| Glenn's Corfu Journals 4-30-02 We were up by 7:30 in the morning, entering the port at Igoumenitsa. Nick and Laura were getting off here as they were heading straight to Athens today. Once we had seen what we awoke to see we went back to bed for as long as the ships announcement would let us. The first announcements for Igoumenitsa started around 6:30 am for a 7:30 am arrival. The announcements for our 9:00 am arrival started around 8:15 am so we did not get much additional sleep. We awoke, took showers (which were better than I had imagined for a boat) and prepared to disembark upon arrival. Once in Corfu, we were expecting to meet a pink bus that would take us to the Pink Palace Hostel, which we had called about yesterday to verify accomodations. We had heard a lot about it during our travels and had seen many a brochure as well. Sure enough, there were 2 representatives from the Pink Palace waiting to greet us and you sure coudn't miss the "Pink" bus! While we were gathering to get on the bus, we met Angie and Corela (a couple of young ladies from Canada). Caroline, from South Carolina, was also going to the Pink Palace. We all jumped on board for the 30-45 minute ride to the Palace. The bus ride was interesting as we had never experienced driving in Greece. The roads were winding through the mountains and relatively narrow. The locals drove as fast as they felt comfortable while the tourists drove slowly, demonstrating their unfamiliarity with the road ways. Every corner the bus took, he would honk the horn letting other drivers coming from the other direction know that he was there and not to take the corner too sharp as they would find him at the other end. When we finally made it over the mountain to Agios Gordis and saw the view, we were breathtaken. The view of the beach was spectacular as you will see by the pictures. Now this was a vacation!!! First things first though! We met Brian, who would explain some of the basic rules around the Palace and share in a shot of Ouszo (at 10:00 am) with us as a "to your health" kind of welcome. Then we were provided breakfast, which was a great selection of cold cereal, fruit, or the hot plate, which typically was an omelette or eggs with potatoes. Each breakfast included bread and all you could drink coffee, tea, or juice. Now you're talking!!! Next we were shown our rooms. Erin and I opted for our own room, and what a view it provided. Erin had barely even dropped her bags before the camera was out and she was snapping shots of the beach view we had from the room. Now we were really talking!!! We quickly changed in to our swimming suits and headed down to the beach. Oh Yeah!! We had to buy a beach towel and some sunscreen as these were things we had not brought with us on the trip. Off we were to the beach where we would get plenty of sunshine and relaxing. We met Angie, Corela, and Caroline down at the beach. Upon arriving at the beach, I noticed some beach volleyball going on and some decent volleyball at that. I watched some of the volleyball, waiting for a chance to get into a game myself. (I have not played in a few years but enjoy and miss it all the same.) I finally got a chance to play during a break (it actually ended up being a men's 3's tournament) from the action. I was definitely out of shape and out of sync from the lack of play time, but it was fun all the same. Now I was sweaty and had to cool off. Oh Yeah!!! The water was quite a bit cooler than I was used to so it took a while to get in but it was enjoyable once you got over the initial shock. Once we all had agreed that we were probably "fried" from our first day in the sun and that we had plenty more to go (I hate to be sunburned on the first day), we headed in to clean up before dinner at 8:00 pm. We met everyone at dinner, which included soup, multiple choices of salad, and multiple choices of entree including calamari, fish, meat, pasta, and bread. The employees at the Pink Palace even took your plates to your seat for you. This was definitely the biggest dinner we had had on this trip. We weren't even sure we could eat it all but we did our best. After dinner we continued our dinner conversation and met other travelers who were staying at the Pink Palace as well. The other enticement to hang around was the 1/2 hour "happy hour" at 10:30 pm. This usually pulled all kinds of people out of the wood works when all liquids in the cooler and well drinks at the bar were half price. We ended up staying up until 1:00 am talking with Angie and Corela. Carolina had gone to bed by now as she had an early flight to catch back home. (We found out the next day that Angie and Corela had stayed up until 9:00 am. Erin and I are definitely not as young as we used to be!!!) |
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| Our balcony view of Agios Gordis Bay |
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| Glenn getting in the game! |