When I was a little bit younger, I did a bit of Greek island hopping - starting in Athens before heading off to Crete, Santorini and Mykonos. The plan was to also make a stop in Zante, but the sea wasn't good enough to get across and we went to Kefalonia instead. Zante had been one of the islands I'd wanted to go to the most, so I was pretty gutted and vowed I'd make it across there one day. So when it came to booking a cheap summer holiday, Zante kept popping up and it didn't seem like worst choice. So, a cheesy 10 day all inclusive cheap getaway was booked, and I was off.
In hindsight, I possibly could have done with doing a little bit more research about Zante. I was looking for the perfect combination of history, good beaches, good food, good and heat. We got two of those, but we were at a loss for the most part. Firstly, there were great beaches. We stayed right near Kalamaki, and every day there was a spot we could get and not be disturbed by anyone, the water was clear and we could also grab pedalos to search for turtles. The heat couldn't be beaten either - there were days when it reached well over 40 degrees.
But, there was pretty much nothing pretty in Zante, anything worth looking at. There were no small villages to have a wonder around - everything had been destroyed in an earthquake in 1953 and everything that had been rebuilt since seemed to have only been half finished. There was no where to get proper Greek food, no where that you thought the locals might have gone for their night's out. Every place was just catered towards tourists, nothing felt very real. Also, I hadn't realised that you couldn't flush the loo paper...
Despite that, I had a brilliant holiday. I got a tan for one of the first times in my life, remembered what it was like to actually feel the sun on my face and spent most of my days sleeping, reading, drinking cocktails and not thinking about work. I finished off some books which I'd been meaning to read for absolutely ages. It's just a shame I could have been anywhere to do that.
Despite that, I had a brilliant holiday. I got a tan for one of the first times in my life, remembered what it was like to actually feel the sun on my face and spent most of my days sleeping, reading, drinking cocktails and not thinking about work. I finished off some books which I'd been meaning to read for absolutely ages. It's just a shame I could have been anywhere to do that.
