(I don't want to) Party All the Time
Place: Agio Gordis, Corfu Island, Greece
So I ended up staying on Corfu Island for 5 nights.
After the long daytrip to Albania, I thought I needed a full day's rest before I took another very long bus ride back to Athens, to catch a flight to Berlin. So after returning from Albania, I paid for two more nights in Corfu. Then I started to regret, maybe I wasted too much of my precious vacation time in a same boring place. I should have at least traveled to other Ionian islands nearby.
To be fair, Corfu is a very beautiful island (that is why it is so touristy, all right?) with many nice sandy beaches. It is relatively green compared to other Greek islands (On the Adriatic side of the Balkan there is higher average rainfall). The old center of Corfu Town has some nice buildings and squares. It feels partly Italian (used to be ruled by Venetians for hundreds of years), partly French (Napolean occupied Corfu in the early 19th century), and even a little bit British with its cricket court (Great Britain took it over after defeating Napolean but returned it after Greek independence). However, I did not stay in Corfu Town and it usually took some time to get there. I did not have many opportunities to appreciate Corfu Town. There are only 6 buses a day between Agio Gordis and Corfu Town. I do not even had chance to sample Corfu Town nightlife: The last bus returns to Agio Gordis before 8 pm.
Agio Gordis, where the Pink Palace Hostel/Resort is located, is a nice small town itself. There is a sandy cove, some parts of it with very clear and turquois water. However, it is the hotel I stayed that I eventually got so tired of.
As I mentioned in the earlier blogs, Pink Palace is a "party complex for 20-something backpackers." They are mostly (very) young and not sophisticated. There are surprisingly huge number of Spaniards. When the Spaniards get drunk, they become very, very loud. My room is right next to a small swimming pool (or actually a large Jacuzzi?). Every night around 3 to 4 am, after the complex's disco closes, there is always a lot of noise outside of my room. Some drunk kids just jumped into the pool (possibly naked) for the last fun before heading to bed. And then, there are some American guys working at the resort (well, they are not E.U citizens, how can they work in Greece? I meant, legally?) who act like Casanova, constantly trying to pick up female guests....A reserved, sophisticated (heh), and quiet Asian boy (boy?) like me somewhat felt I was completely out of places...
The disco does play some decent dance music. Sitting there for an hour also helped me to know what are the hottest dance songs this summer in Europe (now I think Shakira's "Hips Don't Lie" should be this summer's biggest hit in Europe). In addition, the drinks they serve are cheap and tasty (at happy hour, Singapore Sling and Tequila Sunrise cost only 1.5 Euro). Actually by the last night, I started to like their disco and hanging around there. I even started to enjoy hanging out with these Spaniards. They are less reserved and fun to be with indeed. However, it is time to go, to go back to 'civilization'.
To go back to Athens.
