Short post - I just wanted to mention how ridiculous it is that my group on four separate occasions has run into people that we know in Europe.
First Time: Corfu, Greece
We are staying at the same hostel as a girl that one of my travelmates went to highschool with
Second Time: Venice, Italy
We are staying at the same Camp Site as three girls I went to elementary, middle, highschool and university with.
Third Time: Nice, France
We are staying at the same hostel as three girls that one of my travelmates went to highschool with.
Fourth Time: Paris, France
I am waiting at the meeting point for a tour and run into a girl that I did my degree with and also lived down the hallway from at my old apartment building.
Am I crazy or is this normal when travelling. None of these meetings were planned!
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
King's Cup Masters - Rule Cheat Sheet
A side post to the details of the trip - over the course of this Euro-vacation, we have had the opportunity to drink with a lot of travellers from multiple countries. Yet, almost every person that we have met, regardless of the continent they are from, know how to play King's Cup/Sociables. We have collected, amended, and reinvented many rules and I have compiled a list of the different types of rules that we have used over the course of the trip, as well as my favourites that I have been using. To become a drinking game master check this comprehensive list out:
(1) Straight-Drinking Rules
a. Give One
b. Take two
c. Guys Drink (typically the Jack)
d. Girls Drink (typically the Queen)
e. Choose a Drinking Partner (choose a partner and everytime you drink, they have to drink and vice versa)
f. Waterfall (the person who draws the card starts drinking and in a clockwise direction everyone has to drink until the first person finishes drinking their drink)
(2) Simple Mini-Games
a. Rhyme Time
b. Story Time
c. Categories (choose a category and go around the group and make each person answer until someone can not think of an answer or repeats an answer that has already been stated)
***My personal favourite categories on this trip have been "Pick Up Lines", "Alternate Words for a guy/girl's private part" and "Countries" (The second person to go during the Countries category said London... not the sharpest tool in the shed).
d. Questions (you can only ask questions to each other until someone answers/does not ask a question)
e. Never Have I Ever (put up three fingers and each time you've done something you must put a finger down. The first person to have all their fingers down loses)
(3) Advanced Mini-Games
a. ____ Fuck Game (everyone chooses a single syllable name and ends it with "fuck"; clapping and chanting starts and each person has to say their name followed by another persons name to the rhythm as the chanting gets faster. I.e. Dumb fuck, dumb fuck better than a Lucky Fuck, lucky fuck, lucky fuck, better than a hard fuck etc.)
b. Actions Game (similar concept, except everyone chooses a distinguishable action)
c. Race Car (you pretend to drive a car and can either drive the same direction as the person that passes to you by saying "vroom" and passing to the next person or you can pass back by saying "urch" and steering back towards the person who passed to you in the first place)
d. Chicken Game (similar to race car but you must make a chicken sound to pass; you can also pass across by sending the action across and saying "cock-a-doodle-doo"; the person receiving must make an action and say "doodle-doodle-cock")
e. Goggles (similar to the chicken game but with different sounds and actions)
f. Boat Game (similar to the chicken game but with different sounds and actions; no passing across but you can pass right or left and skip people)
g. Ride The Bus (for the purpose of Sociables the person has 5 cards facing down and must guess if the next card in the sequential order is higher or lower than the former).
(4) Master Cards
a. Jizz Master
b. Thumb Master
c. Viking
d. Moose
e. Question Master (this person can ask questions and you must respond with "fuck you" or you drink)
f. Medusa (no other players can make eye contact with this person or else they must drink)
g. Bathroom Card Master
(5) Sevens Cards
a. Fuck You Game (You count from 1 to ____ (until someone messes up) and everytime the number has a 7 in it or is a multiple of 7 you say "Fuck You" and the order reverses)
b. Seven Heaven (You have to stand and reach up to the sky. The last person to do so must drink)
(6) Rule Card
My top 5 favourite rules that have been made in games (in no particular order):
a. Celebration (everytime you drink you have to celebrate with a cheer and action)
b. Buffalo (you must drink with your non-dominant hand for the rest of the game. If someone catches you drinking with your dominant hand they can yell Buffalo and you much chug the rest of your drink)
c. Accents (you must talk for the rest of the game with an accent)
d. No Pointing (this is REALLY hard!)
