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Published: October 21st 2008
So we ended up taking a bit of a detour from our original plan... we have just returned from 4 fantastic days in Corfu! Originally we had planned to skip Greece and just head back up from Naples to Rimini, but our friends managed to coerce us into it. We took an overnight ferry from Bari to Igoumentisa. It was... interesting. Our Eurail passes guaranteed us free passage but not a cabin, or a seat, or even a place indoors. We lucked out and found a hidden floor spot where we slept undisturbed. We arrived the next morning and took another ferry to Corfu where we were staying at the legendary Pink Palace. The building is pink! It is also situated on a hill just a 5 minute walk from the beach. As it is the offseason we got a nice private room and bathroom with our own balcony! It was just like a hotel room really, and it had a full view of the bay. When we arrived at about 9am, we were given shots of pink Ouzo and told to shoot it or we would end up with 2 shots to do... Yammas!! Our first day we slept a bit and then headed down to the beach. Dinner was also included and we dined in the huge dining hall with some new Australian friends. Day 2 was also dedicated to the beautiful sandy beach. On our 3rd day we signed up for the ATV Safari. We each got our own ATV and did a tour of the island. We visited one beach spot and three amazing lookout spots, before our guide took us "offroading". This involved bumping along extremely rough terrain and trying to stay seated while dust flew everywhere - good times! Our final stop of the tour was a little bar on the top of a mountain that looked out over the ocean. We arrived back at our place just in time for Toga Night.
Toga Night was epic. We were each given a satiny pink sheet to make a toga with and wear down to dinner. After dinner there were cheap drinks and fun dance music for a while, until the staff came out and started smashing plates over peoples heads. Yes we both got a plate smashed on us, but we got off easy - our friend Jonno had 6 smashed on his head at once! Two of the staff guys did some wicked Greek dancing while everyone sat in a circle around them, and then came the "ouzo circle"... presumably this would have involved shooting some more licorice flavoured liquor but we deked out and called it a night. We spent out 4th day at the beach as well, just taking it easy.
Yesterday we boarded the ferry back and arrived in Italy in mid-morning. This time there were crew members "encouraging" us to sleep outside on the deck, and so until about 4am we slept on a bench on the deck. Yes it was freezing, so around 4 we snuck in and found a sheltered spot in a carpet indoor stairwell. Suffice it to say it was a long night and we are happy to be back on dry land. We said goodbye to our Canadian travel buddies and headed an hour north to the little town of Rimini. Tomorrow we are visiting the little republic of San Marino which is a small independent area within Italy. Tonight we are taking it easy at our lovely hostel.
Hope everyone is doing well!
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Andrea
non-member comment
so many plates
I am SO GLAD you decided to go to Greece, and the Pink Palace is a truly epic place to be!! The atv safari, toga party, and beach time were favorites of mine, and I am told I had multiple plates smashed on my head...there may have been a video... otherwise those claims are just hearsay. Kudos to those who finally convinced you to go!