Markus and Brian's Excellent European Adventure

The Good Life

Hey there peoples,

I will have to apologize for the lack of recent postings. As it turns out the computer decided to punish us for being in the greek islands and having a good time and as a result would not let us post to you, our wonderful readers, until now. The last week has consisted of a smorgasborg of activities, delicious in their nature and all to easy to consume in mass quantities. We've been hanging out in Ios, which is one of the greek islands dedicated to youths who do not bother themselves with petty concerns such as alcohol poisoning or STDs. We stayed at this place called Far Out Camping where it costs about one third of the price we're used to and the life, as they say, is good. The main hang out area consists of two swimming pools, some water slides, pool tables, foosball tables, a bar, a small restaurant, a mini mart, volleyball courts, tennis courts and much more. Not 50 feet away stretches out a beautiful beach complete with more volleyball courts, some umbrellas and sunbathing chairs which are often times occupied by some beautiful and very "liberal" customers.

As you can imagine, we were content to spend many a day lounging about, trying desperately to avert our eyes at key times so as not to appear rude, and trying to partake in the volleyball action whenever possible. The evenings brought with them the presentation of a pirated movie, some dinner and then afterwards the trek into town fuelled by the need for booze and dancing. Now, all this was well and good, but my personal favourite activity on Ios, believe it or not, was climbing one of the scenic mountains which surrounded our beach. I simply woke up one morning and decided to do it, and so with little more than the camera and a big bottle of water, I set out with the quest to be on top of this thing in short order. I didn't know that climbing a big mound of rocks could be so much fun, but I loved every second of it. It was a challenging climb, but after two and a half hours I found myself on the top of Ios, it's splendors laid out for only me to see. The view was breathtaking and the feeling exhilarating and I only wish to do more of it in the future. I've got a couple of pictures for you here, one half way up and the other of me greeting the world with outstretched arms.

Anyways, after Ios we decided to travel for three days straight so that we could get to Rome and enjoy what it has to offer. We're a little tired from missing all that sleep, but soon we'll reward you with a slew of new pictures and stories galore about the glory of Rome.

Take it easy,

Markus

Software on the Fritz

Software's misbehaving again. Sorry; comments and new postings are down until me and my team of crack server administrators can figure out what's up. We've got our best man working on finding the answer.

While I'm here, Markus and I have just about burnt ourselves out on Ios. To keep a long story short for now, Ios is the place to drink, swim, party, and engage in consequence free behavior, all in a spectacular tropical island setting. And anyone over 25 isn't allowed, it seems. We've been having an amazing time, and I can't wait to describe it more. Anyway, we're so mellow, so living the beach bum life right now that we can feel the outside world slipping away, and we know we've got to escape. Catch you soon.

Island Hopping

Hi all. Real quick update (with a much longer one coming soon). Markus and I had an incredible time at the Pink Palace. It wasn't even Greece; it was a giant North Amercian summer camp for wild college kids, except without the restraint. It just happened to be on a beautiful, mountain-and-beach covered island. I'll get back to it later.

For now, we're heading off on a night ferry to Ios, in the Cyclades islands on the other side of Greece. We spent the day in Athens. It's a complete hole, apart from the ancient Acropolis ruins, which are at least clean. A day is entirely enough. We'll spend more time relaxing and partying it up on a few of the Cyclades islands, though I'm already starting to feel a little partied out.

We also hung out with three very chic and hip American folk from Norcal (that's Northern California for all you who aren't from the Bay Area). Ryan, Jenny, and Morgan were so left-wing it hurt, which suited me just fine. We all got along great. In honour of them, I present a website I found the other day: The American Traveler International Apology Shirt.

We're off! Hopefully an update in a few days. Hope everyone's well.

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