As they drove us up in the mini bus towards to centre of the town - white buildings topped with blue scattered over the hills, half-naked sun tanned bodies on scooters and dotting the roads with towels and lilos, music pumping and hot wind blowing at us through the window, we didn't care that it might seem as if we were home due to the amount of Australians inhabiting the island, we were in Ios!
It was unbelievably hot, so as soon as we had dumped our bags in reception as check-in wasn't until later in the day, we headed straight for a cold beer and a dip in the pool. Sam and his friends had had a huge night the night before so didn't join us until around three in the afternoon, so we just enjoyed some wonderful sunshine lying by the water enjoying our incredible view of the harbour from the poolside.
Rather than talking through each day individually, I'll just say that each day and night were scheduled more or less the same. Wake up around midday, head to the beach, lie in the sun, swim, snorkel, sit at one of the beachside bars and have lunch while lounging in hammocks or among pillows, listening to music and watching everyone stroll by. One of the days we went to a wet t-shirt contest at Far Out which is the hostel that holds all the day parties. Wet t-shirt competition was interesting, we left after the first round as it was just too cringe-worthy! Plus we enjoyed really chilled out and relaxing days. The nights we kept going back to a really nice family-run Greek restaurant called 'Chilli Pepper' where the food was excellent, the atmosphere was really beachy and fun and the family were lovely. They might have even loved us back as they started giving us free beer and sangria every time we returned! After this we'd hit all the bars in the centre of down just down from our hostel. We had so much fun dancing, walking around and meeting people. Everything was so close to each other so even if you split up with your friends you'd always find them again a couple doors down. We didn't see one cloud the whole time. Life is hard aye?
We also did a three hour speed boat trip with one of the local water sports companies, Meltemi, where they took us out of the cove and told us a bit of history about the island, showed us around some of the architecture (including a mansion owned by a German dentist who only comes in and out by helicopter and never comes to the town...strange?), took us to a private beach to explore and snorkel and then to a jumping rock where we launched ourselves down five metres into the blue sea. It was a really nice trip, I'm not sure it was worth thirty seven euros, but it was nice to do something a bit different than just sit on the beach all day.
There was one large dampener on the trip and that was the blow out I had with Sam. After six months together and two months of travelling we decided to call its end. I cannot pin point the exact moment where things changed, but I did have the gut feeling for a while that things weren't the same and it was not going to work. Perhaps mainly it was because he had no money left, or a visa, so we had absolutely no idea how to approach the next five months. I was always a lot more committed to this trip than he was, and I think I wanted to do so much whereas he prefers to be with his friends at home. In the end it was the best decision for me, as now I can do what I want to and not have to worry about what he was going to do. While break-ups really bite, it was definitely the best decision and at such a good time, and I'm sure Sam and I will be friends in the future, after I enjoy the rest of my trip of course!
So off he went to Mykonos and we had another few days in which I met some really lovely girls from Australia, with whom I walked up to the top of the mountain behind the town to watch the most beautiful sunset and talked about plans for the next few months. Sheena is planning to work in England from September so we agreed to keep in touch. I ran into a great friend from school Morgan, who I also ran into in Barcelona in a club at 2am when I was on my gap year in 2006...smallest world! Also plan to catch up with him in England now too.
All in all Ios was amazing. Francesco's the hostel definitely made our trip what it was. Francesco's is run by Francesco himself and his wife Maria. They are very much a part of the hostel life, and know all their guests by name and room number. They make you feel like part of the Francesco's family. Maria would give us hugs in the morning when were tired and Francesco would drink with us and give us free shots at night. The staff were all fantastic too and became friends by the end. I don't think anyone I've who stayed there has come away saying it's not one of the best hostels, if not the best hostel they've ever stayed at. Australians, I've come to realise, are very good at spreading the word, whether it be a good club, restaurant, hostel or holiday destination. No wonder this place has so many Australians, we all just come away absolutely raving about it. I expect they'll have many more Australian visitors to come for a very long time.
In the end it was sad to leave, but after six days on a schedule like hours I think it was time to leave. We had a huge two day commute ahead of us which we were not looking forward to, so just wanted to get on with it. I don't know if I'll ever go back, because I wouldn't want to ruin the experience I had this time around, but would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for the ultimate beach party holiday. Ios is definitely the place to be-os :)
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