(this was on a beach in Ios. Reading. Enjoying a brew. Heaven)
Things didn't start off all sunshine and rainbows though. Because before the Islands there was Athens. Oh Athens. Why wasn't I warned about you? If you looked up "smelly, intimidating, cultureless, armpit of a city" in the dictionary, there would be a photo of Athens. Or rather there wouldn't be because one of Athens' street dwelling inhabitants would have stolen it, sold it at a hugely inflated price to some ignorant tourist and taken their 'earnings' down to crack street or heroin alley for a massive Tuesday night. I probably shouldn't condemn an entire city based on only 2 days of analysis (in which I spent most of my time hiding in my hostel room) but hey, first impressions stick. So sorry Athens. Maybe one day I'll return and you can prove me wrong. I doubt it. But stranger things have happened.
(Santorini. It never ceases to amaze me that these buildings are still standing. It seems inevitable that one day the entire town will fall off into the ocean)
Ok so our first stop was Mykonos. Apparently It's the Homosexual capital of the islands and now that i think about it, I did notice a whole lot of impeccably groomed men. Mystery solved. We stayed at paradise beach resort. A pretty accurate description. For the one full day we were there I lay on the beach from 9am until 5.30pm. What a way to make a livin'? It was bliss. They have super comfortable cushioned banana lounges and umbrellas, which you have to pay for but it's totally worth it. I could have lived on that thing. In the evening we went into town for a wee tour of the city and dinner and drinks. Of course. The food in Greece is SOOOOO yummy delicious. My first night in Mykonos was also my first night with saganaki. I've had it in Melbourne but it's just not the same. The greeks really now how to fry their cheese. Genius.
(me. on a boat. in Paros)
I feel like I should talk about the people I met as well. Cause there were some good ones. So I'm going to digress just a little. The first person I met was Christie. We bonded immediately in the lobby of our Athens hostel over our mutual hatred of the city. You know those friends you have that just don't make any sense? The ones that if you were to break down each of your personalities into a set of data representing likes, dislikes, interests, beliefs etc etc you'd realise you aren't the least bit compatible? Yeh. Well I feel like that's Chris and I. I have a few friends like that at home. I'm always baffled by what keeps these friendships working but I've decided to just be grateful they do. Anyway she was great and kept me sane. She is from Melbourne as well so perhaps there will be a beautiful reunion in our future. Fingers crossed.
(antiParos boat cruise)
Next we arrived in Paros. I think possibly my favourite Island. It reminded me of a sleepy Victorian seaside town but better because instead of Victoria it was located in this breathtakingly beautiful, amazing, tropical place. WIN. Everyone I met here was really lovely as well. The people in Athens left me with quite a negative opinion of the Greeks but once I got to Paros all those negative feelings melted away and were replaced with warm fuzzy feelings of happiness, sunshine and cheap fruity cocktails with umbrellas in. We also partook in heaps of super fun ACTIVITIES in Paros. The first being the antiparos boat cruise. Which consisted pretty much of sailing, swimming, drinking and we stopped for a BBQ lunch prepared with love by Captain Antonios and his mum. I even ate Octopus. It tasted good but the texture wigged me out a little. It was chewy and the suckers were off putting. After that we got driven to a lovely little beach front restaurant bar for some dinner, traditional greek dancing and plate smashing. It was heaps of fun even though I couldn't quite get my head around the dancing. It was way more complex than the Greek Dancing I've been made to participate in at previous family functions. I thought I'd ace it but instead I just looked uncoordinated and drunk. And I wasn't even drunk. sigh. After that we went to a bar for some Shisha and more fruity cocktails and then to bed. Game, set, match.
