Night #2

Spent much of yesterday on the beach sleeping off my hangover.

Didn't know which beach to go to so I ended up just following the handpainted signs all the way down the side of a mountain on a treacherous goat path until I ended up on a beach with the word "Nude" spray painted on the side of the mountain.

Didn't think much of it at first. I'm in Europe and therefore see topless women on the beaches all the time, but it wasn't until I saw my first penis that it hit me.

I found a nude beach.

No, I did not strip down and bare all, nor did I blatantly stare at naked bodies like an ignorant North American.

I went to sleep.

Woke up when the sun started to disappear down the side of the mountain beside me, and a young Greek guy with a very obvious boner showing through his tight Speedo style swimmers came over and asked if I had a lighter.

Well, not that I knew that he was asking for a lighter since he asked me in Greek and I was still in the process of joining the land of the living, but the flicking motions and the cigarette dangling out of his mouth spoke volumes.

He sat by me the entire time he smoked his cigarette, and I didn't encourage conversation, so I decided to just pack up my things and head back to the hostel to avoid any further awkwardness.

I went back there today, and had a few hours of blissful solitude until 20 kayaks with party hardy Aussies showed up, complete with beers coolers and volleyballs, and since my head couldn't take that, I left.

As for last night, I can't put my finger on it, but the vibe seemed really off. I mean, that didn't stop me from downing 5 Sangria, 6 Sex on the Beach and at least 4 (all free!) Malibu and Pineapple Juice, but it wasn't nearly as much fun as the night before. Hung out with my roommate, Cal, the horny New Yorker, for most of the night, crawled to a few different places, got horribly lost and then made it back home in time to say goodnight to my other roommate, Gavin, the Californian Wine Studies Major (what a cool major, right?).

Cal left this morning for Santorini, and Gavin and I slept until 1:30, which was awesome.

Tonight, I'm going to ditch the hostel crowd and do my own thing. I saw a lot of pseudo-locals that looked like fun, and since a few really cute ones were buying me drinks last night, I want to explore that option rather than hang out with a bunch of Canadians, Americans and Aussies that I have to face the next morning.

Plus, I really want to go out for an awesome Greek dinner now that I'm here, so sitting and socializing on the hostel terrace would simply take too much time.

On the homefront, Mom got Xplornet yesterday and I am very excited that my folks are joining the 21st century, and that I don't have to go back home to the headaches of dialup.

Could have done without the emails from the beekeeper in Ontario who is mistakingly getting my embarrassingly personal messages home. Apparently Mom didn't check the availability of her new email address before sending out a mass email alerting everyone to her future email address.

One more night in Ios and then I'm off to Naxos tomorrow morning. Haven't yet decided if I will stay there for one night and then try Paros, or stay there for a few nights, or just the one and then back to Athens for some culture (Yeah, culture).