by car.