hungover in Ios

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Hello!

so, we are now into our final week, and the thought of coming home is not a pleasant one! obviously it will be nice to see everyone, but a british summer is not an appealing thought. anyway, what have been up to since i last added to this.
Well we are now on Ios, which is certainly a lot more lively than folegandros, which, as great it was to see an fairly untouched island, didnt have a lot going on. Ios, on the other hand, has everything going on. we are staying at a b and b called hermes (although replacing one of the letters with a "p" might be a more appropriate name!), which is the cheapest place so far. this is good for the wallet, but not so good for kerry, who is sure there are bed bugs biting her each night. but it is right on the coast, with great views of the sea, run by a bloke calling himself "Nick the Greek". he is infact called nicos, but likes to play up to the english punters. on our first night, we were well up for a night out, and this is the place to be we had been told by many, for a good night out. so after a box of wine for the supermarket, we headed up to the town, and found a lively bar, which had a happy hour, and a scottish bloke behind the bar. we have seen him everyday since, as this is a small island, and he is a character. the best way to describe him is to think of robert carlisle's character in trainspotting, but a happy version instead of violent! he's like an excited puppy, a good laugh, and glares at u like a pirate out of one eye. we like him. so we spent that 1st night in his bar til 1, when we realised we had had nothing to eat, and decided to grab some food, and call it a night. i was quite unwell that night, as our scottish pal had provided many free shots throughout the night, but a good night all the same. and since then we have just embraced the local way of life. everywhere we have been we have done our best to take on the local way of life, trying the local foods etc, and that is what we have done here, and as a result, we have enjoyed the local breakfast, which is know here as "the english breakfast", something i never thought i would miss so much, and enjoyed the local beer of "carlsberg", which i must try and get back home! this place is just like home, its stupid. from a distance, with the old town on the hill etc, it looks like an old greek town, but everything is in english, there is chinese, thai, fish and chips, the lot, not a lot of authentic greece here, just bars with young travellers. its good tho, coz it seems to be just a load of backpackers, a more cultured youth i like to think (!) than the masses of Leanne battersby types that go to some places for the summer just to get smashed. there is deffo a travellers snobbery here, which is fine by us! anyway, the days and nights now have just become a blur into one now, as we generally stay out til after 6 in the morning, and get up at 3 in the afternoon, chill by the pool and then head out again. we stayed at our b and b the other night, as there was a pool party with the champions league final on the big screen and a bbq going, which was good, and not too heavy a night. last night was ace though. after our inexperienced 1st night, when we went out at around 9 on an empty stomach and only lasted til after 1, we didnt crack open the box of wine til half ten, heading up to the town an hour later, and grabbing a gyros for a cheap tea. we had a few with our scottish pal again, and then when the music got increasingly worse, went in search of a better place. we found a great bar, a rock and roll bar, run by a big bald guy with one ear and his wife. you know you're on to a winner when u ask the dj if he has any velvet underground, and his reponse is "yeh, which album shall i play 1st". it never got very busy, and so we spent the night drinking and dancing with a english couple, who had just moved away from leeds after going to uni there, a irish couple, and a aussie chick who had picked up some greek fella. it was such a good night, the dj playing anything we asked for, tune after tune. a low point was when the aussie girl climbed up some steps, and told all the blokes to catch her when she fell, but instead of falling, dived passed and over our arms and onto the floor. luckily she clipped our arms on the way, flipping her over, so she landed on her toes, not head, but the were purple by the end of the night. she was ok though, and the couple who ran the place gaves us free booze, which is always nice, and i got back to doing my mick to Brown Sugar. at around half 6 we left, and went to grab a kebab for breakfast, which was interesting. anyway, the greek guys family run a restuarant, and so we are all meeting up for some food there tonight before returning to the rock club, so should be another good one. moving on 2mo, either syros of paros, not sure yet, then athens on monday. and that is all i believe. hope all is well at home.

Alex and kerry. xxx

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