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June 7
Day 27
Contiki Day 18
Corfu Island, GREECE
Day 27
Contiki Day 18
Corfu Island, GREECE
HOT Entertainment at the Greek Dinner & Dancing
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Can't Control the Weather
The Journey...
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Select a Day:
~*OPTIONAL*~ Dinner & Greek Dancing
Taverna, Retsina and Zorba - it'll certainly be all Greek to you by the end of the evening. Try tasty local specialities such as taramasalata, tzatziki and roast lamb on the spit. Enjoy a colourful and lively folklore show during which you're bound to learn a few Greek steps - all to the sound of bouzouki! -Contiki
30.00€
Taverna, Retsina and Zorba - it'll certainly be all Greek to you by the end of the evening. Try tasty local specialities such as taramasalata, tzatziki and roast lamb on the spit. Enjoy a colourful and lively folklore show during which you're bound to learn a few Greek steps - all to the sound of bouzouki! -Contiki
30.00€
I rolled out of bed around 7:00am this morning feeling much better than I thought I would. No hangover. It was such a blessing. I was feeling a little lazy after our action-packed week in Italy, and I thought today would be a great day to sleep in. No time for sleep though, because this morning we were going on one of the optionals I was looking forward to the most: George’s Boat.
It actually wasn’t going to be George’s boat today. Ryan informed us that George, the legendary perverted sailor that escorts Contiki tours around the island, had fallen ill and was in the hospital. We didn’t know what his illness was, but Ryan said that we would have another boat and captain to take us on the same itinerary.
During breakfast at 8:00am, a thunderstorm rolled in and it started to storm. We were scheduled to depart for the optional at 8:30, but it never happened. By 10:30am the storm still hadn’t let up. I tried to stay optimistic, but in the end the optional was canceled. I wanted to stay in a positive mood, but I couldn’t help but be a little bummed out. From reading other travelogues, I knew that George’s boat and the water adventure island we would have been taken to were a major highlight. We would have also gone to a place called skinny-dipping island, and many of us planned on stripping down in tradition and jumping off the boat completely naked. I had been psyching myself up to do that since I booked the tour.
It actually wasn’t going to be George’s boat today. Ryan informed us that George, the legendary perverted sailor that escorts Contiki tours around the island, had fallen ill and was in the hospital. We didn’t know what his illness was, but Ryan said that we would have another boat and captain to take us on the same itinerary.
During breakfast at 8:00am, a thunderstorm rolled in and it started to storm. We were scheduled to depart for the optional at 8:30, but it never happened. By 10:30am the storm still hadn’t let up. I tried to stay optimistic, but in the end the optional was canceled. I wanted to stay in a positive mood, but I couldn’t help but be a little bummed out. From reading other travelogues, I knew that George’s boat and the water adventure island we would have been taken to were a major highlight. We would have also gone to a place called skinny-dipping island, and many of us planned on stripping down in tradition and jumping off the boat completely naked. I had been psyching myself up to do that since I booked the tour.
There wasn’t much else to do today. It was storming outside and for the time being we were stuck at the hotel. Ryan organized some DVD’s for us to watch in the lounge. A bunch of people stayed and watched movies, but I decided to go back to my room and spend the rest of the morning sleeping. In the end I guess I did get my wish for some extra sleep time. There wasn’t much else to see in Corfu, so it wasn’t like I’d feel guilty that I was sleeping instead of sightseeing.
At 2:00pm I woke up from my nap. I felt really good and rejuvenated. It’s amazing what a couple extra hours of sleep can do. The storm and passed and it was now bright and sunny outside. I wondered where this weather was this morning. I went up to the pool area and joined a bunch of tour mates in the pool. After a brief swim I put on some tanning lotion and laid in the sun for a while. It felt really good to just chill and do nothing, but I got a little restless. I asked if anyone wanted to take a walk with me down to the beach, but everyone was passed out in the sun and didn’t want to move. I couldn’t really blame them. The sun felt so good today. It was as if it was healing all our exhaustion from the past two weeks. I probably should have just stayed put, but I was feeling really energetic after my nap, so I walked down the stairs of death and started walking down the road to explore.
I walked to a small beach area near the hotel. There were lots of locals hanging out at the beach today. I walked in the sand for a few minutes and then got lost trying to get back to the road. Apparently there’s only one entrance/exit to the beach. After that I went down to a convenience store and stocked up on bottled water and energy drinks. I thrived on energy drinks during my time in Europe. A bottle of Powerade goes a long way on a tour like this. I continued my walk and took a casual stroll down the road to see what else I could find. There was nothing, really. Just houses and more streets. After about an hour of walking I turned around and started my way back to the hotel.
At 2:00pm I woke up from my nap. I felt really good and rejuvenated. It’s amazing what a couple extra hours of sleep can do. The storm and passed and it was now bright and sunny outside. I wondered where this weather was this morning. I went up to the pool area and joined a bunch of tour mates in the pool. After a brief swim I put on some tanning lotion and laid in the sun for a while. It felt really good to just chill and do nothing, but I got a little restless. I asked if anyone wanted to take a walk with me down to the beach, but everyone was passed out in the sun and didn’t want to move. I couldn’t really blame them. The sun felt so good today. It was as if it was healing all our exhaustion from the past two weeks. I probably should have just stayed put, but I was feeling really energetic after my nap, so I walked down the stairs of death and started walking down the road to explore.