e. T-Rex Arms (for the rest of the game you have to pretend you have t-rex sized arms)
Nevertheless there are mutiple other rules that have been made with the rule card:
f. No Swearing
g. No saying Drink, Drank or Drink (CONSUME!!!!!!!)
h. No first names
i. You must sing everything
j. No saying pronouns
k. You must end every sentence with "In my pants"
l. You must end every sentence with an animal sound
m. Little green man
n. You must say "fuck" in every sentence
o. You must choose a drinking buddy
(7) Kings & Equivalent
a. Kings Cup (each time a person draws a king, they pour some of their drink into a cup set-up in the middle of the table. The last person to draw a king must drink the whole drink)
b. Break the Seal (someone purchases a can of beer and places it in the middle of the table. Each time someone draws a card they must fit it under the beer can tab. The first person to crack the beer must chug it)
c. Break the Circle (the cards are spread out in a circle and the first person to break the circle must chug their drink)
My Favourite Version of Sociables
Break The Seal is in effect and there are House Rules: no first names, no pointing, no swearing, no saying Drink, Drank or Drunk
A - Rule Card
2 - Ride the Bus
3 - Questions
4 - Story Time
5 - ____ Fuck Game
6 - Race Car
7 - Sevens "Fuck Game"
8 - Categories
9 - Rhyme Time
10 - Chicken Game
J - Jizz Master
Q - Question Master
K - Never Have I Ever
Favourite Alternate Drinking Game:
Confidence: A glass is handed around and you must put some of your drink in it (you can put as much or as little as you want). After pouring in your drink, you must draw a card and guess if it is red or black. If you are correct, you pass the glass to the next person and they must add some of their drink. If you are incorrect, you must drink whatever is in the glass.
Note: This game gets super messy if there are people with cocktails, beer, wine and blended drinks all playing!
Any suggestions for rules you like or would like to add to this list!?
(1) Straight-Drinking Rules
a. Give One
b. Take two
c. Guys Drink (typically the Jack)
d. Girls Drink (typically the Queen)
e. Choose a Drinking Partner (choose a partner and everytime you drink, they have to drink and vice versa)
f. Waterfall (the person who draws the card starts drinking and in a clockwise direction everyone has to drink until the first person finishes drinking their drink)
(2) Simple Mini-Games
a. Rhyme Time
b. Story Time
c. Categories (choose a category and go around the group and make each person answer until someone can not think of an answer or repeats an answer that has already been stated)
***My personal favourite categories on this trip have been "Pick Up Lines", "Alternate Words for a guy/girl's private part" and "Countries" (The second person to go during the Countries category said London... not the sharpest tool in the shed).
d. Questions (you can only ask questions to each other until someone answers/does not ask a question)
e. Never Have I Ever (put up three fingers and each time you've done something you must put a finger down. The first person to have all their fingers down loses)
(3) Advanced Mini-Games
a. ____ Fuck Game (everyone chooses a single syllable name and ends it with "fuck"; clapping and chanting starts and each person has to say their name followed by another persons name to the rhythm as the chanting gets faster. I.e. Dumb fuck, dumb fuck better than a Lucky Fuck, lucky fuck, lucky fuck, better than a hard fuck etc.)
b. Actions Game (similar concept, except everyone chooses a distinguishable action)
c. Race Car (you pretend to drive a car and can either drive the same direction as the person that passes to you by saying "vroom" and passing to the next person or you can pass back by saying "urch" and steering back towards the person who passed to you in the first place)
d. Chicken Game (similar to race car but you must make a chicken sound to pass; you can also pass across by sending the action across and saying "cock-a-doodle-doo"; the person receiving must make an action and say "doodle-doodle-cock")
e. Goggles (similar to the chicken game but with different sounds and actions)
f. Boat Game (similar to the chicken game but with different sounds and actions; no passing across but you can pass right or left and skip people)
g. Ride The Bus (for the purpose of Sociables the person has 5 cards facing down and must guess if the next card in the sequential order is higher or lower than the former).
