Exploring Corfu by Quad

The infamous quad we used to explore the island

Corfu Day 3 - July 6

Last night it was pretty quiet at the hostel, so I chatted with the staff and got to know them a bit. Sunrock is a bit of a unique place, because it's not quite a hostel, yet not quite a resort either. All the staff are backpackers from various parts of the world--some came here thinking they were WWOOF'ing (working on an organic farm) but ended up being put to work in the hostel; some came here with no money and now they can't leave bc they don't get paid, so they're stuck here indefinitely; some are just on vacation and decided it's a great way to stay somewhere for a length of time cheaply.

I met Meredith and Dana, two friends who go to Wellesley in Boston. They're the ones who thought they'd be farming. It's really interesting talking to them about college, since Wellesley is girls only.

Antony, the bartender, came here with 40 Euros in his pocket. I could never do that! He says he likes the thrill.

We spent the night watching funny youtube videos and having a dance party in the empty bar. They taught me how to Smang It; I showed them the Bernie, then gave them a tutorial in 80s jazz dancing and Double Dream Hands (youtube these immediately if you aren't familiar...you're welcome.) That led to us wandering next door to Petra, the circular club that is always empty although I have no idea why--if that was in North America, it'd be packed every night. We continued our dance party there, until the bartender asked us if we wanted drinks and we felt bad staying without buying anything, so we jazz walked out of there.

Mer and I rented a quad today--30 Euros split between us (Mer, you still owe me 6 bucks! haha) and headed into town for a quick bite to eat. I found this place that had real greek gyros for 2 Euros! So good--did you know they are supposed to come with fries inside them?...I did not. Amazing surprise.

After that, we debated buying a map of the island but decided to wing it and just drive up the coast--we can't get lost if we follow the water, right?!

We drove into Ipsos, on the east coast, which is quite different than Pelekas on the west, where the hostel is. East coast is all pebble beaches that hurt your feet--so not a fan. It made me appreciate our location that much more, even if it's kind of remote. We continued north after a little photoshoot in the water, and went all the way around the north coast of the island. We drove through tons of small towns.

What I really like about Corfu is that there are no villas or mansions anywhere--everyone's houses are similar in size. Makes you feel like there's a real sense of community here, since everyone's in the same boat. I think it has something to do with the fact that foreigners can't buy beachfront property in greece--it's required to stay public by law (or so I'm told). That means the best locations for these villas are unattainable, and probably why there aren't any estates.

We drove for about 4 hours in the sunshine, the sea on one side, and picturesque hills on the other. The scenery here really is spectacular. We stumbled upon on of the horse trekking places I had researched online and were going to stop for a ride, but they were 2 hours, we were at least that far from home, and Mer had to work that night, so no dice. I booked a ride for tomorrow though, and left him a 5 euro deposit.

We wound our way through the mountains, and began to look for signs pointing us toward home...after an 8 km detour, we were just starting to come down from the hills when I hear the engine sputter. Next thing I know, we've lost power entirely.

Luckily, we were at the top of a lengthy cutback, so we coasted for almost 4 km without the motor, waving motorists around us. As soon as we hit flat ground, though, we had to get a running start before trying to get it going again. It felt like that scene in Little Miss Sunshine where their VW van won't start unless they get it going on foot and then hop in--that was us on this mountain.

We finally found a gas station and realized we were out of oil (the engine was a gas/oil combo). Okay, no problem, we'll just buy some more and we should be fine. That's true...if we knew where the oil tank was. Imagine 2 girls at a greek gas station, trying to communicate this to the attendant who speaks zero english. I finally got under the bike like a mechanic and figured it out. Yes, me. Under a bike. Getting my hands dirty.

I felt pretty handy until the bike died again, a couple of kms down the road. Shit. We kept coasting for a while, just hoping the engine had maybe overheated, and laughed at our misfortune--we were half lost with a faulty quad, no idea where we were going or what was wrong.

We finally found some signs pointing us toward town, and were on our way, until the quad decided to die again. In the middle of the highway. For real. We had to get off and push it into a nearby parking lot!

All this was exhausting so we headed across the road to the supermarket to grab some snacks--did you know Greece is the only country other than Canada that I've seen carry ketchup flavoured chips?!

The worker at the cash was really nice-he drove his car over to our quad and tried to boost the battery with jumper cables, to no avail. Then he called the company we rented it from and spoke to them in greek, finally convincing them to send someone to rescue us. We were 3 km outside town and about 25 from the hostel.