I walked to a small beach area near the hotel. There were lots of locals hanging out at the beach today. I walked in the sand for a few minutes and then got lost trying to get back to the road. Apparently there’s only one entrance/exit to the beach. After that I went down to a convenience store and stocked up on bottled water and energy drinks. I thrived on energy drinks during my time in Europe. A bottle of Powerade goes a long way on a tour like this. I continued my walk and took a casual stroll down the road to see what else I could find. There was nothing, really. Just houses and more streets. After about an hour of walking I turned around and started my way back to the hotel.
It was nice to have some alone time today. It gave me a recharge from constantly being in a social atmosphere. Although I have two siblings, I grew up as an only-child, so I’ve always had plenty of time to myself. I was so used to constantly being around people for the last eighteen days that I didn’t miss being alone too much, but every once in a while it was nice to just wander off and do my own thing. The funny thing was, I was only away from my tour mates for about two hours, but by the time I got back I was already staring to miss them.
Back at the hotel, everyone started getting ready for our optional dinner tonight. We all once again got dressed up and Amos drove us to our Greek dinner and dancing.
Back at the hotel, everyone started getting ready for our optional dinner tonight. We all once again got dressed up and Amos drove us to our Greek dinner and dancing.
We arrived at the restaurant and, like Amy’s Bar, we were welcomed with a shot of Ouzo before entering.
The restaurant was really big. It probably seated around 400 people and had a great atmosphere to it. There was a huge dance floor in the middle of the room and a stage with a live Greek band setting up. We weren’t the only tour there either. When the hostess greeted everyone on the microphone, she announced that there were tours here from all around North America and Europe.
Our dinner in Florence turned a lot of people off the optional dinners, so everybody wasn’t at this one. Probably only about 70% of the tour attended. One member of the tour started brainwashing everyone into thinking that every optional dinner was going to be as bad as Florence. The people that didn’t come to this optional really missed out. This dinner was excellent. The food was really good! It had three courses - bread, tzatziki, baked potato, chicken, lamb, rice, watermelon, and lots of wine. The entertainment was also extremely... entertaining! There was traditional Greek dancers, belly dancers, plate smashing, group dances, and they even lit the stage on fire. The entertainment lasted for a couple hours and was everything you’d expect from Greek culture. The music was awesome and they really got everyone involved. Theresa and I accidently crashed the special dance for engaged couples, but we were a little buzzed off wine so we didn’t know any better. We just wanted to dance. There was also a huge group dance where everyone joined hands and danced in circles in a follow-the-leader type of way. The belly dancer lady got a bunch of people from the tours up on stage with her. There was this one North American man, probably in his mid 60's, that couldn’t seem to keep his shirt on. He was pretty hilarious, but his wife looked horrified at the whole experience. Sean got up on stage with the belly dancer too. Lucky guy.
The restaurant was really big. It probably seated around 400 people and had a great atmosphere to it. There was a huge dance floor in the middle of the room and a stage with a live Greek band setting up. We weren’t the only tour there either. When the hostess greeted everyone on the microphone, she announced that there were tours here from all around North America and Europe.
Our dinner in Florence turned a lot of people off the optional dinners, so everybody wasn’t at this one. Probably only about 70% of the tour attended. One member of the tour started brainwashing everyone into thinking that every optional dinner was going to be as bad as Florence. The people that didn’t come to this optional really missed out. This dinner was excellent. The food was really good! It had three courses - bread, tzatziki, baked potato, chicken, lamb, rice, watermelon, and lots of wine. The entertainment was also extremely... entertaining! There was traditional Greek dancers, belly dancers, plate smashing, group dances, and they even lit the stage on fire. The entertainment lasted for a couple hours and was everything you’d expect from Greek culture. The music was awesome and they really got everyone involved. Theresa and I accidently crashed the special dance for engaged couples, but we were a little buzzed off wine so we didn’t know any better. We just wanted to dance. There was also a huge group dance where everyone joined hands and danced in circles in a follow-the-leader type of way. The belly dancer lady got a bunch of people from the tours up on stage with her. There was this one North American man, probably in his mid 60's, that couldn’t seem to keep his shirt on. He was pretty hilarious, but his wife looked horrified at the whole experience. Sean got up on stage with the belly dancer too. Lucky guy.
The whole night was completely awesome, but my favorite part was the potato dance contest. There were about 40 couples on the dance floor participating in the competition. The goal of the game was to dance with your partner holding a potato between your foreheads without dropping it. If you dropped the potato or touched it with your hands you were out of the game. My partner was Theresa. When the hostess explained the game it seemed pretty simple, but once it got started it was much harder to do. We didn’t only have to dance, but had to follow the hostess’s instructions. We had to get on our knees and back up again, spin our bodies around in a circle while keeping the potato in place, touch the ground - all sorts of difficult maneuvers. As the game got harder a lot of couples dropped their potatoes. Theresa and I were doing awesome until we had to lay on the ground and roll over. We made it on the ground, rolled on our sides while keeping the potato between our foreheads, but when we went to get up we lost balance and the potato fell to the ground. We still did pretty well, though. We ended up finishing in 3rd place. Ryan and Yolanda took 1st place and won a bottle of champagne.
After the grand finale of traditional plate smashing, we boarded the coach and went back to the hotel. A couple of us stayed up and had some drinks at the bar before going to bed. Only two more sleeps before leaving for Egypt. Tomorrow we were on our way to Athens. Today was the last day of relaxation for the whole tour. From here on out it was going to become even more intense - and I was ready for it.
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