We set off from a place called Plateria on board the ERMOINI (which i tended to call Hermione) with a crew of 5 in a tiny little sailing boat. I had never sailed before and our captain hadnt sailed since primary school so I must say it was a bit of an adventure! Although we didnt do all that much sailing we mostly just motored along which was good because it meant even i got to steer the boat! The first day was really rough seas and after about 10 minutes we were all soaking wet and sick of sailing. We thought - " hey isnt this supposed to be relaxing? arent we sposed to just cruise around with a beer in hand?" ummmm noooooo it was not like that at all. It took us 5 and a half hour to do a 4 hour trip due to the rough seas. We sailed to Petriti and once we were on dry land set off straight to the nearest bar to have a drink and calm our nerves. It wasnt until we got there that the owner of the resturant told us that all the fishermen in the village didnt even go into the sea that day because it was too rough. So it wasnt just us rookie sailors struggling with the waves which was a great releif!
That night we ate a delicious greek meal with tsatsiki, greek salad and herbed meat followed by tradtional greek dancing! It was so much fun! At one stage they even poured alcohol on the floor and lit it on fire while they dancing in the middle of it. One man then grabbed a table and picked it up with his teeth and twirled around dancing. We were all pretty impressed and they showed us how to do it so me and one of the other girls had a bit of a go but only lasted about 1 minute. It was a great introduction to Greece and I must say that im completely addicted to their food.
The next day we set of from Petriti to Corfu Town. This day was much better, the water was a lot calmer which meant that we actually got to put up the front sail for a little bit. The highlight of the day was definately stopping the boat in the middle of the ocean and diving off into the clear blue water. It was definately chilly but we had all stocked up on floaties so we just bobbed around and caught up on all the news from the other boats before heading back to our boats and setting sail again. This was the day that we started beer o clock at 11 am so after a swim we had a bit of a snooze on the bow of the boat followed by a few more bevvies before we docked in at Corfu Town.
We wandered in and had dinner in the cute little town before we had a pirate punch party on the quay. It is amazing how quickly people can come up with costumes on short notice! There were stripey shirts, bandanas and lots of eye liner tattoos and everyone scrubbed up well. The punch was deadly - it was one of those ones where you cant taste the alcohol so you think its harmless but about an hour later your legless and thinking its a good idea to go clubbing in Corfu dressed as a Pirate who hasnt showered in two days. But we did it anyways! It was a good night out except for when we got the munchies and spent about and hour hopping from boat to boat stealing chips, more drinks, eating nutella out of the jar with a spoon and basically just all round shennanigans.
The next day we all set off with our hangovers and sunburn back to Plateria. In my time ive tried many a hangover cure but I would have to say the best one yet is diving into cool blue water and floating around on flat water. We stopped off at a little place along the way that had watersports. A few people tried wakeboarding and water skiing but i went for the tame version and did banana boating. It was heaps of fun and we managed to make it without falling off until the very last minute so I got another nice refreshing wake up.
Once we arrived in Plateria it was a bit of a releif as it meant we could have a shower which we hadnt been able to have in three days. It also meant one last nite of sleeping on a smelly boat with 4 other people. I loved sailing but hated sleeping in a tiny cabin with dirty feet. Next time I sail hopefully its on a yacht!
The next stop was Albania which was a 10 hour drive day and all round pretty average. We stayed in the capital Tirana which was interesting to see how it has changed and learnt the history of the past few decades but it was definately only a pit stop between Greece and Croatia.
I absolutley adore Croatia! When we arrived in Dubrovnik we arrived in the arvo so there was not much to see so we decided to hit the town. We caught the bus down to Old Town and walked along the streets which were all lit up then down a side alley into a tiny little bar where they sold buckets of alcohol for 10€. They went down a treat! After one of those it was onto the dancefloor where we spent most of the night except for a side stop to a pizzeria where i had a quater of a pizza for 1€! And i would have to say that the pizza in Croatia by far beats the pizza in Italy.
The next day we did a walking tour of the Old Town and then decided to walk the city walls. The walk was by far the best thing ive done so far because the views were just incredible. To one side there is this crystal blue water the stretches on as far as you can see. Tiny cute little boats sailing the ocean and a view to the islands off shore. Then to the other side you see these little houses and apartments where people live. Their washing would just be hanging out to dry next to a little cafe and their balconys would just be right next to the wall with a view of the ocean. We stopped around halfway and had a beer and just sat and soaked it all in.
After our walk of the city walls we found a little cafe in a tiny side alley and sat down and ate even more pizza (still delicious). We actually ended up eating lunch with the owners daughter who was about 10. She was really cute and spoke really good english so she taught us some Croatian words to use. That afternoon we headed down the beach for a swim. The beach was a full pebble beach and wildly uncomfortable to lie on and stand on so we stocked up on beers and sea food and sat and watched the sun go down.
Sadly it was only a short stop in Dubrovnik and we set off the next day. We had a one night stop over in Zadar we headed to Venice where I have fallen in love with Italy all over again. The night we arrived we feasted on more pasto and antipasto platters. I am very proud to say that i tried everything on it including all the weird cheeses and olives. I even washed it down with a red wine which has never been my drink of choice but is fast becoming a favourite. Following our feast we had a toga party! The place we were staying were kind enough to lend us some sheets and our whole topdeck crew and two other busloads all dressed up in togas and leaves and hit the bar for a toga party. It was my first toga party and I will have to say probably the most epic night of our tour. It was a fun fun night. Spent most of it on the dancefloor (whilst trying not to have my toga fall down) and drinking some random mixed cocktail which was 6 shots of alcohol with a barcardi breezer. There were body shots (which i was not involved in) and table dancing and just all round drunken shennanigans. By the end of the night our white togas were actually brown and covered in alcohol. We managed to have 3 seperate injuries to people on our tour and the stragglers were escorted back to their rooms by security after trying to break into the pool for a midnight dip.
The next day was spent exporing Venice which is a city that is just filled to the brim of amazing sights. We wandered through the alley ways and discovered cute little shops, bakeries and cafes. The highlight was the Gondola ride that took us through the smaller canals as well as the grand canal with a great view of the Rialto Bridge. Afterwards we walked up to the bridge and visited a couple of the shops before heading home to sit by the pool and recover from a hectic night and a busy day.
It is hard to believe that I have only been on this tour for 14 days. I feel like i have known some of these people for years and that paris was about 4 months ago rather then just 12 days. I still have so much to go! We head off to Austria for an afternoon of adventure - some are sky diving i chose mountain biking. Then onto Prague, Munich, Rhine Valley, Amsterdam then back to London. Its going so quickly and while im looking forward to seeing my new travel partner and branching out on my own im going to be a little bit sad to see this tour end. But for now Im off to drink wine and eat cheese and crackers with the crew!
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