(4) Master Cards
a. Jizz Master
b. Thumb Master
c. Viking
d. Moose
e. Question Master (this person can ask questions and you must respond with "fuck you" or you drink)
f. Medusa (no other players can make eye contact with this person or else they must drink)
g. Bathroom Card Master
(5) Sevens Cards
a. Fuck You Game (You count from 1 to ____ (until someone messes up) and everytime the number has a 7 in it or is a multiple of 7 you say "Fuck You" and the order reverses)
b. Seven Heaven (You have to stand and reach up to the sky. The last person to do so must drink)
(6) Rule Card
My top 5 favourite rules that have been made in games (in no particular order):
a. Celebration (everytime you drink you have to celebrate with a cheer and action)
b. Buffalo (you must drink with your non-dominant hand for the rest of the game. If someone catches you drinking with your dominant hand they can yell Buffalo and you much chug the rest of your drink)
c. Accents (you must talk for the rest of the game with an accent)
d. No Pointing (this is REALLY hard!)
e. T-Rex Arms (for the rest of the game you have to pretend you have t-rex sized arms)
Nevertheless there are mutiple other rules that have been made with the rule card:
f. No Swearing
g. No saying Drink, Drank or Drink (CONSUME!!!!!!!)
h. No first names
i. You must sing everything
j. No saying pronouns
k. You must end every sentence with "In my pants"
l. You must end every sentence with an animal sound
m. Little green man
n. You must say "fuck" in every sentence
o. You must choose a drinking buddy
(7) Kings & Equivalent
a. Kings Cup (each time a person draws a king, they pour some of their drink into a cup set-up in the middle of the table. The last person to draw a king must drink the whole drink)
b. Break the Seal (someone purchases a can of beer and places it in the middle of the table. Each time someone draws a card they must fit it under the beer can tab. The first person to crack the beer must chug it)
c. Break the Circle (the cards are spread out in a circle and the first person to break the circle must chug their drink)
My Favourite Version of Sociables
Break The Seal is in effect and there are House Rules: no first names, no pointing, no swearing, no saying Drink, Drank or Drunk
A - Rule Card
2 - Ride the Bus
3 - Questions
4 - Story Time
5 - ____ Fuck Game
6 - Race Car
7 - Sevens "Fuck Game"
8 - Categories
9 - Rhyme Time
10 - Chicken Game
J - Jizz Master
Q - Question Master
K - Never Have I Ever
Favourite Alternate Drinking Game:
Confidence: A glass is handed around and you must put some of your drink in it (you can put as much or as little as you want). After pouring in your drink, you must draw a card and guess if it is red or black. If you are correct, you pass the glass to the next person and they must add some of their drink. If you are incorrect, you must drink whatever is in the glass.
Note: This game gets super messy if there are people with cocktails, beer, wine and blended drinks all playing!
Any suggestions for rules you like or would like to add to this list!?
Down Time in the Cinque Terre
After partying hard in Rome, our group decided that we needed to take some downtime to relax and truly appreciates some of the natural landscapes and quaint towns in Italy. Our group headed to Pisa to take some tacky tourist pictures with the Leaning Tower and look around this small town.
As a quite unorganized group, we did not book a hostel in Pisa and spent a good 45 minutes trying to find one at 1am when we arrived in the city. Instead, we stayed in an adorable place called Hotel Minerva which was recommended by another hotel which was full.
http://www.hotelminerva.pisa.it/
Their staff were extremely helpful and friendly and they had a wicked breakfast buffet. Because we arrived rather late, the concierge gave us a discounted room for 130 euros (32.50 euros each) which was a bit more expensive than what we were used to but we were just happy to find a room.
The following morning, we realized that this city was quite small (seeing that we walked through the majority of the city in under an hour). After seeing the Leaning Tower of Pisa and doing a bit of shopping (I got two knock off Chanel purses and the boys found real Duff Beer), we decided to head to the town of Biassa.
