Geia sas (hello in Greek) everybody!

Today was attempt number two to the island Ios. We work up bright and early which wasn't hard because I didn't know that I had a pull blind to cover the roof hatch so I was up as soon as the sun rose. We all had something to eat (I also had my kweels as well to prevent a repeat of yesterday's events) but there wasn't to much to eat because the plan was took do a big shop at the market yesterday when we docked into port. Once we finished eating I moved my suitcases onto the floor (I'm not to sure if I mentioned in my last post but the baggage requirements for this trip was a duffle bag or small bag. NO hard suitcases. Well... I rocked up with my two suitcases and Dean almost fell over when he saw me 'trying' to wheel them to the boat and might I add everyone else had only one just one backpacking bag or small duffle bag. Yes it was me and my two suitcases everyone made the jokes about on day one and I'm sure there would be much more to come. Sorry where was I.. Right prepping for the day of sailing. So I moved my suitcases to the floor, closed all my hatches and put away all my toiletries in the bathroom cupboard so they would roll around everywhere. Took my sunscreen and water bottles up on deck ready to rock and roll.

We set sail pretty early around 8.30ish and I think it would take around 4 hours to sail to Iso. My plan of attack was to put some sunscreen on and work on my tan. I'm pretty sure I was the sun chaser because I start at the back of the boat, I then moved to the chair on the left side of the boat and then moved and sat next to Ange on the right side of the boat resting my feet on the edge to stop me from falling over board. I pretty much sat there for the remainder of the journey I even lent on the front cover and dosed off the sleep for a little not there. It was a much better outcome after yesterday's performance!! There was also no sickness causalities #WINNINGATSAILINGMUCH!!

We arrived at Iso port at around 1ish and we made the plan to have some lunch at one of the cafés along the port, then head over to the market to stock up for lunches and one dinner as we would probably anchor for a night somewhere. So we all sat down to eat and I saw that they had a chicken snitty on the menu. I was so excited!! When I told Sarah I was having a chicken snitty she asked "What the hell is that??" So Ange and I explained what a snitty & what a parmi were in Aussie slang. I then said a hawaiian parmi is the best one to have and Ange clued on to that one right away saying "You definitely are a Queensland girl!" What can I say.. I like a good hawaiian parmi :-D

When we got all our meals I must say I've tasted ALOT of snitty in my time and I can say I've had better ones from back home. I think it was a battered one and I'm used to only crumbed ones. I should have gone for a lamb souvlaki because they looked really good! Served with a salad and tzatziki. I regret that food choice. I really should probably stick to the Greek food from now on! When we finished lunch we made our way to the market to buy some food and many, many bottles of water. After purchasing 5x6 1.5 litre packs of water and a range of sandwich options and snacks we used the trolleys to transport all our food back to the boat on the other side of the port. I can't say I saw to many people doing that. We unloaded the trolley and packed the kitchen area then Dean suggested that we could relax a little while, shower and then take the bus up early to the town and have a wonder around for about an hour before dinner at 8-8.30. So Ange, Jules and I (yep that's right I'm shortening everyone's names already and it's on only day 2. Great mates we are) decided not to shower and head up on the 6pm bus and find our way to The Cake Hole shop first which was a cupcake, waffles and coffee shop then have a fair bit of time to explore the town and shower when we got back from dinner.

We missed the 6pm bus because Jules watch was 1min out so we waited for the next bus. Luckily they ran every 15mins. When we made our way up, I decided to be the navigator for the evening and told the girls I could get us to The Cake Hole (how cool is that name for a business!!) All I had to do was figure out exactly where we were as oppose to where the town square was on the map then I'd be good to go. So we went walking around to find some kind of 'you are here' type of maps and we walked past this shoe shop that had a cat laying on four shoes on the ground out the front of the shop. I was in love with this sight and had to take a quick photo and we walked back the way we came and found a restaurant map near the first church we walked past. HORRAY I knew where we were!! We had to go back down the main road and up the set of stairs and The Cake Hole 'should' be just on the left up from the stairs. We eventually found our way there and I realised that all we needed to do was walked around the corner from the shoe shop and we would have been there. Oh well, I've always liked the scenic route to every trip anyway.

