With all the stress and studying of midterms week finally behind, what better place for some R&R than... Greece. We left Florence in the early morning and headed to Ancona, an Italian port city on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. We boarded the ferry and set sail towards Igoumenitsa, Greece. The ferry ride was a little over fifteen hours, but we found all sorts of entertainment on board. As always, food was first on my agenda. I found the menu to be quite funny - Greek salad with a block of feta cheese, fruit salad with a block of feta cheese, french fries with a block of feta cheese, everything on the menu came with generous serving of feta cheese! I did not mind, however, for it truly was delicious. After our delicious meal came dancing with the national dance ensemble of Georgia - they were traveling on the same ferry with us, heading home after performing in Europe. Not only did they dance for us, but they also taught us traditional Georgian dance moves, let us sample home-made Georgian wine and pastries, and I even got to speak Russian to them! Bedtime came early that night, courtesy of Dramamine.
We arrived at Igoumenitsa early the next morning, took a short bus ride to another port and then another ferry to the beautiful Island of Corfu. The island itself was quite uninhabited, with only a few houses here and there - it was mostly forests and mountains, and the most breathtaking views of the surrounding beaches and sea once we got to higher elevation. The Pink Palace Hostel, a famous location in Greece for traveling students, was situated on a hill, a ten minute walk away from the beach. The rooms were beautiful, facing the sea. We had the most delicious Greek dinner that night - salad, chicken, baked potatoes and lots and lots of feta cheese!
The next day was spend enjoying the first rays of sunshine my skin has felt since the summertime. We sunbathed, shared traveling experiences with fellow Pink Palace guests and explored the Mediterranean beaches.That night the hostel hosted their famous toga party; we had to use the silky pink sheets that they provided us with and turn them into Greek togas - we got creative. Over the shoulder, strapless, knee-high, belts, pins - if I didn't know any better I would say people were auditioning for Project Runway! The rest of the night was spent sampling Greek foods and beverages, such as the Ouzo shots, and dancing. The Pink Palace crew put on a performance of traditional Greek dancing, lifting chairs up with their teeth and even breaking plates on our heads!
That Tuesday we signed up for the "ATV Safari" - basically, a tour guide took a group of about fifteen around the whole island of Corfu on quads. We went through small villages, around olive plantations and off-the-road through woods and fields, and even reached the highest point of the island where there was a small church and a gorgeous view of not only the Corfu island, but also other surrounding Greek islands in the Mediterranean. We stopped for a quick break at a cafe hidden in the mountains and enjoyed hot chocolate and fun conversation with the owners.
On the way back, our tour guide took us on the Corfu version of a parkway, a two lane paved road. Here we tested "the quad's full speed" - a mere 70 kilometers per hour, equivalent to about 40 mph - but the wind still whistled in my ears as we returned to the Pink Palace for one last time.
We arrived at Igoumenitsa early the next morning, took a short bus ride to another port and then another ferry to the beautiful Island of Corfu. The island itself was quite uninhabited, with only a few houses here and there - it was mostly forests and mountains, and the most breathtaking views of the surrounding beaches and sea once we got to higher elevation. The Pink Palace Hostel, a famous location in Greece for traveling students, was situated on a hill, a ten minute walk away from the beach. The rooms were beautiful, facing the sea. We had the most delicious Greek dinner that night - salad, chicken, baked potatoes and lots and lots of feta cheese!
The next day was spend enjoying the first rays of sunshine my skin has felt since the summertime. We sunbathed, shared traveling experiences with fellow Pink Palace guests and explored the Mediterranean beaches.That night the hostel hosted their famous toga party; we had to use the silky pink sheets that they provided us with and turn them into Greek togas - we got creative. Over the shoulder, strapless, knee-high, belts, pins - if I didn't know any better I would say people were auditioning for Project Runway! The rest of the night was spent sampling Greek foods and beverages, such as the Ouzo shots, and dancing. The Pink Palace crew put on a performance of traditional Greek dancing, lifting chairs up with their teeth and even breaking plates on our heads!
That Tuesday we signed up for the "ATV Safari" - basically, a tour guide took a group of about fifteen around the whole island of Corfu on quads. We went through small villages, around olive plantations and off-the-road through woods and fields, and even reached the highest point of the island where there was a small church and a gorgeous view of not only the Corfu island, but also other surrounding Greek islands in the Mediterranean. We stopped for a quick break at a cafe hidden in the mountains and enjoyed hot chocolate and fun conversation with the owners.
On the way back, our tour guide took us on the Corfu version of a parkway, a two lane paved road. Here we tested "the quad's full speed" - a mere 70 kilometers per hour, equivalent to about 40 mph - but the wind still whistled in my ears as we returned to the Pink Palace for one last time.
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