Markus and Brian's Excellent European Adventure

The Isle of Debauchery

Hey there everyone,

You'll have to excuse the length of time from our last posting to this one, but I assure you that very important matters demanded our undivided attention the entire time. We find ourselves at the infamous Pink Palace on Corfu island, a massive hostel with the capacity to hold about 900 guests. We decided to come here because it was constantly being recommended to us by other backpackers, and after having experienced this place myself for a short while, I come to realize that these people live by the credos that if you can't remember a visit to a place, it must have been a good time. I don't think there's one service that the staff provide here that does not involve a generous portion of liquor. The bar here simply does not close, it's open 24 hours a day, ready to take your money and provide in exchange that perpetual drunken haze that so many love to see the world through. Although I'm making this place sound like one giant drunk-fest 24 hours a day, it's actually got much more going for it than that. Included in the price for the room is breakfast (which is available until 11am for obvious reasons) and dinner, which I think is offered not so much to sustain people, but more to prevent them from dying of alcohol poisoning. For a small fee any amenity that you might need can be provided, from toga rentals to leg waxing. In short, a person could easily decide to stay here indefinitely without ever having to leave, and from what I hear that's exactly how the Pink Palace acquires the majority of its staff.

As you might have guessed by now summing up the last few days require only a few words; booze, beach and party being some of the key ones. Our first day was one spent lounging on the beach, taking a dip or two in the ocean and basically doing a lot of nothing. Having previous experience with sunburns on this trip we thought we were being clever by applying a healthy dose of sunscreen before our strenuous day of slacking. Only later did we come to realize just how painful the lessons of ignorance can be, but Brian had to suffer the consequences far more than myself. I didn't have to see his burns first hand to know how bad they were, I simply had to hear the blood curdling scream that erupted from the shower the next morning. I think I've seen people with broken limbs in less pain than Brian trying to put on a shirt. For this reason we decided that a day in the shade would be a good plan, and so we both signed up for an activity organized by the palace called the car safari. I loved the car safari, not only because I got to drive along the beautiful winding roads of Corfu while putting the fear of death into my passengers (God how I've missed that), but also because at the end of the trip we got to swim at this beach with crystal clear cold water which was very soothing for the aforementioned burns.

After the car safari we ate some dinner and then went to the Toga Party thrown in honour of Canada day. They played some great Canadian music, smashed some plates over our heads in true Greek fashion and made sure that social lubricant was cheap and plentiful enough to make it a very social evening. I had a great time, met some great people and didn't end up getting to bed until about 4:30 making breakfast at 10:30 sound like far to early an endeavour. Brian and I have decided that we like this place so much that we'll stay until Saturday. After that we'll be heading off to other Greek locations, but for now we're happy to stay here and continue indulging in the pure hedonistic splendor of it all. I'm sure Brian will give you his own rendition of what the past few days have been like once the glow from his body dims enough to allow him to see the computer screen.

Hope everything is great with all back home. Take it easy,

Markus

Posted by Markus at July 2, 2003 02:29 PM