Pink Togas...Plate Smashing....Fire Dancing...Beautiful Beaches

We decided to participate in a Spring Break program called Bus2Alps designed for college students abroad. The entire trip is planned out and all we had to do is show up when necessary and live it up.

It stared out with a bus ride to Ancona, Italy.  It was here that we would get on a ferry cruise shit headed for Athens.  The bus ride was amazing. Our crew from the castle (us four guys and nine girls) sat together in the back and talked of our stories and adventures from the previous night which led to continuous laughter. Italian is no spanish and we learned that on our first trip to a gas station.  The stop was onto of a hill overlooking the water- one beautiful site (something that just kept getting better as the days went on).  We all were hungry and thirsty.  And like us touristy Americans we are, we were forced to point to what we wanted and had to look at the receipt to see what we owed because we could not understand the cashier to any degree.

We finally got to the port and made our way on the Cruise ship.  The guys quickly realized that it was a 6-1, girl-guy ratio. Can a man ask for more? They explored around the ship, more many it was their first time on one and wanted to take it all in.  As the hours passed they played various card games to pass the time.  Because this was going to be an overnight trip to Corfu, when the sun set, they prepped for the night. Did I mention they had a dance club on the ship? You bet they did. Needless to say they met a lot of the girls that seemed civil enough to hang out with during the trip (some proved else-wise... girls I tell ya). As the sun began to raise that following morning, the crew made their way to their homemade hobo beds (clothes and jackets on the floor) and was surprisingly awaken at 8 AM p call and... HELLO CORFU! Let the party begin!

We arrived to the Pink Palace after a short bus from the port.  Room 201 was ours for the taking. There were atvs outside the room just asking to be beaten on the trails.  It didn't take more than 20 minutes for the boys to get into their swimsuits and jump into the ocean. As they made their way back from the ocean, orange, tangerine and lemon trees filled the hillside (something that they boys have never seen).  This was going to be their lunch. Come 6 PM, happy hour hit with a frenzy and cheap beverages swarmed the stereotypical cheap colleges students to the bar like bees to a hive. With a little pep in our step, we made our way to our first dinner. It was here that we first got to see what our group really consisted of.  180 college students strong, all excited and ready to live it up.  We knew we chose the right Spring Break! Dinner flew by and before we knew it the dance floor was packed.  It was time to show they goons how us Minnesotan and Wisconsites' dance! Circles formed and wild and crazy dancing ripped up the dance floor.  Many migrated to the hot tub were they just chilled and laughed about the day and dancing.

The next day the group partook in a Party cruise. The ship pulled up in a full bright pink color and anchored 30feet outside the shore. With a flip of the switch the captain started blasting music. Without hesitation everyone jumped in the ocean running to get prime spots on the ship. Many girls stood stranded on the beach onlooking the crashing waves and neck high water in the way of the ride. With jeers and yells from the boys, one by one, purses were held above their heads and screams let out till the boat filled with 70+ people. With great music, cliff diving and a stop a private beach, this adventure can be described in one word... wow.

That night...PINK TOGA PARTY. It was the much anticipated, world renown (literally) event. Though, it was calm before the storm as many took a much needed cat nap after the cruise.  We woke up ten minutes to spare before dinner. This seems to be an ongoing theme with us. We quick tied our togas with absolutely no idea what we were doing. One person would tie their toga, say they were pretty sure they did it right, then tie it completely different on the next person. We rolled out of our hotel room with 4 half asleep guys draped randomly in pink bed sheets with no kind of symmetry whatsoever. After arriving we didn't feel so bad as most guys gave up tying and just wrapped themselves like a diaper or a cape and called it good. Dinner was duck and potatoes. Surprising, it was an amazing meal to have after a full day of sun and energy exerting activities.  It safe to say we literally inhaled our meal and our plates were licked clean. The music genre for the night revolved around the 70s and 80s wedding music. Everyone, and I mean, EVERYONE was yelling at the top of their lungs all the lyrics to Bon Jovi, Def Leopard and Journey. This was one thing we all later look back on and never thought traveling to Greece, singing at the top of lungs and dancing in pink togas would happen by coming to Scotland to study.
Later in the night the lights dimmed and the dance floor was cleared to make room for the greek dancers. Pink togas circled these 2 men who filled the stage with stunts which included a man who picked up a full table that held glass bottles stacked like a pyramid while clay plates were broken over his head. Soon after the dance, the whole crew of workers came out with a 10 gallon bucket filled with Ouzo (a traditional greek drink). It was passed out to everyone while greek music blasted which instigated everyone to migrate back to the dance floor to mimic the dancers. They stood over us and started breaking the clay plates over our heads (actually didn't hurt at all) one by one till the floor filled up with broken clay. It's safe to say this night highlighted the trip thus far.

The next day we were given the option to chill on the beach, head back on the party cruise, take atvs up the hills or sea kayak.  As the sun rose, the temp rose... and what other area would one want to be but in the water when it's hot- so we choose to sea kayak. BEST DECISION EVER! We got our kayak, paddles, and old school life jackets and made our way to the water.  The few foot waves crashing the beach made it hard to start off.  As we started out, we set site to a large rock face off shore a few miles down from the Palace.  Upon arrival, we were in awe from the sites around the bend, the ocean itself, and what we could see of the west side of Corfu.  After swimming around, doing our own cliff jumping and exploring around of find sandals (another thing Jimmy forgot to bring), we decided to relax in the sun's rays.  So amazing.

After a few hours, we made it back to the Palace.  We jumped in the hot tub, relaxed some more then took another much needed nap.  We awoke as the sun set and we went to lounge for a few then headed to dinner.  The night was another great time.  The whole group was now mingling and connections were being made- whether it was people who know someone we go to school with or have cabins around where we live- it was a good time.  Late that night, we jumped back on the bus at noon and headed to the port. Next stop- Athens!