The guy arrives after a lengthy wait, and replaces a part (spark plug maybe? I got my mechanic's diploma earlier in the day, I'm pretty much an expert now), then drives off and leaves us there!

Luckily, the bike was working, so we get on and follow the signs back to the city centre, so we can go home the way we came. That is, if we remembered which way that was. We literally tried every single branch that came off this roundabout and none of them were right. This includes several roads that stopped being 2 ways for everyone except me...leaving us stranded in the middle of an intersection with greek people yelling at us that we're going the wrong way...thanks, Captain Obvious, but I think the stream of cars coming directly towards me gave that one away. Doesnt mean i can do anything about it! Then a squad of cops drove by on motorbikes. GREAT. I was sure I was going to get a ticket, but they more or less just laughed at these two girls who were clearly hopeless and foreign.

The very last street that we tried was finally the right one...after the 8th time around the roundabout we were on our way. It literally took us an extra hour to get home, but we made it just as the sun was setting, in time for dinner!

I had a fantastic time getting stranded in Greece with a new friend. Lesson learned though: cough up the extra Euro and buy the damn map.

Meredith and me exploring Corfu

Steep learning curve in Planning.

I originally booked 3 days in Istanbul before my flight to India via Dubai, but realized after I hadn't factored in travel time. I changed my reservation in Istanbul to 2 nights, booked a night in Thessaloniki and thought I would be fine. Take the ferry to the mainland from Corfu, bus to Thessaloniki, and train the next day to Istanbul. Apparently due to Greece's financial troubles, that train has been suspended indefinitely from service. Now I have an extra night that I have to fill, another deposit I'll lose because I don't want to go to Thessaloniki anymore if I'm not taking the train, and I have to find a flight. I didn't fly in the first place because there are no direct flights from Corfu to Istanbul, so I have to connect in either Athens, Vienna or Stuttgart, making the trip minimum 4 hrs of flying.

In short, planning fail. But how could I know? I'm off to find a flight from Corfu instead, and see if Istanbul will give me back 3 nights. Ugh what a disaster...this is one time where I'm glad I'm traveling alone, because I'm pretty sure whoever I would travel with would want to shoot me right about now.

Bed at Sunrise

Budapest Day 2 - July 2

After our epic night on the town, we dragged ourself out of bed at the crack of noon just in time to grab a quick bite at the BK Lounge (note to self: stop eating fast food. Note to the world: stop making it so much cheaper than anything else...this is why you're fat, America) before heading to the walking tour of Buda.

Jamie and John introduced me to this concept...basically all the hostels advertise free walking tours. You show up at the meeting point at the designated time, and don't pay a cent to be shown the city sights. All they ask is that if you like the tour, you tip the guide at the end. I think this is a great bargain for travelers on a budget, and allows you to get a real feel for the city from someone who cares if you get something out of the tour. You might even learn a few things guidebooks won't tell you.

Our guide, Tomi, spoke the most fluent English I've heard in Hungary so far. We chatted a bit and found out he's a student at the university in Budapest and also studied political science, like me.

He took us down by the river, across the Chain Bridge, up to the castle, parliament, and the Fisherman's Bastion. We learned that Katy Perry shot her music video for "Firework" at this castle, and that Buda is mainly residential. We also discovered that the city has a lively history, being destroyed and rebuilt numerous times, whether it was flood, plague, or war that wiped the city out. One of the Hapsburg descendants even occupied the castle for a while--was neat to understand that after having just visited Schonnbrunn a few days earlier.

The fisherman's bastion is GORGEOUS- I have seen it quite a few times on travel photography sites, and it does not disappoint. It was really full of people, but I saw a wedding party doing their pictures there, and I can imagine that it is just magical when devoid of crowds.

After the tour, Tomi took a few of us from the tour to this little hole in the wall place (literally--it was a shop built into the walls of one of the gates in the city) that had fresh baked strudel, a Hungarian treat. I watched my cherry strudel being taken out of the oven...it doesn't get better than that. So yummy!

We walked down the street to a local grocery store and picked up some supplies. I made dinner (penne with homemade bolognaise sauce--I added zucchini, onion, peppers, tomatoes, and lots of garlic to a store-bought sauce; salad to complement) and we had a hearty meal at the hostel.

We're pretty pooched from last night so we didn't do much tonight--sometimes it's nice to just relax for a bit.

