Well I've had a great day in Corfu. Last night went pretty late; all my fellow guests were very excited about the toga party that was happening. I was undecided about whether or not to go for a while, ended up going. At dinner I ended up at a whole table full of Canadians! There's a lot of us out here. More Canadians than Australians at this hostel actually, for once. Dinner comes with the price of admission; Greek salad, soup, and PASTA WITH LAMB. That's awesome!
So I ended up in this big dark barroom, drinking with a bunch of other travellers, in a pink toga, dancing to such timeless hits as YMCA and Eye of the Tiger. It was kind of weird, and I made it to bed around two, though I've learned today that it went another FOUR HOURS after that, till sunrise. This one girl was just getting up, around six pm. I could never do that, I'd hate myself if I slept all day. I didn't come across the world for that.
Today was pretty laid-back. I got up around nine, had a free breakfast (eggs for the first time since I've left), finally got some sunscreen, wandered the town and beach (it was cloudy this morning, which removes a necessary element from beach-lounging). I tried to rent a kayak, but they said it was too choppy. I guess there'll be other chances for that. So I still wanted to go exploring, so I decided to go for a hike/walk up through this path that goes into the trees at the far end of the beach. I went with no shirt or shoes, just my swim suit and camera. It was really cool, though it rained; I guess I've been in cities nonstop for a week! So it was good to get out in nature a little bit. There were some great views looking over the bay, and you'd be walking and all of a sudden smell this cool herbal-y plant smell you've never before smelled.
Upon getting back I went for lunch and fell in with a group of travellers. Kylie, from Canmore, this British guy, Greg from Washington and Andrew from Winnipeg. We had lunch and I ended up hanging out with those first two all afternoon, as well as this other Canadian guy who looks like a ganglier Steve Carrell, who's on leave from Afghanistan. It was raining around lunchtime but then cleared up for the afternoon, and I actually went swimming. The water was cold, but in a good way. We enjoyed the sun for a little while, and talked all afternoon, about our travels, cricket vs baseball, the world, etc etc. The soldier man said something strange at the end.
"Tell you one thing though. When I get back I'm gonna fuck shit up."
"Like what," I asked.
"People."
He said it as he was closing his eyes against the sun, to take a little nap. That pretty much killed the conversation, and I left to organise my bus to Athens. Is that his motivation? To hurt strangers? Is it like that with all soldiers? I mean before that he'd seemed like a pretty chill guy if a bit vulgar, but that thought has troubling, obvious conclusions. It was weird.
All types.
I've got to get people's email addresses tonight. I'm leaving tomorrow. There's a night bus I can take to Athens, and arrive there on Wednesday morning, hit the hostel, drop off my bag, go to the airport. And still have another day here!
Greece's Flag
Map of Greece