We saw the most beautiful cupcakes in the window and asked the lady what flavours they were. When I heard her say choc mint I was sold, you could not sway me from then on. I also got a iced frappé. Now when I first got Greece and ordered a frappé I imagined I was getting this crushed iced coffee drink WELL wasn't I quite wrong!! The frappés over here are literally just a cold coffee blended up to make a little froth at the top and they would usually ask "with milk and sugar?" hell yes I think every time in my head because I hate coffee normally. I'd be one of those people that would put like six teaspoons of sugar in one cup of coffee. When we all had our cupcakes and frappé we settled outside to relax on the couch. Two tourist girls came up to us and tried to ask me for directions. I just told them we were flat out trying to get ourselves here.. After they left I got stuck into my cupcake and OMG it was aMAZing!! Make a mental note people, if you are every in my bad books just feed this girl something mint. Forgiven instantly I promise!!

After finishing our amazing cupcakes and frappés we set off up the discover the town is Iso. We walked back past the shoe shop and I couldn't help myself and had to pat the cat laying on the shoes. The shoe owner must have heard us talking about how cute it was and she said to us that she sleeps on those exact four shoes everyday, no other ones and she won't be able to sell them clearly because they will have cat hair on them and they were also last seasons shoes, that's a plus I guess. I then asked her what his name was. When she said HER name was Julia I felt bad for referring to the cat as a male and I'm guessing the lady would have been annoyed because I to also get annoyed when people ask what Spooky or my last cats names were referring to them as males.

After the girls pulled me away from the cat we continued up the pathway and found so many cute little shops, they were all in the white buildings with blue window stutters and the more streets we walked up the more we noticed how many jewellery shops there were. Every second shop was a jewellery shop. The girls wanted to see a few of the churches and I tried to use the map to get us there but I kept taking us to dead ends where peoples houses were. I am a pretty good guide I must say... NOT! But the girls were happy to just wonder the streets and see what we could find. Well that was my navigator career gone and I was doing so well to begin with so I put the map away and started to enjoy the surroundings. We found our way to some windmills actually a hill of windmills. They weren't working and the actually windmill component was detached and placed on the roof causing it to collapse inwards. It sounds strange but it was such an interesting sight because they were such old and broken buildings that I'm guessing played a big part in the history of the village and a key source of their food.

We then wondered up a few hills and then came to I'm guessing the outskirts of town and I spotted a church with a cemetery. I don't know what it is but I'm so intrigued by cemeteries, maybe because they were once people and they had amazing stories to tell. This cemetery was like nothing I've seen before. The graves were marble boxes with the description details engraved on the top. There was a little box at the head of the grave where people put pictures of the deceased along with candles, inscents and other pictures of Jesus etc. Observably the cross was on top of this box but there was this small compartment at the back near the bottom of the grave with all the cleaning products (windex and spray & wipe) and also cloths to clean the grave. There was graves dating back to the late 18th century , throughout the 19th century and while we were there, there was a lady there that lit some candles and cleaned a grave of a loved one that past away in January of this year. It was just an amazing place to visit, to walk around and have a look at all the beautiful marble graves. Yes I know I'm a freak!!

After that we made our way back to the shops and had a look at all the jewellery in all the windows. We still had about half an hour to waste before we met up with the others to go to dinner so we just took our time strolling down the streets browsing in the shop windows. We made it back to the town square with fifteen minutes remaining so we just relaxed and waited across the street from the bus station. Richard met up with us shortly after but I don't think he got as far as we did exploring the town. The his finally arrived and everyone was a little dressed up and I felt a little out of place in my short Nike short and mini mouse T-shirt. Oh well it was worth it.