Although Biassa is not one of the towns that make up the Cinque Terre, it is a tiny... and I mean TINY, town which is not to far away from these gorgeous cities. We booked accomodations at Ostello Tratmonti which is a former school or education centre-turned hostel.
http://www.ostellotramonti.it/
The city of Biassa (if you could call it a city), had stunning views of the water and the main city La Spezia. Situated on top of a mountain, this town was a great place to go hiking and enjoy the fresh air. However, there was really not much else to do there. The town boasted one pizza place, one tiny market, a tobacco shop, one restaurant, a church and some houses. After getting some much needed R&R, our group headed to the Cinque Terre.
This was absolutely one of the most gorgeous sites in the trip. We were able to hike through four of the cities in about 3 hours and then went to the last one by train because the pathways were closed due to landslides. The five cities, Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Monterosso and Vernazza offered the most beautiful landscapes that I have seen thus far on the trip. Also, Vernazza had stunning beaches that were accessible to the public (many of the cities are on the coastline but too high up to access the beaches). After a rewarding day hiking the cities' trails, we took a boat ride back to Riomaggiore and then a bus back to Biassa.
Two short days in the Cinque Terre region proved to be the perfect recooperation period for our group. Following this break, we continued our partying ways in Florence, Venice, and Milan. Post to come soon!
As a quite unorganized group, we did not book a hostel in Pisa and spent a good 45 minutes trying to find one at 1am when we arrived in the city. Instead, we stayed in an adorable place called Hotel Minerva which was recommended by another hotel which was full.
http://www.hotelminerva.pisa.it/
Their staff were extremely helpful and friendly and they had a wicked breakfast buffet. Because we arrived rather late, the concierge gave us a discounted room for 130 euros (32.50 euros each) which was a bit more expensive than what we were used to but we were just happy to find a room.
The following morning, we realized that this city was quite small (seeing that we walked through the majority of the city in under an hour). After seeing the Leaning Tower of Pisa and doing a bit of shopping (I got two knock off Chanel purses and the boys found real Duff Beer), we decided to head to the town of Biassa.
Although Biassa is not one of the towns that make up the Cinque Terre, it is a tiny... and I mean TINY, town which is not to far away from these gorgeous cities. We booked accomodations at Ostello Tratmonti which is a former school or education centre-turned hostel.
http://www.ostellotramonti.it/
The city of Biassa (if you could call it a city), had stunning views of the water and the main city La Spezia. Situated on top of a mountain, this town was a great place to go hiking and enjoy the fresh air. However, there was really not much else to do there. The town boasted one pizza place, one tiny market, a tobacco shop, one restaurant, a church and some houses. After getting some much needed R&R, our group headed to the Cinque Terre.
This was absolutely one of the most gorgeous sites in the trip. We were able to hike through four of the cities in about 3 hours and then went to the last one by train because the pathways were closed due to landslides. The five cities, Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Monterosso and Vernazza offered the most beautiful landscapes that I have seen thus far on the trip. Also, Vernazza had stunning beaches that were accessible to the public (many of the cities are on the coastline but too high up to access the beaches). After a rewarding day hiking the cities' trails, we took a boat ride back to Riomaggiore and then a bus back to Biassa.
Two short days in the Cinque Terre region proved to be the perfect recooperation period for our group. Following this break, we continued our partying ways in Florence, Venice, and Milan. Post to come soon!
Friday, May 28, 2010
When in Rome, Do The Romans... err Do As the Romans Do
As I said in my last post, Rome was the perfect balance between educational activities and partying. By day, we checked out all of the fantastic sites and by night we went on 2 pubcrawls around the city. Here's the DL on what we did in Rome:
Colosseum:
This was breathtaking. Just 2 subway stops away from our hostel the colosseum is a MUST SEE in your lifetime. It is 12 euros to enter and there are quite lengthy lineups to get into this wonder of the world and so we paid 20 euros to get a tour and skip the line-up. The tour was pretty good and allowed us to get free entrance and a free tour in the Palatino. The Palatino was amazing as well - this "palace" was the largest in Italy for many centuries.
