Ios!

Ok guys, I'm not gonna lie here, I really am not in the mood to blog. Its been a helluva travel day and I'm hungover and all the restaurants around our hotel are closed so I had chips and juice for dinner. But we're going to Turkey tomorrow and doing loads so I need to update before the load becomes too intense!

We're in Athens at the moment; we've just come from Ios which is THE BEST PLACE EVER. I can't really explain why its so amazing, there's just something in the water there that makes a person completely and utterly satisfied with life every second of every day. Its beautiful, the beaches are fantastic, we met some seriously wicked people, and did some very serious partying.
The days are a major blur, but I'll give it my best shot.

We weren't really sad to leave Mykonos. If you ask me that island it overrated. It was expensive and the people were shit. Being us we did manage to find some fun, but we had to dig down deep. Ios was a totally different story. On our first day there we were informed that the bus was taking us to Far Out Hotel and Spa, which shocked us completely because we highly doubted that we were paying 15 euro a night for a Hotel and Spa. Turns out there was an overbooking and we got upgraded. The rooms were nice, gorgeous pool, gorgeous view, but man alive was it ever BORING. Within 5 minutes we were walking down the hill to the beach to find some food and someone to talk to. We were more than happy to move down into our little backpacker village the next morning. Even the little backpacker Far Out was really nice, especially considering how cheap it was. We got a private hotel room with ensuite and no bugs. There was something blocking our mental capacity on the first night in those rooms because for some unknown reason, between 2 of us (and both of us think we're pretty damn smart) we were unable to locate the light switch for the bathroom. We both showered in the dark. Seriously.

Before fully committing to the party scene on Ios, Steph and I decided that we should finally follow thru with the promise we always make ourselves on every island and never actually do: go biking/exploring! We rented an atv (yes we wore our helmets!) and scooted all around the beautiful island of Ios. We hit a totally deserted beach, drove aimlessly, and stumbled upon what the plaques claimed was the tomb of Homer. Illiad Homer. Luckily I have Steph and she got all upset and informed me that this was NOT Homer's tomb and the historian guy who claimed it was had a tendency to make things up and call it fact. Its fun having a Classics minor by my side when confronted with these things.

Beyond that we were on the whole pretty unproductive. We spent lots of time laying in the sun, swimming in the ocean, swimming in the pool, eating cheesey carbs, drinking 5 euro wine, meeting Australians, and judging slutty Swedish chicks. All our favourite Greek island activities! We fully committed to Ios' vibrant nightlife. I'm not sure if its because its the end of the season and the bars are trying to blow their inventory before they close, or if this is just the cheapest place ever, but around every corner there's some Australian promo person hollering at you for free shots, 1 euro drinks, or the standard special: 2 shots, 2 drinks, for 5 euro. Now, that is just not safe. Especially when they seem to cram about 2 dozen bars within the tiny main square. There was lots of dancing and an incident in which I begged Steph to let me sleep at the bus stop because we couldn't get a taxi home. Don't worry, she didn't.

Our best discovery was Porkey's: an all-night crepe shop that makes the most delicious crepes you can imagine. And hands down the best gyros I've ever had. In a spectacular display of serendipity, while mowing a white chocolate crepe at 3am, we bumped into 2 awesome South Africans who we'd hung out with on Mykonos! 'Tis a small world after all.

By far the most amazing part about our time on Ios was the people there. Everyone was so great and friendly. I am, quite seriously, formulating plans to head back there to land myself a promo job next summer. The place was crawling with people who live and work there for the summer at the similar random promo jobs me and Shanna worked in Australia. They are living the life! Don't worry, not dropping out of school. These are summer plans.

Ok people, that's all I've got. I did not do that magical place justice, and that's a shame, but I'm all sleepy from my ferry ride and we've got a flight at the crack of dawn tomorrow, so its sleep time for me!