We made our way to the restaurant and there was the most cutest black cat sitting on a raised ledge outside the kitchen and you can tell which cats are poets and which cats are strays because the cats that are pets have collars with bells on them and the strays don't. This cat must have been owned by the family of the restaurant because there was a food bowl on the ground. I had to have a path of course but because it was awake I just held the back of my hand up to him just so he didn't bite me. He sniffed and rubbed his face on my hand which was a good indication I could pat him. He was such a friendly cat but I had to pull myself away because I started to lose everyone. So I hurried up the stairs, caught up with the group and settled into our table. Luckily I had my hand sanitizer with me in my backpack so I could clean my hands. Dean ordered the starters and everyone ordered their mains along with their drinks. I ordered the cocktail of the day along with Jules. I've started to notice that the started and meals come out to the table so incredibly quick where as if you are in a big group like we are at this one particular tavern back home (out at North Lakes) we would have been waiting a good 45 minutes to an hour for our meals. I really doing know why we still eat there to be honest!!! The starters and drinks had arrived and Julie tasted the cocktail and loved it. I took a taste and scrunched my face up. It was HORRIBLE!! everyone laughed and Jules said "keep having sips and you will start to like it" I kept taking sips and kept scrunching my face up. It really wasn't getting any better so I had to surrender from this one and told Jules to have mine.

After the starters I ducked off downstairs to the toilet and when I went back upstairs the cat meow out to me as I walked by. I really couldn't ignore such a cute animal so I had another long pat. When I finally got back upstairs our meals had already been delivered and while I was sanitizing my hands again Ange asked what took me so long. I said the cat was downstairs and I had to give him a pat. I think she has clued on that I love cats...

I ordered a pesto pasta for my dinner but I never really tried pesto so there's a first for everything I guess. I'm so used to having meat with all my meals it was so weird just having pesto pasta. It was nice but I couldn't finish it all and dean said they will pack it up for me and I can take it back to the boat with me. I then wondered if pesto pasta was as good as cold leftover pizzas??

Our plates were cleared and a after dinner shot of I think it was called rakiki with honey served warm. Let's just say I was a bit hesitant about trying it and I was right! I was not good at all! Everyone laughed a me again as I scrunched my face up again and I don't think I will be having that one again! On the way out we all decided we would stop off at the bar for a drink before heading back to the boat and on the way out Dean mentioned that Iso was one of the islands known for the night life and he was right. While we were in the town earlier we didn't see any teenagers at all it's like they were all recovering for the night before and come the evening it's like they all rose from the dead. Personally I'm not at the stage in life anymore where I have to go out every weekend, spend ridiculous amounts of money and get drunk. It doesn't really interest me anymore. Wow I think Jess is growing up... Shock horror! Plus if I'm hung over everyday I would be seasick/hungover and I'm meant to be enjoy this sailing trip not hating life. So Dean dropped us off off at one of the bars and made his way back to the boat because he had a bit of paperwork to do. At the bar there was two cocktails for 6 euro which wasn't a bad deal. I ended up having having two. The bar was dead, there was no one in sight probably because it was only 10.30 and the kids start to come out so much later then that. After finishing my drinks I kind of wanted to head back because this Nana was out way, way past her bedtime! I'm still not use to having such late nights it's bloody killing me!!!

We left the bar and while we were at dinner Dean said we could either catch the bus back down to port or walk down the steps. Everyone was keen to walk apart from Richard. So Richard caught the bus and the rest of us started down the hill to find the steps. It was actually quite a pleasant walk down the hill it it would have been a b**** to walk up those steps and I'm glad we originally took the bus up in the afternoon. Earlier on that afternoon Jules and I noticed when we were looking at the town map that there was a sunken church no to far from the port, so we decide to have a look at it on our way past saves us waking up earlier tomorrow to go look at it. When we walked past the church it was beautifully lit up and you could only see half the church but there was concrete stairs leading down to the so I'm not to sure if it was designed to be sunken or it had naturally sunken and they placed the stairs there later. There was no information board in sight and the answer will remain a mystery or I could just Google it when I get home.

We got back to the boat and I had a quick COLD shower because we only have cold water tanks and the only hot water we have is when the motor is running while we sailing because the motor heats up the water tanks but it doesn't keep it hot. I don't believe Dean has mentioned that just yet.. Soooo what was lesson learnt for the day: don't have your evening shower in the evening because its bloody freezing!!!

After my shower I remembered to pull the blind over my roof hatch, out my suitcase back on the floor, said good night to everyone and jumped into bed.

So day two done and dusted I wonder what tomorrow will bring.

I hope all is going well back in the hood and I will talk to all soon.

Over and out

Love JB xoxo