Vatican:
Absolutely my favourite part of the trip thus far. We planned on going to the Vatican for an 9am tour but due to the pubcrawl the night before we decided to go to a later (nonadvertised) tour at 11am. It was the BEST decision ever. Our tour guide was hysterical and very colloquial with his explanations of the history of Christianity and the explanations of the different monuments and works of art. The tour started off with him proclaiming that this would be "the most badass tour group in all of the Vatican" and further, how if we wanted to convert we could make the pilgramage to the monument of Saint Peter in Saint Peters Basilica, rub the right foot and become "the best goddamn Catholics the world has ever seen". When I thought that the tour couldnt get any better he made jokes about a statue of Hercules being called "the Situation", and how one of the angels was sporting "the Shocker".
Pub Crawl 1: Spanish Steps Pubcrawl
This crawl cost 25$ because it was a Saturday and offered a tshirt, all you can drink beer for the first hour and pizza... oh and some free shots at each of the stops. While it was fun, we missed out on the all you can drink beer because the first pub was so far away from the Spanish Steps. I liked this crawl but none of the destinations (there were 4) were close to each other and we ended up walking quite a bit and using a lot of public transportation to get around. Nevertheless, at the second bar, Murphies, we participated in the "Dirty Canadian" competition, which involved the girls to try and run a cold can of beer through a guys pant legs. The guy then had to chug the beer and the first one done won a tshirt. We didn't win but had fun nonetheless. (See pics at the site below.) We ended at a club that took about 20 minutes to get into but it was worth the wait. The club was massive and on the roof of a building. It was a super fun night!
http://www.pubcrawlrome.com/en/page/15/galleryid/276#93
Pub Crawl 2: Rome Pubcrawl
This crawl cost 20$ and I thought it was a much better deal or rather, I got way more free drinks out of it. At the first bar we went to it was all you can drink cocktails, beer or wine. In addition we had free shots at all the locations throughout the night. In addition we received tshirts and pizza at the first stop.
Colosseum:
This was breathtaking. Just 2 subway stops away from our hostel the colosseum is a MUST SEE in your lifetime. It is 12 euros to enter and there are quite lengthy lineups to get into this wonder of the world and so we paid 20 euros to get a tour and skip the line-up. The tour was pretty good and allowed us to get free entrance and a free tour in the Palatino. The Palatino was amazing as well - this "palace" was the largest in Italy for many centuries.
Vatican:
Absolutely my favourite part of the trip thus far. We planned on going to the Vatican for an 9am tour but due to the pubcrawl the night before we decided to go to a later (nonadvertised) tour at 11am. It was the BEST decision ever. Our tour guide was hysterical and very colloquial with his explanations of the history of Christianity and the explanations of the different monuments and works of art. The tour started off with him proclaiming that this would be "the most badass tour group in all of the Vatican" and further, how if we wanted to convert we could make the pilgramage to the monument of Saint Peter in Saint Peters Basilica, rub the right foot and become "the best goddamn Catholics the world has ever seen". When I thought that the tour couldnt get any better he made jokes about a statue of Hercules being called "the Situation", and how one of the angels was sporting "the Shocker".
Pub Crawl 1: Spanish Steps Pubcrawl
This crawl cost 25$ because it was a Saturday and offered a tshirt, all you can drink beer for the first hour and pizza... oh and some free shots at each of the stops. While it was fun, we missed out on the all you can drink beer because the first pub was so far away from the Spanish Steps. I liked this crawl but none of the destinations (there were 4) were close to each other and we ended up walking quite a bit and using a lot of public transportation to get around. Nevertheless, at the second bar, Murphies, we participated in the "Dirty Canadian" competition, which involved the girls to try and run a cold can of beer through a guys pant legs. The guy then had to chug the beer and the first one done won a tshirt. We didn't win but had fun nonetheless. (See pics at the site below.) We ended at a club that took about 20 minutes to get into but it was worth the wait. The club was massive and on the roof of a building. It was a super fun night!
http://www.pubcrawlrome.com/en/page/15/galleryid/276#93
Pub Crawl 2: Rome Pubcrawl
This crawl cost 20$ and I thought it was a much better deal or rather, I got way more free drinks out of it. At the first bar we went to it was all you can drink cocktails, beer or wine. In addition we had free shots at all the locations throughout the night. In addition we received tshirts and pizza at the first stop.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
The Pink Palace
Just another one champion sound, me and you about to get down, who the hottest in the world right now, just touched down in Corfu Town!
