Alonnisos, day 3

Today I woke up feeling very shaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaby. Far too much rose and local beer last night. I decided to do the nice thing, and offer to wander down and pick up bottles of water for Lapzang, Doolittle and myself. I headed down to the general store, and found that even though it was 9am, they were still closed. Obviously they were still stocking the fridges from last night after our mega effort of clearing them out. Lucky for me, the bakery was open, and I was able to pick up 3 bottles from here. After working in a multi-cultural food court, I had picked up how helpful learning how to say Hello and Thank You in the local tongue worked, as I got a big smile from the lady behind the counter. For anybody wanting to travel to an international country, these two are a must!!! Although I think learning how to speak more of the local tongue will certainly come in handy, particularly if your land-lady is a fascist.

After a hydrating session with my traveling companions, they were nice enough to drop me back to my living quarters, where I had a shower and freshened up. Ah, how a nice cool shower works with 35+ degree days.
I headed out to the local cantina, and found that they had their own internet, which the waiter was kind enough to give me their password for. Hahaha. Now I have the power of Greyskull! Sorry. Having flash-backs to my younger He-Man days. This place had a fantastic breakfast deal – a coffee, an orange juice, a shite load of toast, and an omelette of your choice. I chose bacon – a wise choice – and a very satisfying meal. Mmm-mmmmm.

After having breakfast, and having my fill of the internet, I went for a wander along the port, waiting for Lapzang, Doolittle, “Dangerous” John and Jasmin. I waited. And waited. And waited. Finally, they arrived, and after this ponderous event, we purchased our pertinent ferry tickets – Lapzang, Doolittle and myself purchased tickets to Thessaloniki, and John and Jasmin purchased tickets to Skiatos (one of the local party islands).

We had decided that today would be a beach day, so we all piled into our Hyundai Atos (a slightly misshaped Excel, combined with a Daihatsu Charade) and headed to the nearby beach of Leftos Galios. We almost took the wrong turn and headed to Rightos Galios (at least, that’s what we called it), but with myself as the masterful navigator, we were on the right track.
Fortunately so! This place was amazing! It had 2 swimming pools, located roughly 10 metres from the beach, as well as a bar and a restaurant within crawling distance from your towel. Oh yeah! Upon our arrival, we had a couple of the local beers, Mythos (the mystical local brew) and then headed for a swim.
After spending roughly half-an-hour in the water (which was magically warm, and salty enough to make sure that the only way to drown was to have your arms removed and be unfortunate enough to fall face-down) we had a sun-bake, which I fell asleep during, but only for about 10 minutes (or so I hoped).
We decided to have another local brew or two, and then headed back to Chora, the Old Town on the hill, and headed to a restaurant there.
Between the 5 of us, we ordered a dish of squid, lamb, chicken and pork, as well as a Greek salad, a dish of peppers (local capsicum) and French Fries. The food was fantastic!!!... although we were set upon by the local cats and dogs, who took a liking to us, and demanded half of our food for being in their territory. It is important in these situations to pay homage to those in power. Also, given that the restaurant was on the edge of the hill (and none of the boys were allowed to sit against the retaining wall for fear they would lean back and fall off) there was an amazing view of the sunset… and the smog rolling off Athens and central Europe.
We headed to the Navy Bar after dinner, which served a mighty fine local brew, and Jasmin and John chose to indulge in some of the 8 Euro cocktails, which looked mighty fine (given that in the local bars they apparently ‘free poured’). I unfortunately had to catch the bus down to my lodging, which cut my night short at 12.40, but Lapzang, Doolittle, “Dangerous” John and Jasmin all pissed on until roughly 3 in the morning, at which point our digitally challenged bartender (I believe he had lost 7 of his fingers in a harvesting accident) came along with shots of Tequila and they all finished off their night then.
I, unfortunately, had to content myself with a glass of orange juice and Vodka, and a view of the girls getting changed at a house across the street.
I know where I would have preferred to be.