Yamas!

Corfu- The Pink Palace



Kevin, Jake, Mike and I were thrilled to get off of the ferry from Bari. The twelve hour journey wouldn’t have been too hard as it was overnight, but the ferry was like a meat locker and the deck was so cold I lost circulation in my fingers. Kevin and Jake were trying to stay at the Pink Palace-- the same backpacker resort that Mike and I had reserved—so we waited for the rest of the Pink Palace arrivals, a lively bunch of Canadians and Americans who we ended up partying with. We were shuttled across the island of Corfu to the Pink Palace where we shot Ouzo before even eating breakfast.

It’s hard to explain the experience without explaining the palace. It was a resort aimed at attracting backpackers, so it was more like a fraternity house than a resort. Breakfast and dinner were included and drinks were cheap, so it gave you a pretty good excuse to stay put and party all day with the people you met. It was sectioned into 3 parts separated by stairs. There was a bar in reception on the street level, a dinner and drinks at the palladium on the next level down and breakfast on the lowest beach level.

It was like summer camp for a bunch of college students who want to get wasted and hook up with each other. They had activities like kayaking, quad safari, booze cruise, toga parties (with plate smashing over people’s heads), yoga and happy hours. The first day I went down to the beach and roasted myself all day with some of the kids from breakfast. Later, we had dinner in the palladium which turned into a club later that night. I danced and had shots with my new friends, Justin, Sally, Brenden, and Tucker, and listened to Jesper play the guitar on the steps leading us back to our rooms.


The second day we all registered for a booze cruise that seemed more like a glorious boat tour. The coastline had absolutely stunning cliffs and crystal clear water with 30-foot visibility. They took us cliff jumping first. We had to dive from the boat and swim up to the boulder, then scale up the side of the rock and stand in line to wait for your jump. After I went, I climbed back up to try the second, even higher boulder jump. Next they took us to a bat cave in the side of a cliff. We dove from the boat and swam into complete darkness, but when you looked up you could see the bats flying overhead and once the screamers left the cave, you could actually hear them chirping. The last stop was a private beach where we chilled on the warm pebbles.

(i jumped from these cliffs!)

The third day we went on an ATV tour of the entire island with our hilarious guides Brandina and Dean leading the way through rugged roads to beautiful island vistas. (or as Brandina called them, “Wow spots. Wowsah!”) The following day I rented scooters with Sally, Brenden, Tucker and his girlfriend and Mike, which is when the accident happened, causing an extended stay at the Pink Palace. The staff was really kind to me. They let me camp at the reception bar and watch movies. They brought me lunch and made me tea and even picked me up to put me in my chair. It was a little pathetic, but Duncan, Ashley, Francesca, Paula and Charles really tried to help me keep things in perspective and help me as much as they could.

When we left the Pink Palace on the overnight bus to Athens, I was relieved to move on. For every good thing that happened at that place, something equally tragic happened; sometimes the trade off is not worth it.


Athens

I have never felt as helpless as I did when I arrived in Athens. The bus dropped us off in the middle of a neighborhood of which we knew nothing. We tried to hail a cab, but no one would stop and I couldn’t walk yet. A shopkeeper felt bad for us, closed his shop and walked us to a hostel around the corner. It was a really depressing hostel: dirty, overpriced, cramped and far away from anything of interest. This is when I felt I should maybe cut my losses and go home, but I am really glad that I didn’t. Looking back, it was only my fourth day after surgery and I should have been a little easier on myself.

Mike and I got a better place to stay on the second day and found a bus that let us explore Athens without walking. We also took my friend Gunner’s suggestion to take a cable car up to a monastery at the highest point in Athens. We got a killer view of the city and the ocean as the sun was beginning its decent behind the hills. We enjoyed amazing Greek cuisine and found a public bus that took us to all of the sites, so we got to see a lot of the beauty of Athens without having to move around too much. On our last day we tried to see the Acropolis, but the Greeks had gone on strike that day, so I had to miss out on that important site. However, on our walk back to the bus I saw the upcoming Acropolis museum. Though it was under construction, I know this building is going to represent modern architecture as well as the Acropolis represents antiquity.

We finished our day in a really hip area of town, which was bustling with jewelry merchants and an outdoor meat market, complete with whole carcasses of skewered lamb. All along the roads were huge murals of street art, though they didn’t seem to be illegal graffiti but commissioned art in public spaces. All of this added to the charm of this unique little district of Athens. Sorry to say I don’t know its name.

Ios via Sikinos

Determined to redeem ourselves, Mike and I had visited a travel agent and organized the rest of our trip to the islands so that we could get passage on the crowded boats. Because everything was booked out, we decided to splurge and get a sea plane to Ios, an expensive but unique way to travel the islands. Unfortunately, Poseidon had different plans for us: the flight was cancelled due to rough seas. We chartered a last minute flight from Athens to Santorini and then caught a ferry to Ios, or so we thought.

We were so tired from waking up at 3 am that we fell asleep during our stop. Instead of realizing this, we got off the ferry at a little island called Sikinos, convinced that that was just the name of the port. In our defense, the main city, Hora, is the same name as Ios’s so when we got on the bus, we thought we were in the right place. A Greek couple from New York helped us figure it out, but it was too late to fix the problem. We ended up staying in a gorgeous white stucco apartment with blue doors and windows, overlooking the ocean. Our landlord, Luca, also had a restaurant so we ate their delicious local seafood and made the most of our delay.

