Zante and Corfu

Greece

Stepping onto the ferry in Bari, we were looking forward to getting to Greece – sunshine; water and lots of drinking awaited us! First, however we had to endure the 16 hour overnight ferry from 8pm-1pm the next day. We booked ‘deck’ tickets, which we were led to believe resembled airline, however once we boarded the ferry we realised just how wrong we were. We were taken to the ferry café, where we were told we would spend the remainder of the journey. Great!! Just as we were settled in a team of 30 odd Greek motorcyclists who were so loud, and spoke no English surrounded us. We were in for a rough night! In the end it wasn’t so bad… we arrived in one piece at Patras and then began our journey to Zante.

We arrived at our hotel, which was comprised completely of English people – from the guests to the staff – and were so happy to have a room to ourselves for the first time in Europe. We had an early night and were excited to spend the next day doing absolutely nothing! And that is exactly what we did. We had beautiful weather the next day and spent it relaxing by the pool and going to the beach. The beach was pretty insane because huge mountains surrounded it and the water was so clear and blue. That night we had our first Greek meal – a shared dip plate and moussaka… mmm so good. For our next night we decided to book a ferry trip around the island to see all the sights.

The day of our tour was unfortunately really overcast, rainy and cold. It was also super windy and so the boat was really rocky and lots of people were getting seasick. We couldn’t stop at lots of the places we were supposed to because of the swell, but we did however stop at the famous Shipwreck/Smuggler’s Cove that was one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. The water was so blue it looked photoshopped, and the sand was pristine. We took some nice photos and then got back on the boat, and the rest of the day was fairly uneventful. The views were really beautiful but it would have been a lot nicer in the sun. Despite the let down of the tour, we really enjoyed ourselves in Zante. It was nice to slow down and not have to walk around all day looking at the sites. Big cities are beautiful and seeing all the amazing landmarks is definitely something, but we were tired and needed to get a bit of R&R before we went to the crazy party island of Corfu.

The stunning blue waters of Smugglers Cove

 Me and my gal at Smuggler's Cove

 From Zante, we took a 6-hour bus to Athens and then an overnight bus from Athens to Corfu. Overnight transport is never fun, and we arrived at our destination at 6am and got a ride to our hostel – The Pink Palace. The Pink Palace is notorious for partygoers and it did not disappoint as on arrival at 7am we were given the traditional Ouzo shot. Luckily, they had our room ready and we were able to check in and sleep for the day. A lot of our time in Corfu is a bit of a blur! Every night was as fun as the last and we met some awesome people. We are going to miss them all so much!! Shout out to all the Americans and Canadians that made our time so insane – American Dan, Canadian Dan, Karl, Nichole, Savi, Jerome, Johnny, Michaela, Hannah and Gianna. We hope to see you guys again one day and have our own little Corfu reunion. One of the craziest nights was the toga party, where we all wore pink togas and ended up going down to the local bar late at night. Here we got way too silly off absinth shots and one of us may or may not have stolen the resident sex toy… 

 TOGA PARTY

 

Close up of my toga (and messy room)

 Sunset views from our room

 

 Me and one of many tequila shots!

Another highlight of the trip was the kayaking tour. The tour included a 10-metre cliff jump and a climb to a monastery that boasted stunning views. We returned to the Palace and discovered our own private rooftop with a view that was perfect for tanning. The bar was awesome and we fell in love with the two bartenders! There was Billy, a Melbournian who was absolutely awesome and loved feeding us shots especially during 1-euro happy hour, and Sue, an older English lady who wore classic outfits and was the most sarcastic bitch you will ever meet but we loved her for it. The food at the Palace was also amazing – soup and a full plate of food every night including the best pastitsio I have ever eaten. Corfu was definitely one of my favourite places in Europe, and whilst we were sad to say goodbye a bit of a break from drinking and some sleep was needed in order for us to recover and live to see the remainder of our trip. Next is Turkey!

 Kayaking View