Our adventure started on Saturday the 24th of May and Gabel and I hopped on an early bus from Southampton to Heathrow. In our quest for the ultimate low fare plane ticket, we were forced to take a bizarre flight route that went from Heathrow, north to Norway for a layover in Oslo and then back down south to Greece. Not an ideal route but it was a good deal! We landed in Athens around 8pm, got our bags and proceeded outside to get a taxi. We were staying in a neighbouring town called Rafina which is right on the sea and the major port for all cruises and ferries going to the Greek Islands. We had done some prior research about the taxis before our journey and found out that it should cost us less than 35 euros and that the Athens airport had a bit of a reputation for trying to rip off its customers. Sure enough, about two seconds into our cab ride, the driver asked us where we were from and perked up quite a bit upon hearing we were from Canada. He immediately asked us to fork over 50 euros and said it was because there was a toll up ahead and he would use that money to pay it and keep the rest of the fare. We declined and it was a good thing because the toll ended up being a mere 2.50 and I handed over the coins. The taxi driver was relentless though and kept demanding 50 euros, citing various reasons such as the fact that there was a special tax for driving two people at once (?!). We stood our ground and kept declining to which he said "Well do you want a receipt or not? Because with a receipt its going to be 50 euros and without it will be 40 euros." We told him we'd just rather wait to get to the hotel and see and he threw a little tantrum on us. It ended with him saying "Let me tell you something, in Canada you have it pretty good, but in Greece we suffer ok?!" By the time we made it to the hotel the fare was only 24 euros which we gave him and he begrudgingly drove off, not before slamming his door angrily. He thought he could take advantage of two Canadian girls but he was wrong!
Anyways that night we checked into our hotel, enjoyed dinner and some beers on the restaurant patio and had a god nights sleep. That morning we got to witness our first Greek sunrise out on the water and we had breakfast on the pier and tanned ourselves on the beach. There's no rest for the wicked though and at 1 in the afternoon we were on the shuttle bus back to the airport in order to get started on the real part of our Greece trek. We had a flight from Athens to the island of Zakynthos which is located in the Ionian Sea. We landed in Zakynthos around 6pm and took a taxi to our villa in the village of Kalamaki. The villa was a particularly sweet deal. It was being rented out by a woman who lived in Ireland and she let us have the place for 180£ for 4 nights, so only 90£ each for four nights!! It was two stories, had a full kitchen, two bathroms, a washing machine, living room, two bedrooms, a patio with deck furniture, a balcony and it was in a private complex with other villas and had two swimming pools and a hot tub for our use. What could be better? It was in a really rural and private area but I loved the atmosphere. It made it seem like we were experiencing the real Greece and not just staying in some resort area. We had olive groves and fields surrounding the villa complex, roosters that woke us up in the morning, lots of ponies and goats nearby. The road leading up to the villa was a dirt road. The sunsets were stunning. Gabel and I quickly unpacked and were starving so we immediately headed out in search of a restaurant called Michaelos which was allegedly the best restaurant on the island and only a short walk from our villa.
We'd be on the road for maybe two minutes when two men on a small, dinky motorbike drove into me, knocked me off balance and ripped my purse over my neck and drove off with it.
