Had the best time in santorini- Absolutely loved it 3 nights was nowhere near enough time to recharge the batteries after 4 weeks of full on sightseeing. You are all probably thinking geez u need a rest from sightseeing! But it is exhausting only having 2 full days in a city. So the next stop on the trip is ios- the island with the prettiest beaches but is THE party island. We had heard from a lot of people that it is insane but until you get there it's hard to actually understand the craziness of it all. We got into ios around mid day and got the free bus to Far Out Camping- it is owned by Aussies and is made for partying. There are two really nice pool areas- one is in the classy part of the camp and is relaxing with hammocks, padded sun lounges, a bridge over the pool, outdoor beds and a sushi bar which makes it fresh to order. The other pool has two bars a dance floor, huge bar and food area, tattoo and piercing parlor and makes the best cocktails ever!!!!- I will get to that later. We all have to wear wristbands to get into the campground area at night. We were in two tents which were little wooden A-frames with a canvas roof- not as nice or roomy as what we had in Venice- but what you expect from camping. We had a little nap in the avo much to other campers disgust - as who sleeps after only just getting there. Steph and I went for a swim in the sea. The beach is golden sand and clear water with sun lounges along it. It was very windy the whole time we were in ios so not really nice for sunbathing. We went over to the nice pool for a swim and to enjoy the sun. At 5pm the dj starts at the poolside and people dance in their bikinis drinking cocktails- sort of reminds me of uni tea party atmosphere. We have a drink by the pool. We moved on from cocktails to wine from the mini mart. Steph got a bottle of wine for 5 euros and Jess went to get the same one and picked up the same labeled bottle but it was 1.5l for only €5,50. I've never seen a 1.5l bottle before. We meet to guys from Amsterdam and they came with us to the beach. The next day we woke up late and got ready to represent nz in the trinations game against aus that was on the big screen. We wore katene's league and rugby jerseys. There were far more nz supporters than aus which we weren’t expecting- but made for good rivalry and a great competitive atmosphere. When we won a few of the Aussies threw cocktails on themselves and lay on the ground being fish out of water- very odd behavior, but being in ios nothing is surprising. We hit the cocktails at 5.30 - they are so potent. I got a long island ice tea which has 5 spirits on it. The bar man just tips the bottles upside down- no nip pouters and adds a little bit of coke all for €5. The best cocktail was the purple rain, delicious. And the bull frog was pretty good. The cocktails are the best value for money and the best I had anywhere in europe. The dj stops at 10pm and everyone heads onto town- which has a lot of clubs. The cocktails were so strong three drinks were enough for me to have a great night and a mighty big hangover the next day. We were told most people party til 8am, we went home at 3.30am. We didn't make it to the slammer bar but they give you a shot and slam it on the bar and you are wearing a helmet and they hit you on the head as soon as you down your shot which a skateboard, hammer, knee etc. Crazy place I tell you. Me and steph dragged ourselves to the beach late morning to recover from the shenanigans from the previous night. The water was freezing and it was soooo cold. I got bitten on the knee by something- I got over it, but the second time I got nipped on the thigh I screamed and was out of the water so fast. We went to the nice pool with the others- I was told later by a French guy that it would have been a fish that bit me- awesome. After hanging at the pool us girls bused into town to look around the shops. The town it built on a hill and is made of really narrow lanes pathed with stones. Nothing is in the same place, a shop will be around a random corner and sometimes we were walking down deserted lanes until we stumbled across something. We were the only ones wondering the narrow streets which was awesome- it really gave us time to wonder and discover in peace. Thats what I like about the towns in the Greek islands- they are so peaceful and there is so many little streets you can be the only one around discovering what treasures lie around the next corner. I got a summer dress an ios t-shirt (had to be done ) and we got our souvenirs then bused back to far out. We then had more cocktails and sat at the beach til around 3am. The next morning we checked out at 10 and caught the bus to the port. We got a gyro for breakfast/lunch then waited in the heat for the ferry that was an hour late due to the choppy seas. We were told that the ferry might not even come ad this happens all the time when the wind gets up. It finally arrived- we were on a small ferry as it took half the time of the ferry to santorini. It rocked and rolled for the whole 4 hour journey- at first it wa a bit frightening but eventually got used to it and caught up on some much needed sleep. We got into Athens around 6.30 pm. For dinner we went to a traditional Greek restaurant which had two men playing the traditional guitars. I had a lamb dish that came wrapped in baking paper and inside had potato lamb tomato- carefully hand picked out by me and feta. It was weird that it came in paper I thought at first it was filo until I tool a bit and it got stuck in my teeth. We had an early night as we were up at 7am to see all the sights before 10.30am when we had to be on our 3 hour bus back to patras in time for the 25 hour ferry ride back to Ancona Italy. The hostel made us pancakes or breaky with nutella! we went to the acropolis and the Parthenon which is at the top of the hill. It was soo hot and only just after 8 in the morn. We rushed around getting photos. I think it was hard to get back into sightseeing mode after having such a relaxing time in the islands. We all want to go back!! We also saw the temple of Zeus and the original Olympic stadium for the modern games. So much marble between all these sights and a lot of hard work. Very impressive- its hard to believe that it is all marble. Didn't really like athens- taxi drivers rip you off, they drive like insane people- how do they get a license in this country and it doesn't feel very safe. We were glad to be leaving Athens. The boat ride back to Italy was sooo boring. I think because on the way over it was so exciting to get to the greek islands and it was our first time on a ferry. The ferry ride home had hardly anyone on it, even the staff looked bored as there were no customers to serve. We got three seats each to sleep across which was good. I'm getting a terrible cold again- for the 2nd time since we have been away :(. Anyway Ios and Santorini were awesome, we all wish we had been there for at least two weeks. Met so many people around our age and so many from nz- the islands has been the best part of the trip so far and will be hard to beat. We are in Ancona for two nights as we wait for the busabout bus to come through to get us.