My travel mates had a few bucket list items and one was to go to Corfu and stay in the Pink Palace. The name preceeds itself, and as you can tell by the connotations from the name, this hostel is the hook-up spot of Greece (or so they thought).
After taking an overnight ferry to Corfu we arrived and were shuttled to the Pink Palace. Upon arrival, we were greeted by a fellow Canadian (staff member) who gave us a brief orientation about the hostel and started the morning off right with pink shots of ouzo. The triple-occupancy rooms were fairly nice and for 25 euros a night, this hostel was a great deal. Each morning we were served eggs, ham, bread, cheese, coffee and tea and each evening we were given a three course meal. All of the meals started with a chickpea soup, salad and then a main course. Over the 4 nights we stayed there we ate a Chicken Dinner, Bangers and Mash, Spaghetti and a Meat Cassarole type thing.
On to the more exciting things - drinking. There was A LOT of it... the bar was open essentially 20 hours a day and drinks were no more than 3 euros each during the non-happy hour times. Because the weather was lousy and therefore there was not a lot of opportunity to go to the beach, all we did was sit around playing cards or drinking games in the main lounge and let me just tell you that there was only one day that I did not puke or dry heave. For some reason, the daytime bartender Richard took a liking to me and I did not have to pay for any shots the entire time I was there. Richard played movies during the daytime and would have "cinema shots" periodically throughout the movies.
During happy hour, which ran from 6 to 8 every night, cocktails and beer were one euro each which made all of us get a bit out of hand. Buying rounds for under 10 euros was a common occurence. The night time bartender Peter was a a "love/hate" sort of guy. A native Brit who pretended to be Australian, he was vicious with insults but at the same time, he received a lot of flack as well. For whatever reason, this guy was absolutely obsessed with his hair. We started up a drinking game based on his hair; anytime he touched it you would have to drink and everytime he wetted it down, you would have to chug the rest of your drink (he probably wetted his hair 5 times on average per night).
Thoughout the four days we did a number of memorable things but none that I could cross off my bucket list. We rented quads for one day and went into Corfu Town on a epic mission to find our first McDonalds in Europe. After much driving around and asking for directions, we finally sunk our teeth into some delicious CBOs (Chicken Bacon Onion Burgers) at McDonalds. Apparently they sell beer at McDonalds in Europe which is pretty awesome! We finished off the quad safari by going to a random bar/lounge at the top of one of the highest peaks in Corfu for some Happy Horny Cocktails. Allegedly these cocktails (which I believe consisted of Metaxa, Coca Cola and perhaps a bit of Cointreau) also were laced with Viagra. The bartender told me that he made my drink "extra horny" but I think that these drinks were nothing more than a myth because none of us felt anything afterward (or so the boys claimed).
On Wednesday nights at the Pink Palace it is cross-dressing night. It was pretty disgusting but amazing at the same time. Pictures to come. Two of my travel mates decided to dress like twins in short shorts and pink beaters while I dressed like a "dirty Mexican" and by the end of the night everyone was calling me Carlos.
Thursday night was our final night and we wanted to make it fun so instead of hanging out at the Pink Palace nightclub called Palladium, we went into the small town at the bottom of the hill near the Pink Palace to a bar called Robins. It had a "tickle trunk" full of costumes and the cross-dressing continued. Myself and this guy Devon decided to head back to the Pink Palace and on the way went to "Mikes Music Bar" that had approximately four people in it. Sitting at the bar, we chatted with the bartender/owner and as a ploy to try and get free shots we pretended that we had just been engaged and were on a trip together. After a ten minute story on how we met, our alleged wedding plans (which included singing a Sonny and Cher duet since we are both singers) the owner made us some absolutely rediculous drinks and gave us free shots. Mission successful.
Perhaps it was peer pressure or perhaps I am just stupid but I decided to stay at the Pink Palace bar until 4 am while knowing that I had to be checked out by 9 am the next morning. The following day was a hangover and a half but it was worth the pain and suffering to have a good night out with friends.