I booked my next destination (it's a surprise...I know you're dying to hear where in the world I'm going next!), but other than that it's early to bed, and up for a walking tour of Pest. That's all for now! Gonna go try to catch some Zzz's, but between it being Saturday night, 2 pubs outside our window, and Jamie's tendency to sleep on his back, it's looking like an earplug night is in order.

Hungarian Hyperinflation

Budapest Day 1 - July 1 Happy Canada Day! I wore my t-shirt with the flag on it during our travel day in honor of the occasion (thanks, Beacon Hall!).

We checked out of the hostel in Vienna and caught an 11:54 train to Budapest, which took about 3 hours. This was my first train ride of the trip, so I wasn't sure what to expect, but it was reasonably priced, compared to flying, even without a Eurail Pass- I paid 36 Euros. We arrived at Keleti station at 3 pm and were immediately greeted by several men and old ladies consecutively asking us if we needed a nice hostel...ummm so you can lock me in your dungeon or watch me while I sleep? No thanks.

Nothing is in English, and no one speaks English here. It's quite overwhelming, this is the first Country I've been in where nobody speaks my language and I don't know any of theirs. We managed to figure out which way the exit was, amid other travelers clutching their belongings tight--Keleti confirmed earlier comments that theft is common in Eastern Europe. I was not getting a good vibe from this place, even though I was trying really hard to like it.

We found a bank and withdrew about 200 dollars each...which translated to 40,000 Forints. Gotta love that inflation. Really confirming eastern european stereotypes. Necessary ballin' photo included:

We navigate the subway, which is indicated by a rough sketch on a piece of plywood with an arrow...yeah, Im feeling great about this place so far. A one-way fare costs 320, but all we have are 10,000 notes. which the ticket lady and the machine both will not take. I guess the bank likes to get rid of them so they spit them out of the ATM at tourists like us to deal with. It took a trip to an exchange booth and a stop at McDonalds before we had proper denominations of Forints that were usable.

Speaking of. I have had McD's in every city so far, and this may become a tradition--not gonna lie, it's kind of fun to try the local specialty, it's dirt cheap, and you probably won't die from eating it. Although the security guard standing at the door didn't do my sense of security any favors. Is this a target for tourists here? Can I trust you with my life here, Ronald?

We finally found the hostel, which is essentially a 3-bedroom apartment. Really nice. And so different than our last hostel. This is family-owned; they did our laundry for us! And they only staff reception from about 9-5. The rest of the time, we're on our own. There are no locks on the doors, but we have codes to the gates and outer doors. Interestingly enough, I actually feel like my stuff is safer here than in Vienna, I guess I trust this family? May be a terrible life decision, so I'm still being careful and using the locker provided.

So. After we check in, we relax for a bit before getting ready to meet up with some guys from Manchester that the boys had met earlier on their trip. They're in Budapest at the same time but in a different hostel. We trekked over to their hostel (which was like a mexican cantina party--salsa lessons, a pool, and a cabana bar full of goth locals--such a weird and random combination!) and hung out there from about 10 pm til 1:30 am.

Then we hit the club. This place, INSTANT, had 6 bars and 23 rooms. No cover charge, and beer was 350 Forints. The exchange rate is 189:1. So less than 2 bucks for a pint? Don't mind if I do!

We headed down the stairs and emerged in an underground cavern that used to be an old wine cellar. In Budapest many of the bars are "ruin pubs", old ruins that have been converted into popular night spots. It's hard to describe the feeling that came with being in a place like that, knowing its age and history in those walls, seeing the scene of writhing bodies in front of me, just completely lost in the music of the DJ, knowing how lucky I am to be here, experiencing moments like this. It was just a fleeting feeling, but those are why I am on this trip. That's what I seek.

We explored the rest of the club, which included a top 40 room, a bar with seating, and plenty of random alcoves, but the underground techno extravaganza was definitely the highlight. Even the DJ was getting pumped just looking at how much the crowd was into the moment.

We danced til the sun came up...it was about 6:30 am by the time we hit the sack.

Today we are going on a walking tour of Buda (Fun fact, Budapest is actually 2 cities separated by the Danube River--Buda, and Pest).

Also, random observation: public washrooms in Hungary are not fans of toilet paper. Another strike against Eastern Europe. Thank god for Shopper's travel section--I knew that roll would come in handy.

I Brought Too Much Stuff.

In other obvious news of the day...

But seriously. I can't find my adapter that lets me put pictures from my camera onto my iPad. So it may be a while before you get to see photos in my blog posts. But I'll be sure to let you know if and when this changes. For now I'll just have to articulate a picture for you. Like a real writer. Shakespeare! How old school.