in my tree: Eurotrip '05: Corfu

Fri, July 1, 2005 (Day 31)

Happy Canada Day! Greetings from the tropical paradise of Corfu, Greece!! Holy good lord this trip is going way too fast. I can't believe Ricketts and Kay are leaving us in a week!? WTF? We just got here :) We caught the overnight ferry from Bari, Italy last night. Met Dave, the lively drunken Californian and a couple of hot NY Asian lesbians. All in all, a very eventful little boat ride to say the least. Ended up downing 6 bottles of wine between us in 45mins playing fuckups. We even got some complementary wine from another party on the boat who could tell we needed even more fuel. Then we went out onto the deck at the back of the ship to mellow out under the stars on the Ionian sea. Pretty cool stuff, tho I had a bit too much wine and eventually passed out on a bench inside. Ricketts, however, got "propositioned" for a threesome with the penis-loving lesbians for his demonstrated "skills" during an interesting point in the conversation. Don't worry April, he was a good boy.

Arrived in Corfu, (an island off the northwestern coast of Greece), at 8am the next morning, hungover like a mofo. Got to our hostel, "The Pink Palace", and had our initiation... a shot of traditional Greek alcohol called OUZO. In our state, I'm just glad we kept it down. I immediately hit the sack and slept till frickin 4PM!! Whoops. Got up, got myself together and headed on down to the beach to join the gang for a dip in the sea. Very nice indeed, but rather salty. I'm a fresh water guy, so I'm not all that good at keeping my mouth closed tight. Bleh!

That night we got on the cheap booze at the "Palladium" (the hostel dance bar). At this juncture in the story, I suppose I should take a moment to explain a little bit about this Pink Palace hostel we're at. You see... it's not so much a hostel as it is a resort for young people. I'm talking private beach, full restaurant, movie lounge, drop-off laundry, hot tub, huge dance bar, catered breakfast and supper... the works. I'm telling you, Ricketts really came through for us on this one... this place is a paradise. It's pretty sweet that we decided to have a bit of a "break" here from our go-go whirlwind backpacking adventure.

So yeah, we headed on down to the Palladium after our catered dinner (free, i should add) that could best be described as orgasmic (REAL FOOD!!). At midnight, they made us all get in a big circle around the dance floor, and 2 traditional Greek dancers came out to show us some moves. Got a plate smashed over my head (I like yelling ROPA!!) as we took part in what they called the "Ouzo Circle"... basically a shot-o-thon of booze and plate smashing around the circle. Funtimes.

The next day, Wednesday the 30th, was much of the same. Maxin and relaxin on the beach and enjoying the “view” :). That night we met some very cool Americans: Kelsey, Terri, Chris (Moose), Garret, Rachael, Mark and Eric. Had a hilarious time playing the drinking game "Flip Cup". Team Canada For LIFE!!! We got plastered once again, as usual.

The following day, the 31st I was feeling a little partied out from all the booze, food and mostly the sun. Steve, Jen and Ricketts went on the pink palace's "Booze Cruise". They said it was an awesome time, but I just wasn't up for it. Kay and I stayed and hung with the Americans and I tried to stay in the shade a bit. Unfortunately I'm an idiot and didn't use any sunscreen for some reason, and ended up burning my arms and legs... not too badly tho.

That night was pre-Canada Day celebrations - they played a whole bunch of Canadian songs - the Hip and everything!! (Keep in mind we haven't heard much of anything from our side of the pond in several weeks now). It was particularly awesome when they played "Home for a rest"! We lost our shit and danced around like we were on fire!

Checked out at 9am Friday (July 1st). Spent the day hung over watching movies in the lounge while we awaited our brutal overnight bus to Athens, departing 8pm. An interesting side note is that for the last 2 nights I have apparently been sleep walking! Last night was particularly bizarre, as I left the hostel room in my sleep, was gone for an undetermined amount of time, returned, and being locked out as I was, proceeded to bang on the door till Kay let me in. I apparently mumbled something and pushed past her and got back in my bed. STRANGE! Hopefully it's just too much booze and sun!

QOTD: "I don't sleepwalk" - Me

"I have to pee" - Ricketts, attempting to thwart the pick-up attempts of a rather forward co-ed

"Everyone should believe in something. I believe I'll have another." - Rather eloquent shirt worn by a pink palace patron.