It is all Greek to me!

 Off to Greece! This was probably the longest trek to get to one destination of my entire time here in Europe. It was a 4 hour bus ride from Rome, to a cruise ship that took 18 hours to get to Greece, then another 2 hour ferry to get to the island of Corfu, then an hour bus ride to get to the place we were staying. Needless to say I was exhausted! But I have to say that I am glad I was able to conquer the trip because it was well worth it!

The Greek Flag, in my opinion, is one of the prettiest looking flags. Despite the recent economic crises in Greece the people still have a huge national pride for their country. I know that I definitely fell in love with their culture and traditions.  Below is the map of Greece and the long 18 hour route that our cruise ship took to get there. It only looks so far on a map, but I know that is such a deceiving concept!

 Maybe it is the culture, or maybe just because I really like Greece, I am not quite sure yet but I LOVE THEIR SALAD! I am normally NOT a salad person and I can never have more than a couple of bites but this stuff was great! Maybe because it had no lettuce? Whatever the reason it had lots of veggies to choose from like onions, cucumber and tomatoes (which are fruits). You doused it with vinegar, pepper and oil along with a huge brick of feta cheese and bam! your Greek salad.
The actual place that I stayed was an island called  Corfu in Greece and it is not too far inland but it is still Greece nonetheless!

Island of Corfu coming into view

 We stayed at this place called the Pink Palace, and it was no wonder because everything and I do mean everything was this shade of flamingo pink. This picture on the left gives a bit of a glimpse of it. My room was actually very nice with its own shower and balcony and a beautiful view, but this huge complex that was the pink palace was truly a palace and it was indescribable.

View from my balcony

 After getting cleaned up after a long day and a half of traveling it was really easy to walk down and head straight for the beach. The first day we were there was a bit chilly and slightly overcast, it actually looked like it was going to rain. But I was determined to be in shorts and flip flops for the majority of the time.

The infamous pink palace, I wish the picture showed how big and how pink this place was. They even had pink toga parties for all of the guests at night for dinner which was pretty entertaining to watch.

Maybe I am just in love with the Greek food, but this Gyro was FANTASTIC! They put fries inside it and it is so yummy to eat. It was also pretty cheap and at this restaurant just a 5 minute walk down the beach with a deck on the beach to relax and enjoy the awesome Greek specialty.

I think I am going to come home with a whole new appreciation for food after this trip and I will be more willing to try new things because they all taste so good. Food is more of an art here in Europe and every different country has their own delicacy and specialty that they have perfected over the years.

The next day was drastically sunnier and thank goodness because I was ready for some heat! I actually went ATVing on the second day for 5 hours! Riding these ATVs was a lot easier than the dirt bikes at home but it was still quite interesting with all of the other crazy drivers on the road and part of our tour group. I am so glad that I did this despite the crazy drivers and winding roads because the views were spectacular!

All suited up and ready to go!

Once on the ATV's it was difficult to take pictures until we stopped but it was well worth the wait! At the top of the mountain where we stopped to eat our sandwiches for lunch, was this cute little church and grazing area for some goats. The view was spectacular because you were able to see the entire island and all of the little towns throughout from above.

I'm on top of the world!

There were so many daisies up at the top of the mountain. It was definitely considered a mountain even though it was so much smaller than what I would consider a mountain.

Small town

All of the flowers!

A different angle but still breathtaking nonetheless of the island with the sea in the distance.

I definitely had some fun with the pictures during this trip. It felt like nothing else in the world. Here we are near a rocky beach where it is possible to fish in the little creek below the bridge. There was even a boy there fishing with a spear.

Another view of the landscape. During this trip I had traveled across both the Adriatic and Ionian seas to get to where our destination was in Greece.

Another view of the Ionian Sea

Although some of the places were a little run down and the upkeep was not as high they were still cool to see. You could see the remnants of the financial crisis in Greece and you could see why they were in bankruptcy but the people never showed it on their faces. They seemed perfectly happy with the way life was for them. This place, Corfu, seemed like back in its heyday it had lots of tourists which it still does but not anywhere near the capacity that it used to.

Found some kitties that looked like Stripes and Doodles!

The Greek version of Stripes and Doodles

Another view of the towns

As per tradition of the Pink Palace everyone got pink togas on Saturday night and a little showing of traditional Greek dancing was displayed after dinner.  It didn't look too hard until the two guy dancers did the splits and I knew they would not get me to do that! But there was a point where they lit part of a chair on fire and one of the guys picked it up with his teeth and walked around the room. Now I don't know how they did this trick because my teeth are no where near that strong but it was pretty entertaining to watch for sure!

The following day before our departure back to Italy I took a trip into the town of Corfu. There was even a McDonald's there which I thought was crazy that it had gotten to this fairly secluded island. But the town was very cool to see with lots of shops and lots of Greek things to sell. The traditionally 'Greek' things were the Evil eye and the turquoise beads that adorned all of the jewelry. But what was also pretty neat to see was the  park that was just next to the town. It had so many intricate trees and the climate was perfectly sunny for a stroll. There were also a lot of palm trees which I'm assuming, unlike Barcelona, were actually native to the area.

The water here was also neat because in these pictures you can see straight down to the bottom because of how clear the water is. I was very high above the water when I took this picture, at least 30 feet up!

The weather and view was just like what you would see in pictures or on  T.V. and I was really enjoying it.

I also must have felt right at home and because of the picture to the left now I know why! The Spartans were Greek, and I am a Spartan! Michigan State's Greek Phrase Molon Labe was a huge thing in Greece, not just because that is a Greek phrase meaning "Come and get them!" it is a phrase for the strong and courageous and for the people who wish to defy the odds which seems like that is what the Greeks did and who they are.