Why do I have to go back to Madrid, again?

I had to be dragged away from Youth Hostel Anna (pictured above) to catch the boat to Crete. Many of us left the island together, so we spent the night drinking down our farewells with vodka and orange juice. Come to think of it, ever night was a farewell party at the hostel. Someone was always leaving; someone was always being initiated into the place. Grudgingly, I said my farewells to Amy and Brian at the port the next who caught their ferry 2 hours before I caught mine. Before the expected wave of loneliness set in sitting alone at the port, I ran into another former YH Anna resident, Nisha, also headed for Crete. We boarded the boat and 2 hours later found ourselves in a hideously ugly port. We took a 2 hour bus ride away from the port and into the heart of the island. I spent every second of the ride cursing myself for leaving Santorini especially after hearing that I was going to have to take a 30 euro tai ride to get from the bus stop to my hostel booked for the night. Simultaneously, I worried that my cab partner was hating me for dragging her out to the middle of nowhere with me. She could have just stayed at the hostel near the bus stop, but I had plans to go elsewhere. And I was set on my plans.(picking up new kids for the hostel)

I was told in Santorini to cancel my hostel reservations in the center of Crete and stay at Youth Hostel Plakias instead. 3 Canadians made sure that I knew how amazing it was and told me to pass on salutations on their behalf. And so I found myself in the back of a cab in a horrible rain storm on Crete, 3 hours away from civilization and a few kilometers away from where lightning was striking.

At 10:30 I thanked my driver and lumbered through the mud towards the dim lights of the hostel. Finally huddled under the awning of the reception hut, I set my bags down to see the counter all closed up for the night. A few friendly hostel guests showed up to empty beds and insisted that Chris the owner would want us to stay there for the night. After I “said hello for Charles” they then insisted that we accompany them to Joe’s for our initiation to Youth Hostel Plakias. Within a couple minutes, we were talking about random hostel acquaintances as if they were old friends and exchanging stories of Youth Hostel Anna.

And so my new friends and I walked down to Joe’s for a few drinks. Chris, a 20-year-old from Missouri, was the leader of the group and introduced us new kids to Joe. We sat down, met a few more hostel guests (more like residents- they all meant to come for a couple days but ended up staying for a couple weeks), the majority of whom were Canadian. We all enjoyed a beer and then a few rounds of raki shots from the locals from the bar. While a couple kids dashed off into the night, entangled in each other’s drunken embraces, Chris and I started a dance party of sorts to Brown Eyed Girl. It caught on and Noami, a French Canadian staying at the hostel with her boyfriend Francois, joined in. Chris scored us a few rounds of tequila shots in return with my dancing with the old greek men at the bar. And once we were through with dancing, we stumbled out of the bar and onto the beachfront road back to the hostel. The waves looked silver under the full moonlight and begged for us to go for a swim. I had been warned about the amount of skinny-dipping at Plakias and after my midnight swim in Perissa, decided to shout “whatever” and just go for it and add another sea to the list of seas I’ve gone swimming in. The water’s never as cold as you think it’s going to be.

It’s getting back into your clothing and walking home soggy that the problem.

Its even more of a problem if your name is Chris and you have made a habit of losing your jeans somewhere along the road. So we retraced our path in the mud puddles and along the path until I discovered them and thus brought the night to an end.

Eager to see where I had stumbled to on the Southern Coast of Crete the night before, I woke up early to re-meet the cast from the night before. Jack and Chris seemed to be the ringleaders of the group and introduced me to “elevensies” or “second breakfast” my new favorite concept. I was also introduced to Laura, who missed out on the fun the night before and slept in the bunk beneath me, and Jimmy, the 18 year old Canadian on a gap year.

(happy kids after second breakfast- can you spot the 5 canadians?)

Once all second breakfasts had been consumed and I had checked in, we decided that a trip out the monastery was in order. And so a pack of Canadians taught me how to hitchhike as we bounced from the backs of pickup truck along winding roads in the hills of Crete.

The next morning I got up early and had a breakfast of Greek yogurt with Laura before taking a hike along the cliffs by the ocean and through caves blasted through them by Germans to hide ammunition in the war. We returned just in time for second breakfast, which we talked about and salivated over the entire hike back.

And then all too soon, I had to catch a bus away from my second Grecian paradise by the sea. Nisha and I stashed our bags at the bus station and took a detour to the Palace of Knossos, another architectural relic I never thought I’d be able to see. But there I was, wandering the former Minoan labyrinth of rooms re-imagined and reconstructed by Sir Arthur Evans.

(i hate to be the poor guy who had to build that model)

Finally, night fell over Crete and I arrived at another Minoan Palace- the giant Feros Palace, an overnight ferryboat to Athens. No sooner had I found a seat, was I asleep. Sleeping on busses and planes and boats is a new skill I’ve acquired on this spring break trip. A skill that came in handy over the last 28 hours of being in airports/airplanes, busses/bus stations, metros and ferries.

I suppose this is a long winded way of saying that I’ve had an amazing time in Greece. And although I’ve been in a couple sticky situations (stranded without any money in the Athens international airport, almost being homeless one night in Athens, airline delays, getting a sunburn on the tops of my feet…) I’ve had a great trip. I might go as far as saying its been the best spring break ever.

Anyone want to go to Greece this summer? I know of a couple amazing hostels?




And ps- I changed the theme-song of the trip to California by Joni Mitchell as the trip turned into more of a 'bohemian backpacking trip meeting randoms and having great times with them in Greece' (plus she mentions Spain, Paris, and Grecian Isles in the song- all three places my trip took me) than a 'party it up Britpop style trip.'