I could have stayed in Paros for longer but it was time to set sail for Santorini. Up until Santorini I hadn't really seen the cliff faces covered in white buildings like I had expected to. Well. Santo made up for it. It was exactly what I had seen on all the post cards and pictured in my mind. It made me feel how I felt when I arrived in Venice. It's one of those moments where you have to pinch yourself because places like Venice and Santorini are so magical and unlike anything we have at home it's hard to believe they actually exist. These moments were daily when I first started traveling but unfortunately I've become quite jaded by all the amazing things I've seen. It was nice to know they were still possible.
(Chelsea.)
On the Second day in Santorini I went on a tour with Christie, Bec, Steve and our guide Amelia. All the others were too hungover. It was really nice to have such a small group. Intimate is the word I suppose. Bec and Steve were another 2 people I spent a lot of time with. They were a recently married couple from NSW. I've never met such a super friendly and enthusiastic pair. I wish I had their ability to not let the little stuff get them down. Seriously. They were so gosh damn positive it made me feel like a cynical old witch. Anyway I think they were a good influence on me. Even though I spent a solid amount of time bitching about people with Bec. Hey. We're only human.
Anyway the tour was of all the main things Santorini has to offer. First they took us to the highest point of the island where a little monastery was built way back in the day. The view was out of control. Unfortunately I had no camera to capture the amazingness. Idiot. Next we went to the black beach for a couple hours of rest and relaxation. It was really pretty but damn black sand obviously gets a whole lot hotter than regular sand so walking across is was like some kind of cruel and unusual punishment. After that it was to the red beach which was... (spoiler alert) red. All the rocks her were really sharp and spiky thanks to their volcano creator. What an ass. Amelia was telling us lots of interesting stuff throughout the day but the only thing I remember she told us at the red beach. And it was this: Apparently if you knock on a Greeks door in the night they won't answer until you knock a second time BECAUSE it is said that if a vampire comes to your door and knocks on your door in the middle of the night you answer straight away, he will come back in 2 nights and kill you. So they always wait for the second knock. True story. After that we went to a winery and sampled some wines and yummy cheeses and finished off the day with a sunset picnic at Ia. The rest of the group joined us for that portion of the trip. It was nice. We drank and ate and were merry. Up until this point we had stayed 2 nights at each location but I had planned to stay for 4 nights in Santorini so the next day the group would move on without me.
(this was where we stopped for lunch on our AntiParos boat tour. Pretty amazing huh?)
I was a little devo. I spent the extra 2 days I had in Santorini sunbaking by the pool at my villa and exploring town. The lady who owned Villa Manos (Poppy) was an absolute doll. She made me feel so at home. One evening I was sitting on the patio reading my book and she came out with a full plate of dinner and bread and wine and then followed that up with ice cream for dessert. Just because. And then when I was leaving she gave me a bottle of wine. She really was the perfect host. Her husband (who's name I never found out because she always just referred to him as 'my husband') was equally as accommodating. I kinda wish I had given them something to show my appreciation but I am poor. So... Sorry Poppy. I will direct all my fellow travelers to you. Promise.
(The Puppy that lived on the boat)
Final stop: Ios. Ios is the notorious party island but after leaving my group behind I didn't really feel like doing much partying. Unfortunately I was staying in a hostel which held 24hr drink-a-thons. After enduring one sleepless night I decided to hall-ass to somewhere a little more chilled out. I moved out of town down to the port town. Best decision ever. The port still had a wide range of shops and restaurants and the beaches were practically abandoned. Which the greased up, drunken, skanks and man-whores in the town would have despised but I loved it. On the second day I grabbed myself a banana lounge, a book and had the hotel staff bring me cold beers all day long. Devine. Actually the next day I did much the same thing. I really didn't see much of Ios. I tried to check out the town in the day but literally EVERY building in town was a bar or nightclub and was hence closed. Oh well. We have bars in Melbourne. I'll survive.
(our Busabout tour guide. Amelia)
So that was my time in Greece. I can't think of anything else funny or witty to say so I'll leave it at that. Catch you on the flippity flop.
(I ate that)
xxxx
xxx
xx
x