The ferry didn’t leave until the following night at 8, which is 9:20 Greek time. By the time we arrived at Francesco’s in Ios, we were relieved and ready to enjoy ourselves. What was a 6 hour ferry ride had turned into a 3 day journey; I could see how it took Odysseus so long to get home from the Trojan War.

Mike explored the island by scooter and I enjoyed the beautiful beaches with people from Francesco’s. Ios is a stunning island. It’s small main city is manicured and caters to its youthful, party crowd. You don’t get much sleep on this island, but that’s the point. Everyone is brimming with excitement and contagious about it. Even though I was still in bad shape, I insisted on going out with my Canadian neighbors on their last night. I was up till 6 in the morning without batting an eye, bar hoping and jumping around conversations all night.

Santorini

Even though Mike was sick of hostels, I talked him into staying at the Hostel Anna in Perissa Beach for one night because our friend, Kevin the Hawaiian, was staying there. Kevin had to leave when we arrived, but Perissa was cheap and beautiful. We had a lamb dinner and drank Mythos by a bon fire on the black sand beach.

We caught the bus to Fira the next day, winding through arid vineyards and trees painted white. We walked north from the bus station for what seemed like an eternity, given it was my first day carrying my bag again. We finally found our apartment a beautifully clean room, all in white with blue accents and light wooden furniture.

We rented an ATV for two days so that we could adventure around the entire island. That first morning, Mike returned with our bright yellow ATV and we were off to find breakfast. We stopped to get coffee at this place that made doughnut balls covered in honey and cinnamon. They were hot and delicious! We started our adventure by returning to Perissa Beach to get our bearings. From there, we scooted over Ancient Thira and Kamari Beach for a delicious lunch right by the water. After lunch we continued our trip singing “Born to be Wild” but taking the turns really slowly. (I could tell Mike was holding back because I was so scared to be back on the road) Our next stop was Red Beach, a phenomenal beach at the base of a mountain of red volcanic rock. The lines in the rock are diagonal, revealing a little about the plate tectonics around the island. The water was gorgeous green, covered with rocks for sunning and jumping. Next to Red Beach are its neighbors: Black Beach and White Beach, each named according to the rocks around them. While the beaches were beautiful to see, this was an adventure day, so we continued our travels to a lighthouse on the south side of the Caldera.

This side of the island overlooked Fira and Oia from a distance and gave another great perspective on what the mouth of the volcano might have looked like millions of years ago. The next day we discovered the other side of the island, starting off Southwest, so that we could get to Oia the less conventional way. We saw a random cave and a port that had huge swans. We continued past the airport, still singing our highway songs. We explored the port at Oia and then headed down the highway.

The next day, Mike and I split and I went back to Perissa to stay at Hostel Anna. I’m really glad that I did because I got to meet a group of amazing girls and go out in Santorini. We had dinner across the street and then went out for drinks and dancing. Before I knew it, it was 5 in the morning and I was walking home with Paula. This was bad news, because I was already signed up for a boat tour of the island with 3 girls from my group and it left at 10. This would be pushing it.



The Santorini boat tour was my highlight of the Santorini trip. We explored the Santorini volcano, bathed in the hot springs, saw the Port of Fira, ate souvlaki on the island of Therissa and watched the sunset in Oia after riding donkeys up the mountain. As if that wasn’t enough, I was with 3 girls who I felt so close with by the end of the day it was hard to realize I had just met them. We were so content and tired that the 4 of us drank vodka and played cards for the rest of the evening. This would be my last night in Santorini and while 6 days is a really long time to be somewhere, I got to the point where I really didn’t want to leave. It is a really special island.

Rhodes

I was dreading the ferry ride, a 22-hour journey across the Mediterranean to Rhodes, but it turned out to be kind of nice to do nothing for a minute. I didn’t realize what a cool island Rhodes was until I saw it for myself. People don’t talk about this island because it’s more family oriented, but it is the best-preserved medieval town in Europe. Old Town is enclosed with a protective wall and moat (though there’s no water anymore). All of the restaurants and shops are situated in the original, medieval structure. There are crumbling towers and twisting alleyways, cobblestone streets and beer gardens all along Old Town.

In the morning, I braced myself for adventure and got back on the proverbial horse: Mike and I rented a scooter. Though he’ll argue that I was squeezing the life out of him, I was proud of myself for overcoming a fear. It was a charming tour of the island. We saw beautiful beaches, castles and mountains. The highlight of the trip was when we discovered Cape Prasonisi. What we thought would be a secluded peninsula turned out to be a crowded wind surfing/kite surfing beach, divided in two by a small strip of sand. There were hundreds of people in the water, the experts on the rough west side and the beginners on the smooth east side of the beach, and caravans parked all along the beach where the surfers would stay for the holiday. We watched in wonder for a while, as it was so unexpected. The wind on that side of the island was really strong, so I was really scared as we scootered home.

That being enough adventure for me, I spent the next day on the beach and left the exploring of Butterfly Valley to Mike. We had a really nice dinner at a local taverna and then tea at our favorite Swedish wireless café and prepared for our voyage