The next destination on our trip was Rome then Pisa and we are just headed to Cinque Terre now. You know what they say - when in Rome, do as the Romans do and we found that Rome was the perfect balance between partying (we went on 2 pubcrawls) and sight seeing (we saw the Colosseum, Vatican, St. Peter's Basilica, went on 2 tours etc.). However, I will have to save the details for the next blog post. As a cliff hanger, I will mention that I have knocked off 5 things from my bucket list in the last 5 days! I'll let you guess which ones they were...
More gory details to come soon.
My travel mates had a few bucket list items and one was to go to Corfu and stay in the Pink Palace. The name preceeds itself, and as you can tell by the connotations from the name, this hostel is the hook-up spot of Greece (or so they thought).
After taking an overnight ferry to Corfu we arrived and were shuttled to the Pink Palace. Upon arrival, we were greeted by a fellow Canadian (staff member) who gave us a brief orientation about the hostel and started the morning off right with pink shots of ouzo. The triple-occupancy rooms were fairly nice and for 25 euros a night, this hostel was a great deal. Each morning we were served eggs, ham, bread, cheese, coffee and tea and each evening we were given a three course meal. All of the meals started with a chickpea soup, salad and then a main course. Over the 4 nights we stayed there we ate a Chicken Dinner, Bangers and Mash, Spaghetti and a Meat Cassarole type thing.
On to the more exciting things - drinking. There was A LOT of it... the bar was open essentially 20 hours a day and drinks were no more than 3 euros each during the non-happy hour times. Because the weather was lousy and therefore there was not a lot of opportunity to go to the beach, all we did was sit around playing cards or drinking games in the main lounge and let me just tell you that there was only one day that I did not puke or dry heave. For some reason, the daytime bartender Richard took a liking to me and I did not have to pay for any shots the entire time I was there. Richard played movies during the daytime and would have "cinema shots" periodically throughout the movies.
During happy hour, which ran from 6 to 8 every night, cocktails and beer were one euro each which made all of us get a bit out of hand. Buying rounds for under 10 euros was a common occurence. The night time bartender Peter was a a "love/hate" sort of guy. A native Brit who pretended to be Australian, he was vicious with insults but at the same time, he received a lot of flack as well. For whatever reason, this guy was absolutely obsessed with his hair. We started up a drinking game based on his hair; anytime he touched it you would have to drink and everytime he wetted it down, you would have to chug the rest of your drink (he probably wetted his hair 5 times on average per night).
Thoughout the four days we did a number of memorable things but none that I could cross off my bucket list. We rented quads for one day and went into Corfu Town on a epic mission to find our first McDonalds in Europe. After much driving around and asking for directions, we finally sunk our teeth into some delicious CBOs (Chicken Bacon Onion Burgers) at McDonalds. Apparently they sell beer at McDonalds in Europe which is pretty awesome! We finished off the quad safari by going to a random bar/lounge at the top of one of the highest peaks in Corfu for some Happy Horny Cocktails. Allegedly these cocktails (which I believe consisted of Metaxa, Coca Cola and perhaps a bit of Cointreau) also were laced with Viagra. The bartender told me that he made my drink "extra horny" but I think that these drinks were nothing more than a myth because none of us felt anything afterward (or so the boys claimed).
On Wednesday nights at the Pink Palace it is cross-dressing night. It was pretty disgusting but amazing at the same time. Pictures to come. Two of my travel mates decided to dress like twins in short shorts and pink beaters while I dressed like a "dirty Mexican" and by the end of the night everyone was calling me Carlos.
Thursday night was our final night and we wanted to make it fun so instead of hanging out at the Pink Palace nightclub called Palladium, we went into the small town at the bottom of the hill near the Pink Palace to a bar called Robins. It had a "tickle trunk" full of costumes and the cross-dressing continued. Myself and this guy Devon decided to head back to the Pink Palace and on the way went to "Mikes Music Bar" that had approximately four people in it. Sitting at the bar, we chatted with the bartender/owner and as a ploy to try and get free shots we pretended that we had just been engaged and were on a trip together. After a ten minute story on how we met, our alleged wedding plans (which included singing a Sonny and Cher duet since we are both singers) the owner made us some absolutely rediculous drinks and gave us free shots. Mission successful.