It was like something out of a movie. You can't even believe how fast it happens. My whole life I'd been warned to never wear my purse just slung over my shoulder but to wear it securely over my neck. So I did. When they drove into me, I thought it was an accident and that maybe I had been on the road too much instead of the side of it. When they started tugging at my purse, I naively thought that my purse must have gotten hooked onto them and that they would stop and get it sorted. And then when I realized all their deliberate actions and say them drive away with it, I started screaming at the top of my lungs. Luckily when they knocked into me, I hadn't been hurt but I was just filled with extreme shock and hysteria. Once it became clear what had happened, a number of realizations hit me like a ton of bricks. Inside my purse was:
1) My iPhone
2) My money
3) All my Canadian and UK bank cards as well as various other important cards
4) the keys to our villa
Two people from a nearby hotel heard my screams and came running out to investigate. They immediately offered us refuge and gave me a bottle of water and offered me cigarettes. They ended up being the owners of a hotel called Sirenis Hotel and the man jumped in his car and tried to pursue the thieves but by that time it was too late and he came back empty handed. The woman was immensely helpful and offered me anything - her phone, connections to her wifi, food, drinks, etc. They were both so disturbed that we had been robbed in Zakynthos and they tried to assure me how safe it normally is and that they were embarrassed that we had come so far to have that experience right away. I was just hit with a suffocating panic at first because we were in a completely foreign and rural area and I had lost my phone and primary method of communication but also our villa complex did not have a reception. It clearly says upon arrival that you must not lose the keys. You cant even get into the complex without keys and our actual villa was locked. It was Sunday night, there was no reception, I was renting from someone in Ireland whose contact info was in my stolen phone. I definitely felt helpless for a little bit. Luckily Gabel had her phone and connected to wifi so send messages to Matt. He called and cancelled my UK cards and got word out to my mom to cancel my Canadian cards. He tried called Breda in Ireland but it was no luck. Eventually Gabel and I resigned ourselves to the fact that we would have to try and break into our villa. We scaled the outer fence, got into the complex and then were faced with trying to get into the actual locked villa. By some stroke of luck, Gabel had left her bedroom door to the balcony open. So she stood on a table, then on my shoulders and I hoisted her up two stories to the balcony railing which she skillfully climbed like a monkey and managed to get in. Once inside we found a number for a property manager we could call and they came right away and took us to a local market to get some food for the night. In the morning they came back and changed all the locks and they introduced us around the complex to the other guests and told everyone what had happened so that everyone could be on the lookout for us. I felt a lot better in the morning. That night was a bit tough for sure but we had an Office marathon on my computer and had a sleepover in my room and just decided that we weren't going to let it ruin our dream trip. Every other person from the island we met seemed SO nice and helpful and genuinely embarrassed that low life thieves were ruinin the island reputation. So we set out for some fun the next day! First we lounged by our pool and then walked down the dirt road into the town of Kalamaki. Along the way we passed so many beautiful gardens and olive groves and tavernas. The beach was soo nice and we bought some floating loungers and floated all day in the Ionian Sea. That night we made another delicious feast and made homemade sangria and sat by our pool. We decided to venture out around 10pm into the main strip of Kalamaki to see what the nightlife was like. Of all things we found an Irish Pub called The Shamrock and it had live music, good beer and lots of Greek people dressed up like Irish people! Not a bad way to spend a night.
On Tuesday we had signed ourselves up for an 8 hour cruise around the island. That, like everything in Greece, was dirt cheap. It cost us 25 euros for the boat cruise and it stopped at every famous tourist destination and included transportation to and from the boat. The boat was also equipped with a restaurant on board and a small pool! Not too bad. The cruise did not disappoint. We stopped at some caves for swimming, we went to the Keri Caves, the Blue Caves, Shipwreck Beach, Poseidon's face, and many more spots. We were always allowed to jump off the boat and go swimming in the sea which we did. There are literally not enough words to describe the colour of the water and the landscape of the shoreline. The entire island perimeter is just large white cliff faces with natural caves filled up with a sea that is a whole variety of neon blues, turquoises and aquas in colour. I have never seen water that vibrant and neon and I have been all over the Caribbean. Not even the impressive Durdle Door water from our Cornwall road trip came even close to comparing. Shipwreck Beach is probably one of the most famous landmarks of all of Greece and it was so spectacular up close. You can only get to it by boat because the white beach is surrounded by absolutely massive cliffs that jut deep out into the neon blue sea, creating a lagoon. The actual shipwreck on the beach is a ship from the 1980s that was smuggling contraband cigarettes and in its desperate plight to outrun the Greek navy in bad weather, ended its voyage smashed up on the beach. It was a very long and rewarding day and that night we rewarded ourselves with dinner at the famed Michaelos restaurant. We had calamari and Greek salad to start and I seriously cant stop thinking about how good both of those things tasted. I dont normally like feta cheese but in Greece its delicious. It comes out in a huge brick on top of the yummiest salads. For our mains, Gabel had a scrumptious pizza cooked in a pizza oven and I had famous Pork Gyros that was to die for. We topped it all off with ice cream and went home very happy and full!
