I have to start this post off with full disclosure that I’m not giving you full disclosure. I’ve never been on a “traditional” American spring break trip, but from what I’ve heard from friends and seen in movies this was the equivalent. We departed Florence by bus, which took us to a ferry cruise ship where we spent almost 19 hours. The only other ferry I’d ever been on before was in Ireland when I was 11. I remember being so nauseous the whole time, so I was scared for this trip. Much to my surprise, the whole ferry experience is much more pleasant when paired with a good book (The Devil Wears Prada…I totally recommend it!) and a bottle of rosé.
After what felt like a lifetime spent on buses and ferries, we arrived in Corfu, Greece just before dinner on Saturday. We checked into our (very pink) hostel and headed down to the Palladium for our included dinner. We were served a delicious bowl of split-pea soup with fresh bread followed by a huge plate of lamb with roasted potatoes and broccoli. The lamb was so tender it practically melted in your mouth. Not bad for a free dinner at a hostel. After we’d cleared our plates (we were hungry from that long trip!) we headed down to the beach bar for happy hour. Our hostel was equipped with bars in every major building, but the beach bar was my favorite. It had a dock looking right out over the ocean, and we could almost still hear the waves crashing as we danced on the tables, belting out the lyrics to our favorite 90’s hits all night long.
The next morning, I woke up with rays of sunlight splashing across my face from the glass doors of the balcony of our room. We got lucky, not only did our room have an unreal view of the water and sunrise/sunset, but also WiFi!!! If you’ve ever studied abroad, you know what a miracle that is. Anyway, I walked out onto our balcony and sat there admiring the beautiful day (no this isn’t the opening monologue of some Disney movie, life was really this perfect). I headed down to the beach bar for our included breakfast, not expecting more than cereal, but to my surprise there was an array of cheeses and salamis, yogurt with cereal pieces, eggs with feta cheese, and these yummy little wafer squares. I indulged in my Greek breakfast as I lounged on the deck, mere feet above the crashing waves.
My roommate and I then headed back to our room to prepare for the boat tour of Corfu we were about to embark upon. Little did we know, boarding the boat required swimming out to it about 40 ft. away from shore. Needless to say, we spent that boat ride in our bikinis. Our first stop on the tour was a cluster of rock formations for cliff jumping. Although I don’t usually get sea sick on small boats, I was feeling so nauseous and dying to get off the boat. As soon as the captain stopped the ship (which was also pink by the way) I jumped off the side into the water. It felt so much better to be floating with the waves than to be on the rocky ship. Because I was feeling so sick, I wasn’t planning on cliff jumping as I’d already done it in Positano. But once I saw everyone else doing it I couldn’t resist and I swam over to the rocks to start my climb up.
The water was very choppy that day and every time I tried to grab hold of the rocks to climb up from the water, the tide would pull me away, forcing me against the rocks and sometimes under the water. After four or five tries, I finally made it up the rocks. I put my toes on the edge of the cliff and jumped! It was just as much fun as it’d been the first time. Our second stop on the tour was a private beach composed of dead seaweed. Once again, I couldn’t wait to get off the boat and jumped straight into the water. I spent my entire time treading water and was the last person back onto the boat. Even though the boat itself made me feel sick, I still had an awesome and unforgettable time. When we finally made it back to the hostel, I couldn’t wait to shower and get ready for dinner.
Dinner that night was an onion soup and fresh bread followed by a gigantic slice of Moussaka and a Greek salad. I was so full, I never wanted to eat again. This night, happy hour was in the Palladium where we’d eaten dinner, and shortly after the plates were cleared from the table, we gathered to watch the owner of the hostel do traditional Greek dances, break plates, and hand out shots of ouzo. We were all dressed in pink togas (after hours of trying to figure out how to tie one, I decided to be a little unique and make mine into a skirt instead) and we danced along with the owner until morning.
I spent the entire next day lounging on the beach immersed in my copy of The Devil Wears Prada. I ate a gyro from the beach bar and sipped a frappe. After our third and final dinner at The Pink Palace, we packed our bags and departed for Athens. Corfu was quite the experience, and although I couldn’t share all the details on here, it was a weekend I’ll never forget.