Perhaps it was peer pressure or perhaps I am just stupid but I decided to stay at the Pink Palace bar until 4 am while knowing that I had to be checked out by 9 am the next morning. The following day was a hangover and a half but it was worth the pain and suffering to have a good night out with friends.
The next destination on our trip was Rome then Pisa and we are just headed to Cinque Terre now. You know what they say - when in Rome, do as the Romans do and we found that Rome was the perfect balance between partying (we went on 2 pubcrawls) and sight seeing (we saw the Colosseum, Vatican, St. Peter's Basilica, went on 2 tours etc.). However, I will have to save the details for the next blog post. As a cliff hanger, I will mention that I have knocked off 5 things from my bucket list in the last 5 days! I'll let you guess which ones they were...
More gory details to come soon.
Saturday, May 22, 2010
When in Rome... Miss the Train
Quick post - So we just took an overnight ferry from Corfu to Bari and are finally in Italy. It is very apparent that Italy is much more developed than Greece. The architecture is beautiful... and so are the people. We are feeling seriously underdressed in this country.
Anyways, we just missed our train to Rome and will be hanging out in Bari for the day. Who knew that there were multiple Terminal 4s. Nevertheless, I am really looking forward to getting some delicious pasta or pizza for lunch. I will write about Corfu soon!
Anyways, we just missed our train to Rome and will be hanging out in Bari for the day. Who knew that there were multiple Terminal 4s. Nevertheless, I am really looking forward to getting some delicious pasta or pizza for lunch. I will write about Corfu soon!
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
A Bad Investment
After a lot of discussions with friends who went travelling in the past, we decided to shell out $470 dollars for 10 day, 3 country EU rail passes. We were told that some of the benefits were that the EU rails typically run in the heart of many cities which makes it easier to get around as opposed to airports which are often on the outskirts of cities.
Our travel agents encouraged us to purchase the EU rail passes and told us that we could not purchase them in Europe. However, they did not adequately explain what the EU rail actually is. From my understanding, each country has one or two railways which sign on to be part of the EU rail system. With these passes you can ride for free BUT only on these select railways.
So far, we have had nothing but issues using the EUrail passes and it has proven to be a bad investment. None of the ferries included travel to the cities we want to go to and the train rides that we get for "free" are only 10-20 euros anyways (I figure I need to spend at least 45 euros worth of "free" travelling per day for the EU rail to be worthwhile).
We are hoping that this pass works a bit better in Italy and France because it has been useless in Greece. We've paid over 250 euros in ferry costs, paid for shuttles and taxis just to get to the appropriate EU rail stations. In addition, the train rides have proven to take a LONG TIME to each town.
If this continues to be the case for the rest of the trip, Travel Cuts better get ready for some unhappy customers when we return to Canada. For future reference, fly domestically. RyanAir has like 20 euro flights that not only get you there faster but also is cheaper.
Our travel agents encouraged us to purchase the EU rail passes and told us that we could not purchase them in Europe. However, they did not adequately explain what the EU rail actually is. From my understanding, each country has one or two railways which sign on to be part of the EU rail system. With these passes you can ride for free BUT only on these select railways.
So far, we have had nothing but issues using the EUrail passes and it has proven to be a bad investment. None of the ferries included travel to the cities we want to go to and the train rides that we get for "free" are only 10-20 euros anyways (I figure I need to spend at least 45 euros worth of "free" travelling per day for the EU rail to be worthwhile).
We are hoping that this pass works a bit better in Italy and France because it has been useless in Greece. We've paid over 250 euros in ferry costs, paid for shuttles and taxis just to get to the appropriate EU rail stations. In addition, the train rides have proven to take a LONG TIME to each town.
If this continues to be the case for the rest of the trip, Travel Cuts better get ready for some unhappy customers when we return to Canada. For future reference, fly domestically. RyanAir has like 20 euro flights that not only get you there faster but also is cheaper.
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