Wednesday was another excursion day as we completed the half day Turtle Tour! A boat took us to Laganas Bay which is a protected area for the Laggerhead Sea Turtle. We went out in a glass bottom boat and found turtles and took their pictures. Next, we got to go swimming in the Keri Caves. This is where we had a hilarious jellyfish encounter. Basically while at the top of the caves, I was standing on a ledge in the sea and taking Gabel's picture. I felt a blob of jelly hit my hand and then a sting that shortly followed. I immediately screamed and started backing away, treading water and told Gabel I thought I was stung by a jellyfish. She laughed at me and told me that no way was there jellyfish and that I had probably just felt an air bubble. She told me to put it out of my mind. Well, fine. About 2 minutes later, she's screaming bloody murder. "AHHH, JELLYFISH, GET OUT OF THE WATER!" She had been deeper in the cave than me but pulled a Michael Phelps and passed me in seconds in a mad frenzy for the boat. I was in hot pursuit after having my jellyfish fears concerned and once on the boat, they gave us some disinfectant solutions. Everyone is so keen to ask us if we peed on each others stings but honestly there was no occasion for it! The tour operators quickly disinfected us and didnt seem too worried really. Upon our own inspection we could see that my sting was very minor and that the side of my hand was only slightly swollen with a couple of red marks on it. Gabel's kneed on the other hand had three long lash marks on it that ended up getting swollen and breaking out into scabs. All signs of my sting were gone within a couple of hours but Gabel's sting took about 3 weeks to properly heal. You should listen to me when I scream jellyfish!! The final stop on our Turtle Tour was to Turtle Island, so named because it is literally in an indisputable shape of a giant turtle and also because it serves as turtle nesting grounds. We had fun exploring the island and taking pics. After the excursion we had an extremely epic night. We ate early so as to not be too full for a night of drinking (we're very smart and prepared!) and had some predrinks at our villa. Our next stop was back at The Shamrock for some more drinks and live entertainment. Third stop was to a restaurant called Tazies that served fast food creations so we could strengthen up on hotdogs and fries. Last stop was to a nearby town called Laganas which is known as the party capital of the Greek islands. I'll save our families from having to read about the hilarious shenanigans we got up to but lets say we had an incredibly fun time, shockingly vast amounts and varieties of alcohol were consumed, we danced, we completed many shots challenges and we made it home at 430 in the morning. When we woke up Thursday morning we unfortunately had to do a bit of a clean up - I'll let you use your imagination as to what we found all over the living room couch from when we stumbled in feeling ill.
The rest of Thursday was just a hangover day. It took us hours to be able to muster up the courage and strength to leave the pool and when we did it was only in search of the nearest restaurant for food. Our flight was at 7pm back to Athens and we slept on the quick plane ride to prepare to meet up with Gabel's family :) Her mom KGabes, stepdad Paul, family friends Kathy and Janet, Uncle Rob, Auntie Dorris, and cousin Barrett were all in Athens after their own Greek adventure and waiting to meet up with us in a hotel at the city centre. It was such a fun reunion!! I also love hanging out with the Gabels/Dirksens/Marshalls because they're so much fun and make me feel like a part of the family. Paul and KGabes were so generous and helpful to me after hearing about my robbery experience and treated me to many amazing meals in Athens.
Friday Gabel and I were escorted to the Acropolis where we got stunning views of the city from way up high and got to see the Parthenon and temple of Athena. We also went down below to Hadrian's gate and saw the still standing and crumbled up marble columns. I'm so glad we had that experience but honestly you don't need more than an afternoon in Athens. The city is soooo shabby and absolutely covered in graffiti. Theres huge common spaces that fill up with the city's youth at night time and hundreds of them flock to these spaces in the streets to drink and party. Beggars line the streets, especially at night. The city is so compact and sprawling with very little green space but tons of apartment complexes. We did make it to a shopping district though (why am I not surprised - KGabes is an absolute shopping legend!) and that was actually quite nice and had lots of fun little shops as well as some big and common European stores. That Friday was our last day/night in Athens so we went out for another big dinner all together and I had my last dish of calamari and Greek salad :( Our flight left Saturday morning at 4:25am so by the time we got back to Southampton we were EXHAUSTED.
Every day in Greece was about 30 degrees and brilliantly sunny. The food and attractions are all cheap due to the failing economy. It was a shame that Athens was such a disappointment and I hope that the city one day regains its former glory. The islands are an absolute gem though and must see experience for everyone at some point in their lives. Greece was not easy on me - I suffered terrible sun burn, sun blisters, jellyfish stings, mosquito bites so bad they became massive welts, and of course I was robbed. Despite ALL of that, it still remains my favourite trip so far so that should tell you how incredible the islands are. The company wasn't too bad either and Gabel and I have so many inside jokes and laughs from that trip, we'll be giggling for years to come.
Here's some of our pics:
