Greece

This week we’re heading to Greece, where ancient myths, island-hopping adventures, and all-inclusive holidays collide. With Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey arriving in cinemas soon, Aaron, Gee and Allie explore why we’re still obsessed with Greece thousands of years after Odysseus supposedly sailed its seas.

The team takes on a very specific Deal Challenge, attempting to book Aaron the ultimate all-inclusive break somewhere connected to Odysseus’ legendary journey. Along the way they discuss the Greek evil eye, whether social media has turned Greece into the world’s most photographed destination, and debate if the country’s most famous islands are still worth the hype.

Plus three facts to guess the destination for next week’s episode.

In this episode:

The Deal Challenge – Book Aaron an all-inclusive holiday somewhere linked to Odysseus’ journey

Don’t Go Alone – The evil eye, ancient superstition, and why Greeks still wear protective charms today

Gate Change – Has social media changed Greece forever, and can a destination still feel mythical when everyone’s already seen it online?

Transcript

SPEAKER_05 0:00

Hello.

SPEAKER_03 0:01

Hello.

SPEAKER_05 0:01

Welcome back to the Departure Lounge. Thanks for coming back, guys.

SPEAKER_03 0:04

Thanks for having us again. Thank you.

SPEAKER_05 0:06

Well, it's it's our podcast. Oh, yeah, right, of course. Yes. I thought it was your podcast. No. Well, you know. It is mine, but it's it's ours.

SPEAKER_03 0:14

I was sat by the phone waiting for my invite. Am I gonna make it back? We made it.

SPEAKER_04 0:19

Made the cup.

SPEAKER_05 0:19

Congratulations.

SPEAKER_03 0:20

Don't know how, but thanks, guys.

SPEAKER_01 0:24

You blew me out of the water with that one.

SPEAKER_05 0:26

But also all to play for G. Um, yeah, I'm Aaron, as you hopefully know by now. It's only episode two to be fair.

SPEAKER_03 0:35

Um old familiar friends.

SPEAKER_05 0:37

Yeah. And you are Allie.

SPEAKER_03 0:38

I am Allie, yes. I am Allie, have been Allie, and still will be Allie. And you are G.

SPEAKER_01 0:44

Didn't used to be G, used to be Georgia, but people call me G. Jesus.

SPEAKER_05 0:50

Jesus.

SPEAKER_01 0:51

In the flesh.

SPEAKER_05 0:52

Greece.

SPEAKER_01 0:54

Excellent segue. Yeah. Wow. And what country are we talking about today?

SPEAKER_05 0:58

We are talking about Greece today, the whole of Greece, as opposed to just a little bit of Spain last time.

SPEAKER_03 1:03

That's a lot to cover.

SPEAKER_05 1:04

It is a lot to cover. Um so let's just get started. Let's jump straight in. Um I think you probably think that Greece as a destination would be quite broad, and you'd be right in saying that. Um but actually that's one of the reasons I picked it. Um I think there's lots of different sides to Greece.

SPEAKER_03 1:25

This is true.

SPEAKER_05 1:26

Um and I'd just like to see both of your takes on it, really. I'm assuming you've been.

SPEAKER_03 1:30

I've been twice. Twice? Same place, but twice. Oh, which place? Um Th flew into Thessaloniki, so northern Northern Greece, say at a resort um in Nicassandra.

SPEAKER_05 1:41

Uh Nicassandra. Nicassandra. Nicandra. Nicandra was there. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:46

Yeah, I've also been twice. I went to mainland, so Athens. Nice. And then also to Rhodes, which was amazing. That was my honeymoon. I wanted somewhere that was like had a bit of everything. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 2:00

Nice. I haven't been to any of those places. I've been to northern Greece, but not that specific bit of northern Greece. I think we mentioned it last week, I think. I've been to Corfu, Kos uh Volos.

SPEAKER_03 2:17

That was it.

SPEAKER_05 2:17

Larissa. So I've been to four places on three occasions, I think. Getting around. Yeah, I'm going next week. Next time next week, I will I will be inside Greece.

SPEAKER_02 2:26

You'll be there. You'll be there. Where are you going this time?

SPEAKER_05 2:28

Uh Zakinthos. Oh yeah, Zanti, yes. Remember, not Xanti. No, definitely Xanti. Um cool, love that. Um so travel state of mind this week. I feel like not a lot is really happening in the world of travel. It's all gone a bit quiet after the whole EES situation and the jet fuel crisis. I'm sure it's still on, but no one's talking about it.

SPEAKER_03 2:51

It's been pleasantly quiet.

SPEAKER_05 2:53

Yeah, which is nice. So I thought I'd talk about the UK instead. Oh because we've just had a heat wave, which was wild um at the end of May. Um how was that for you guys?

SPEAKER_03 3:05

It was a bit it was a bit warm, wasn't it? Yeah. Yeah, it was, yeah. Uh I wasn't I'm not I can't say I'm a big fan. No. Um the crowds were down from London, the beaches were packed, yes. The old DFLs. The old DFLs. Um yeah, it was and we were we were at work. It's it's different. Uh you know, heat when you're uh abroad with a cocktail is one thing, heat when you're in an office, quite another.

SPEAKER_05 3:28

Or like a a a windless garden.

SPEAKER_03 3:31

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 3:31

Like you just like I had my little spray bottle for the flowers and I was just spraying myself with it.

SPEAKER_03 3:36

I live in a flat and it's a top four top floor flat. Yikes. Um so it was a little bit warm. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 3:43

Yeah. Do you have like windows on each side so you can get a cross breeze?

SPEAKER_03 3:47

I do, you can get a cross breeze, yeah, but um not not enough, I would say. And then the flies come in because open a window in summer and a fly appears out of nowhere. Gee, how did you find it?

SPEAKER_01 3:58

I loved it. I felt like I was abroad, is the thing. I feel like because we live in Folkestone, so it's a small seaside town. And yes, it does get very overwhelmed with tourists, especially because bank holiday.

SPEAKER_03 4:12

I saw so many, I saw so many TikToks of people like tourists coming to Folkestone. It's crazy. Yeah, I just like opening TikTok and it's like, oh they really said for you, Paige, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 4:24

Okay, so it's kind of travel related then.

SPEAKER_03 4:26

Yeah, it's happening. Popping up.

SPEAKER_05 4:28

Yeah, we're being priced out of our own town.

SPEAKER_03 4:32

Um actually I'm gonna just move out of my flat and put it on Airbnb, you know? Yeah, do it.

SPEAKER_05 4:37

We don't need affordable housing. Oh, absolutely not.

SPEAKER_01 4:40

For the amount that you could put it up for, then you could have the holidaying and everyone's day. Perfect.

SPEAKER_05 4:45

Love that. So why is it do you think because I always find that when there's a heat wave in the UK, it's always so much worse than when you're in a hot place.

SPEAKER_03 4:53

True.

SPEAKER_05 4:54

Why?

SPEAKER_03 4:55

We're not we're not set up for the heat. No. No, I think uh yeah, my wife's American and they they have air conditioning and they don't have brick houses, and we have brick old houses and no air conditioning, so I think they're just not set up for we don't have the we don't have the technology. We don't have technology could be available to us, but we haven't. I did see like air conditioning units, um installation rates are going up. People are realizing that that is the way forward. Otherwise, it's just like you've just got that one fan that comes out of the cupboard and the the weakest air, hot air growing on your face.

SPEAKER_05 5:33

I've got a bit of a s uh a bone to pick with my fan because it's just it's like a long one, like it's like an off-brand like shark tower one, but like not nowhere near as good. Yeah, it's like an Argos version. But there's nowhere to put it apart from in front of my coffee table and half the air just doesn't reach me. What's the point of it?

SPEAKER_03 5:51

Um because you move the coffee table.

SPEAKER_05 5:53

It's quite heavy.

SPEAKER_03 5:55

Fair.

unknown 5:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:56

Alas. I heard that they're going to make it compulsory for like new builds to have air conditioning built in. Oh really? Because the expectation of the heat over the next couple years is just gonna get worse than this.

SPEAKER_03 6:06

Right, and then I saw the news today, there's meant to be like some super El Nino happening this year.

SPEAKER_05 6:10

I saw that the the super El Nino. The super El Nino, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 6:12

What is the Super El Nino again? Oh don't is El Nino? So El Nino is the is the current off of the off of South America.

SPEAKER_02 6:20

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 6:20

And I believe that if it flows one way, it's El Nino. If it flows the other way, it's La Nina. And that basically um I think it affects the air currents and everything, and the weather that comes through. Because obviously a lot of our weather comes through up the Gulf Stream, whatever. Um, and ocean, I think it's ocean temperatures and stuff. I mean, I did study it once. I was gonna say, you sound pretty silly, dark. Yeah, so uh but yeah, super, super El Nino. So it's apparently already heat heating up, so it could be even more hot weather for longer. Great. Love that. Lovely. Yeah. I did see though there are people calling for uh temperature limits in work as well, aren't they?

SPEAKER_01 6:56

Like uh you get a snow day, but the opposite a snow day but a warm day, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 7:00

Sunday if it gets too hot, everyone, everyone go home.

SPEAKER_05 7:03

I actually I don't know how controversial this is, and I'm not saying it just because I work here, but I would so much rather be in an air-conditioned office during a heat wave than my house.

SPEAKER_03 7:13

I think it's not for people like us, it's for like people like mechanics that are you know that work in it.

SPEAKER_05 7:19

Heavy work, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 7:20

Yeah, not like us singing a podcast in a nice air conditioned office.

SPEAKER_00 7:25

It's actually a bit chilly in here today.

SPEAKER_03 7:26

Oh yeah, I mean I'm wearing a jumper, so yeah.

SPEAKER_00 7:28

I will say when I was working at the zoo, we had that 40 degree hot day.

SPEAKER_03 7:32

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 7:32

And the first thing my boss said was, um, you can go get pictures of the elephants doing their training and stuff for the crate training. And I was like, it's 40 degrees. I don't think they're gonna want to be out in that. Like, it's like they're elephants, it's like, yeah, but they've never lived in Africa, they're used to 30 degrees tops.

SPEAKER_03 7:50

Like I thought about that. Elephants aren't used to the heat. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 7:53

So sure enough, like we called the keepers and they were like, Yeah, they're absolutely not doing their training stay, they're staying in. Uh so he was like, Oh, okay, well, uh, go out on the safari truck. Oh. On the in the middle of Kent in 40 degrees. And sure enough, I didn't see any animals to take photos of because they were all under trees, because they're like, it's too effing hot.

SPEAKER_01 8:13

Um you should have been, hiding in the shade somewhere.

SPEAKER_00 8:18

Yeah. Although, to be fair, the office there did not have good air con, so it was just as awful in there.

SPEAKER_01 8:23

Man.

SPEAKER_05 8:24

You just can't escape it, can you? Um, so yeah, so I did do a bit of cursory research about why heat is so much worse in the UK. Um, you touched on the heat trapping homes, um, which are designed to keep the heat in, um, and like just the air just does not escape. Which is true, like my bedroom, like because I've got like a for some reason I've got an upstairs thermostat and a downstairs thermostat. And I know very fancy. The upstairs thermostat was like 26 degrees. And that downstairs was like 19.

SPEAKER_03 8:55

He rises.

SPEAKER_05 8:55

And it just and the windows were open. I was trying to blow out, it just would not it was like an oven, like just ugh awful.

SPEAKER_03 9:03

But that's why like I I guess places like Greece where all the buildings are white, is because of the heat to reflect the heat.

SPEAKER_05 9:11

And they don't have carpets, so you can put your your your naked feet on a nice cold tile. I think you needed to say that. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 9:18

Refreshing.

SPEAKER_05 9:19

Um but apparently some of it is psychological shock.

SPEAKER_04 9:22

Oh really? Yeah. Just not prepared damage. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 9:26

But because like the it's like, I guess, jumping into like the sea. You just it's so hard, isn't it? Because you just you're instantly cold. Yeah. Like instead of you kind of gradually going in. Like, because in most countries, or because obviously it's a heat wave, there's no gradual build-up to that extreme heat. Yeah. Which is why it's for usually for us so much worse, because it just goes from being normal temperature to like six thousand degrees, and then we're suddenly completely unprepared because we don't have we we haven't built up the tolerance for it. Yep. Um, so that's part of it as well.

SPEAKER_01 10:02

Wow. Um it was literally chucking it down with rain the week before. It was like hailing, wasn't it? It was a switch. It felt like overnight basically.

SPEAKER_05 10:11

It was, I feel like it was. Like, and yeah, just just wild. Um but yeah, we're we should probably talk about Greece because that's why we're here, really. That's the reason for us existing. Um, and one of the several many reasons I picked Greece is because the Odyssey film is coming out in July.

SPEAKER_03 10:31

Excited.

SPEAKER_05 10:32

Yeah, I don't know how close it will be to be coming out to when this episode comes out, hopefully around the same time.

SPEAKER_03 10:37

Slightly closer than it is right at this moment, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 10:39

Yeah. Um, we're not going to talk about any of the controversies about it because it's boring. Um but it did inspire my challenge for the week. Okay. Um, which you know, but the audience doesn't, so I'll tell them for anyway. Um so, yes, the deal challenge this week. I challenged G and Ally to book me a holiday inspired by the Odyssey in brackets, caps, or to one of the locations that Odysseus visited on his classical journey. So it's very highbrow. Very highbrow, yeah. We studied the Odyssey. I can only assume that you've read the Odyssey. Oh, absolutely, yeah. I've read like a page of it.

SPEAKER_04 11:18

It counts, it counts.

SPEAKER_01 11:19

You've got the gist, there's not much more that goes on.

SPEAKER_05 11:21

Flamid translation or something. Spark notes. Yeah. I didn't even read the spark notes, to be honest. I was like that. I'll just watch the film in 20 years.

SPEAKER_01 11:29

That's unlock something in my brain. Spark notes. It's been so many years since I heard that. Wow.

SPEAKER_05 11:36

Love a Spark Note, maybe um, so yeah, I'll just quickly go over the rules one more time so that people remember. Obviously, I don't want to go on my own. So, rule one, make sure it's for two people showing one room. Um, flying from a London airport, rule two. Um rule three, last minute. Did I say last minute in the challenge?

SPEAKER_03 11:56

Yeah, five weeks.

SPEAKER_05 11:58

Okay, so yeah, we know that. So it's last minute within five weeks of me setting the challenge. So that was like what two weeks ago. Um, rule four, I've up to the budget this time because I wanted a nice sort of all-inclusive vibe. So I've gone for 750 per person, which I thought 750 per person.

SPEAKER_03 12:15

Oh dear. For real? Oh no, wait. No, that's fine. My math was just yeah.

SPEAKER_05 12:20

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 12:20

Yep. I was panicking that secret win for me there. Slide.

SPEAKER_05 12:27

Well, I feel like Greece in June is like a shoulder season. So I kind of gave you a little bit more budget to play with. Um, rule five, you can use any provider you like, you can book it as a package, or you can book each element separately, or a mix of both. Whatever tickles your fancy there. Rule six, you get an extra point for any holiday extra that you add while remaining in budget. Rule seven, budget is a guideline only, but the closer you can stick to it, the better. Obviously, if you have holiday extras and it goes over budget, we don't score them. I've decided that's the rule now.

SPEAKER_03 13:00

Oh that's the rules. Um's the rules.

SPEAKER_05 13:02

Yeah, and rule eight, just don't book it really, because we don't have budget for it. Um it's just for fun. Um so yeah, how do you think you did this week?

SPEAKER_03 13:12

I I I struggled again. I it's I still analysis paralysis, still still getting me.

SPEAKER_05 13:19

Well, at least you've identified the issue.

SPEAKER_03 13:21

And I feel like this was an even broader issue. Like Seville was like, well, I know where you're flying, you're flying to Seville. True. I know where you're staying. Whereas this was like Greece.

SPEAKER_05 13:31

Or was it Greece?

SPEAKER_03 13:32

Or was it Greece?

SPEAKER_05 13:33

Because some of the places Odysseus visited on even in Greece.

SPEAKER_03 13:36

See, that's the thing. So I I thought it had to be Greece because the episode was about Greece. And then it was going off like, oh, we could be in Malta, you could go to Gozo.

SPEAKER_05 13:43

Yeah, you should have read the challenge.

SPEAKER_01 13:44

Well, I didn't read properly, so that's my that's my mistake. I also wanted to be on episode. So even playing field at least.

SPEAKER_05 13:51

Disappointing, but fine.

SPEAKER_01 13:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 13:54

Well, I've already got a holiday book to Greece, so I thought it'd be nice to go to cancel this then.

SPEAKER_03 13:59

Man.

SPEAKER_05 13:59

Gibraltar, does he go there? Or that's it. Is that that's Hercules, isn't it? Different different things. I have no idea. Yeah. Um he does go to well, it's fine. Um, okay, Ali, you went first last time. I did go first last time.

SPEAKER_03 14:10

So I did win last time, it's random.

SPEAKER_05 14:12

That's true. That's true. So, gee, get on it. Where am I going?

SPEAKER_01 14:15

Alrighty. Well, I know you said that you've been there before. It's one of uh my places that I really like to go, so I'd already done a bit more research on it. Okay. I've gone for Corfu.

SPEAKER_05 14:26

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 14:27

Which now that I think about it, I can't remember how you found Corfu last time you went.

SPEAKER_05 14:33

The last time I went, there was an injury suffered.

SPEAKER_01 14:36

Okay.

SPEAKER_05 14:36

So I really basically didn't leave the hotel apart from to go to the clinic to get the injury resolved.

SPEAKER_01 14:41

So this is perfect because this is where you can live out your original holiday fantasy. Yeah, so Corfu. Apparently, many scholars identify um Corfu as scarier. It's an island that the Phoenicians in the in Phoenicians. Phoenicians. It's the Phoenicians, right? There's no N in there. Oh but no. I let you off then. I I did try and look at pronunciations before. Still hasn't helped me. Um yeah, it's supposed to be the home of those guys. So apparently, after years of wandering around the Mediterranean, uh surviving uh Keeklop Key Clopez, which is spelt like Cyclops.

SPEAKER_05 15:26

Key Clopez, though. Cyclopes. Cyclopes?

SPEAKER_01 15:29

Cyclops. What? Again, when I looked at the pronunciation, it was just like Keek Lopez.

SPEAKER_05 15:37

Okay, I'll trust your pronunciation research here.

SPEAKER_01 15:40

People can let us know after the episode. Um, yeah, so Odysseus survived that, sea monsters, and some very questionable decision making by his crew. He ends up shipwrecked on this island. Of course it is. So, yes. Right. Um, however, when he's there, he is famously welcomed by Princess Nausica, and it's just known for like the hospitality that he receives there being top tier. So I thought it was quite on brand that you should have very good hospitality at this location. But yeah, I will show you the hotel.

SPEAKER_02 16:17

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 16:17

So it's called Angela Beach, it's in Rhoda, and I booked via Love Holidays. Okay. Um, our friends are Love Holidays. Yeah. Not even sponsored, we just appreciate those guys. Um, yeah, so the hope is that you can recreate that with left shipwrecks. Um, I'll show you now. So that's right beachside, very gorgeous.

SPEAKER_05 16:38

I like that wooden thing.

SPEAKER_01 16:40

There's some like some a line of hammocks in the sort of wooden structure, bit kooky, bit fun. I like the interior design choices there. It's right on the beach, lovely swimming pool, reviews for the food and everything looked really, really good. Nice rooms as well.

SPEAKER_05 16:58

I love like an outdoor bed.

SPEAKER_01 17:00

Yes. There's something just so bougie and like not romantic, but you're picturing like a music video, yeah, windswept by the beach. Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_05 17:12

Like I want to stay in bed, but I want to be outside.

SPEAKER_01 17:15

It's it's a simple demand.

SPEAKER_05 17:16

But also that there's nothing worse when you're like you live, find a nice hotel and then they've got like crap sun lounges.

SPEAKER_03 17:21

Yeah, plastic ones that like stick to your butt.

SPEAKER_05 17:24

Yeah, and they leave like a like a print on you.

SPEAKER_01 17:28

You never want to like get up because you're like, I know I'm just gonna be indented at that point. But yeah, I thought this place was really cool. Um, the location I thought was um very good. It's got like a a lovely like town nearby. It also has like an on-site cinema, and you can do sports if you want, volleyball, basketball. Um, I'm going there, I'm going there as well. That sounds great. Water slide as well.

SPEAKER_05 17:56

A water slide.

SPEAKER_01 17:57

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_05 17:58

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 17:59

Yeah. Evening entertainment. But yeah, when I was looking at Corfu as a potential holiday spot, this was um, I did end up going to Rhodes instead. Um, I I saw the place called Paleo Costritza. I'm not sure if you guys have heard of it. It's just absolutely gorgeous, like beach coves, super blue sea. Um, and it's one of the I think most famous places on the island. But I knew that you had to get a car there most of the time. Okay. So yeah, that's one of um the little extras that I've got for you. So car hire is included.

SPEAKER_05 18:35

And then what kind of car have I got?

SPEAKER_01 18:37

You've got a Fiat Tepot.

SPEAKER_05 18:40

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 18:40

Very swaggy.

SPEAKER_05 18:41

Is it automatic? Manual?

SPEAKER_01 18:44

That's an excellent question. You'd think it would say straight away. Manual gearbox.

SPEAKER_05 18:49

Okay, fine.

SPEAKER_01 18:49

Is that is that acceptable?

SPEAKER_05 18:51

Yeah. Having been to Corfu, it's very mountainous.

SPEAKER_01 18:57

Yes.

SPEAKER_05 18:58

So there's lots of up and down. So it could be tricky.

SPEAKER_01 19:01

It could be a bit of fun.

SPEAKER_03 19:02

I just hill starts before you go.

SPEAKER_01 19:04

Yes.

unknown 19:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:06

I remember researching before and they said that the roads are pretty good. They're not like modern normally, it's quite like sandy little paths, but like fairly quiet. So you have to let me know when you go. But yeah, other extras I've got for you. We've got a lounge. Um which one?

SPEAKER_05 19:27

Which airport?

SPEAKER_01 19:28

Oh, yeah. I learned my lesson from last week. Um, and you're flying from Gatwick.

SPEAKER_05 19:33

Lovely. Which terminal?

SPEAKER_01 19:34

Both ways, uh north.

SPEAKER_05 19:36

North. Okay, nice.

SPEAKER_01 19:38

Yeah, so you also land in Gatwick unlike last time. Yeah. Was it Stanford and Luton, your least favourite? So I send you off too.

SPEAKER_05 19:46

I don't mind Luton.

SPEAKER_01 19:47

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_05 19:47

I mean, that's not my favourite, but like yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:50

You're not opposed. Yeah. We've also got um air parks, drop and go. Nice. For your car parking situation. Very nice. So tick, tick, tick, tick, tick there for you. Um yeah, so I guess the final question is what does it all come to?

SPEAKER_03 20:10

Drum roll.

SPEAKER_01 20:11

Drum roll. I'm looking at Gwid. He's like, I'm not doing that. Um, so it comes to £751.64.

SPEAKER_05 20:23

What's your pound sixty four over?

SPEAKER_01 20:25

But in the brief it says as close to the budget as possible. Okay. It wasn't an official rule change because I would have I would No, you're right.

SPEAKER_05 20:33

I did just add that rule willy-nilly, as we were talking then. So I can't, I can't. I mean, we'll see. Ali might have gone even more over budget, who knows?

SPEAKER_01 20:42

Mm-hmm. Sounded pretty confident a second ago.

SPEAKER_05 20:45

Yeah, but some people can be confident and be wrong.

SPEAKER_03 20:48

In fact, many people are very confident and very wrong.

SPEAKER_05 20:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 20:50

That's the whole Brits abroad thing, probably, isn't it?

SPEAKER_05 20:54

Just a brief quick question.

SPEAKER_01 20:56

Yes.

SPEAKER_05 20:57

What time's my flight?

SPEAKER_01 20:59

Okay. So also try to learn my lesson, not send you off on a super early flight.

SPEAKER_05 21:06

I'm not opposed to an early flight.

SPEAKER_01 21:09

I thought just play it safe.

SPEAKER_05 21:11

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 21:12

Get there. Four o'clock is your flight time. Four twenty. Right? So you can have four twenty. So you can get up, have a chill morning.

SPEAKER_05 21:23

No rush.

SPEAKER_01 21:24

Make your way over, make full use of the lounge. Because you get three hours there. So you can rinse it. It can be like a whole start. Um which lounge? Oh, it was. It was one of the cheaper options.

SPEAKER_04 21:38

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 21:39

Um, it was only 2880 per person. It's the Plaza Express North.

SPEAKER_05 21:44

Okay, interesting. Not been to that one.

SPEAKER_01 21:46

Ooh, there you go. The interior looked nice. It was like quite colourful, kind of modern geometric pattern patterns and stuff.

SPEAKER_05 21:56

The plaza premium. So I guess it's like the same. brand.

SPEAKER_01 22:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 22:01

But the cheaper option.

SPEAKER_01 22:03

Cheaper option.

SPEAKER_05 22:04

Which is fine.

SPEAKER_01 22:04

I always think that if you can get like a lounge for about £30, it's just it's just a no-brainer, isn't it?

SPEAKER_05 22:13

Yeah, especially at four o'clock. If you're gonna be on the plane for dinner time, you're gonna want to eat something at the airport.

SPEAKER_01 22:19

Stock up.

SPEAKER_05 22:20

For 30 quid.

SPEAKER_01 22:21

It's just like you're gonna spend that much in the airport anyway. So yeah.

SPEAKER_05 22:27

Okay. And I assume I'm flying with EasyJet?

SPEAKER_01 22:30

Yes, you are flying with Easy Jet.

SPEAKER_05 22:32

Nice.

SPEAKER_01 22:33

And then the flight the flight home you get the full day because in my head I was like okay you're flying you out later on the first day. Um so it is it is a half ten flight but you land at like quarter to twelve at night.

SPEAKER_05 22:45

Okay. So okay sounds sounds good.

SPEAKER_03 22:49

I'm excited to go nice you're welcome Ali's not feeling very confident now I feel like that's uh but they're a nice a nice option there how long was that for that was for seven uh seven days or seven nights actually nice classic that's yeah I'm I don't don't not not want to throw in the towel but I'm feeling uh feeling nervous now um okay what have I booked you well uh first of all I wanted to book you um a trip to Ithaca because um that was my sole knowledge of the Odyssey was uh Ithaca um and my favourite poem uh features Ithaca however turns Ellie um keep Ithaca always in your mind I think it's just called Ithaca can you recite it for you I'm not gonna recite it for you though that's that's a separate thing um but uh I looked and in fact you cannot fly direct to Ithaca um you have to fly to Cephalonia and then you have to get a ferry and it's a whole thing and I was like adding to the cost.

SPEAKER_05 23:52

Isn't Cafalonia thought to be the original Ithaca anyway?

SPEAKER_03 23:55

I think there you there is debate about where it is yeah so um but I so so you are going to Cephalonia. Okay I stuck with that um in the end um you did say in the last time you didn't want to go back to Corfu I I did say that so I'm just gonna just refer you back to that um that was because of the trauma though surely yeah like you didn't get to experience though that's fine I'm I've got a you know I feel like you put together a good option there I'm trying to claw back what I can here. Go for it go for it. So a week in Catalonia um 15th to 22nd of June that's not far not too far yeah um you're it's a package holiday jet two holidays I've been on a jet two holiday um so you could say up to 500 percent I I hear nothing beats at one nothing nothing beats a jet two holiday um not sponsored by Jess Glenn um so yeah you're staying at the Arder Vanny Hotel um and it is half board so breakfast and dinner okay I do think in the brief I did specifically ask for all inclusive um this was was yours all inclusive yes damn it lunch included yes well that's all inclusive I've lost this one haven't I but we'll we'll continue on you were so strong on the last one I've I missed that part okay I mean need I remind us of the potential hacks you can use with all inclusive exactly this is true borrowing food uh from breakfast but the food it's the drinks I'm more concerned about. Oh I can probably check the drinks I'm sure the drinks is fine. I'll have a look I'll just make it up I'll just tell you the drinks were all included Ali actually knows a guy on the internet. So yeah you're flying I think I think it was with Easyjet uh you're flying from Gatwick depart at 220 in the afternoon I've booked you airport airparks drop and go. Again yeah wow popular choice um got a lovely little discount there for you at the moment summer a summer special I believe it was um also hind you a car um so yes you do have car for seven days um a little Opel crossland apparently which no idea what that is an opal that's um what the Europeans call voxel oh there you go got a voxel um because they looked like I felt like you needed a car like it was like you there was plenty of history to go and explore so you have a car um the hotel has a lovely little pool which has been recently renovated the rooms look kind of uh rustic but like kind of modern there's a lovely little freestanding bath I was trying to picture you know you've got the freestanding bath in the room for a bath isn't it yeah you know right next to the bed that's what you want isn't it the aesthetics of this room are 10 out of 10 rustic got the book it's got the blue um the evil eye floors I was just talking about coal tile floors a little pool um I upgraded your room so you do have a room with a balcony as well so you can you know just have a little balcony moment private balcony moment. Mine also has a balcony alright alright the private balcony moment sounds very suggestive yeah so I actually it looks nicer on the inside yep that's that's fair and wasn't a lot of choice in Kefalonia I will say uh for all inclusive um well that's not all inclusive is it really well is that blue shutters on the outside there's a little blue shutters that's really cute in my opinion looks very looks very Greek it is very blue and white yeah yeah um yeah nice little hotel you know um I didn't research the history I didn't remember if I was giving a history lesson as well um but I'm assured that there is plenty of history for you to see I do have a seven day itinerary for you oh wow you know there's you've done a full itinerary yeah yeah you know we go to the beach um we've got uh trip it to the trip trip to the capital Argostoly there's a museum and then we've also got mytos which is arguably Greek's most dramatic beach apparently uh white pebbles towering cliffs and then um some beaches more beaches there's Mount Anos how are you spelling this A I N O S Okay how else would we pronounce that Anos? No that's exactly what I had in mind that sounds nicer um which is a national park there's panoramic views across the Ionion and then the Melisani cave and is that a like a a water cave or a land cave? Uh a lake cave in fact and where the light turns the water electric blue at midday. Lovely um and then some lazy lunches small beaches some olive groves um and then you depart Keffalonia at 845 and you arrive back at London 1010 hop on the airport airpark's transfer bus which is included back to your car um no rush um and it all came in uh total was £1,487 eighty oh not per person not per person I was going to say oh my goodness that much per person what is that per person so I don't have to do the math seven hundred and something was it one thousand four hundred eighty seven eighty seven she just wants to make seven seven hundred and forty three pounds fifty right so you are under budget um under budget oh um you know what you could but I did have one S extra so that's fair oh I was about to give you a clue there wait how much did you have spare did we just say seven pounds not enough for a lounge you can okay get um fast pass oh a fast pass for six pound each there you go I'll give you that's it thank you there we go that's an extra for you but only one of us would get it that's fine well it's per person though it's six pound per person I don't have I don't think I have twelve seven pound left no no actually I have 13 pounds left one four eight seven oh I thought uh so there we go round it out nicely right so I've also got too fast right there you go you're welcome thank thank you no worries this is tough actually because I would I think I would rather go to Catalonia yeah but it just didn't meet the brief alley what the all-inclusive thing yeah I'm absolutely guided about that well same yeah I mean I'd yeah when you were looking for options did you find that there was some decent places about for a bit cheaper? Um I I really struggled with some of the options. I found like there were there were places that were cheaper and that but I just looked at the pictures and like it didn't feel very you like um I really I struggled for like quite a modern and maybe you don't go there for like a modern like kind of hotel yours looked really nice like the one that you found. Yeah I didn't find that there was I mean I don't think that Kefalonia is that big right so I don't think there's kind of tons of options to choose from what would be good to take your hotel and put it in Keffalonia yeah I mean the hotel looked amazing and all inclusive but yeah but apparently there is oh I forgot to mention on Cephalonia there is the Odyssey theme park. Oh Odyssey theme Odyssey Odysseus theme park what's what what happens there? Um welcome to Odysseus theme park the only natural theme park about Odysseus's journey so there you go natural natural what does that mean like natural water I have no idea what it means guys there's animals that's a picture of a horse get to know some of the animals and birds that he encountered until he returned to his homeland in Ithaca Odysseus Zooland Yeah function a theme park based on Homer's unique epic cathodic so area 30 acres of the least possible intervention into the national environment natural environment natural environment that's what we want you um okay so after some thought I think I will have to give this to G.

SPEAKER_05 31:51

That's fair I mean I think I would too yeah but I'm sorry but I'm gonna deduct one point from one of the extras because you were over budget. Damn it so you get a point for winning and then one point for an extra okay so two points I'm not keeping track of points I think you had three last week three but I think I got I got one for getting great so you're four points which means you're is that are you did you get any points to last week?

SPEAKER_01 32:19

Excuse me I I had extras in my so I think I had two extras last week so you had two points last week two points just now okay so we're we're next now wow all to play for yeah what happened so fast well done looked like a good holiday thank you so much like you've uh improved did you find the process better than last time I did I I basically settled on a different hotel originally that was like 40 pounds under budget but the pictures again it just was like it's just not it's not giving luxury and I thought for an all-inclusive you you do want to be making the most of the food the drinks and I feel like the pool and the setting yeah obviously grease is amazing because there's so much you can do outside the hotel but yeah it was this was the only other one between those two that I could find all inclusive within budget really on love holidays.

SPEAKER_05 33:21

So all inclusive can be tough because it puts the price up quite a lot I find but then you think how much what you're saving by not having to buy breakfast lunch and dinner when you're there.

SPEAKER_03 33:31

Very true. But I don't know that like is it better though? I mean the food probably isn't better but in terms of like I guess how much w are you likely to drink are you gonna go and get pissed up every day?

SPEAKER_05 33:43

Yeah.

unknown 33:44

Okay.

SPEAKER_05 33:44

Fair enough then it probably is uh money saving it interestingly though I mean they probably water it down but I don't find that I don't get drunk when I'm all inclusive.

SPEAKER_01 33:51

No, I've had the same I've only kind of I haven't done many all inclusive but I remember normally if I have like three drinks I'd feel something but I was like there's nothing happening.

SPEAKER_05 34:02

Is that hot eh do we think are our resorts watering down the drinks for the case they are yeah yeah definitely like you can taste the beer as like like watery beer unless you go somewhere and they give you like the bottle like quite in Greece like I will I'll get a mythos because you know we love the mythos. When in Greece yeah or when it's Greek week at Lidls yes you can get mythos big bottles um obviously you always go for that try and get it bottled not from on the on the tap because then you'll know that there's a water down.

SPEAKER_03 34:37

That's what converted me to a lager drinker when I went to Lindos in Rhodes and we were so hot and then they brought out the ice the ice cold mythos yeah it was it was a moment love it I do love it it's gonna be next week it will be me next week how exciting very shall we get into it then destination deep dive to Greece um probably I mean I have just checked it I do know now know that you've both been to Greece before um I've been a few times some of the best and worst travel experiences I've had um so let's talk about it you both you didn't do an all-inclusive no I did do all inclusive yeah say that a resort um it was yeah amazing resort it's kind of like one that has I think like six resorts within the resort and you like you choose different one yeah um and obviously travelling with a she was one and then she was two so it was a you know that was an important consideration for us it was really family friendly um yeah but what I found which I think is interesting and like why I don't necessarily want to go back this year is that I loved the resort and like it was great all the meals and it felt really like authentic but you can't there's nothing when you leave the resort so where it is um there's not really a lot around in that in that area yeah um and I kind of get a little bit stir crazy you know kind of like you know as she gets older I want to want to go and actually experience Greece. I don't feel like I've experienced Greece no I've stayed in a very nice resort um you know very nice Greek food and and all of that but it doesn't feel like a truly yeah authentic and I think like I'm quite interested in history and everything so like for me uh next time I you know I'd want to stay somewhere where I could get off the resort and explore history.

SPEAKER_05 36:24

I do find that a lot with all inclusives especially if it's like like a big self-contained resort. Yeah but they're usually quite far out so then it's kind of like you can go and explore if you want to but it's like it's not easy.

SPEAKER_03 36:37

Yeah and it's more like it's like that centre park thing isn't it kind of like where you turn up and then you're like you're you're in. Yeah. And I mean the resort has like 20 different restaurants and you know you can dine around and stuff so that's you know you don't get like too bored it's a great resort but yeah like I couldn't go out and you know um see any cultural sites or any of the history and stuff. So yeah I'd be really keen to go back to Greece and go to some of the more like historic um places I think it would be it would be interesting.

SPEAKER_05 37:05

Cos was good for that like yeah we stayed we did all inclusive but where we were I mean it was about a half an hour walk from like Cos Town which is the city the capital of the island but it was all along the beach so we just walked on the beach all the way to like the the centre and it's got like this really old tree where oh my god I've forgotten his name Hippocrates. Oh really um apparently he had like a hospital on the island and all this stuff and he planted a tree so apparently but like the tree is not like 2,000 years old like very clearly but like it's it's all really like old and like lots of city walls and cats.

SPEAKER_03 37:44

Yep.

SPEAKER_05 37:45

Great. Have a cat in Greece.

SPEAKER_03 37:48

Yes even that on the resort I don't think there was many cats so sad.

SPEAKER_05 37:53

That's what I mean like I just felt like you're just not getting that like oh we had cats in the resort they would like go up to the pool and then drink and it made me sad so then I'd go to the bar and get them some nice less chlorine.

SPEAKER_03 38:04

Yeah yeah I think essentially I feel like there's like again like how do you choose where to go in Greece?

SPEAKER_05 38:10

Are there so many options are they all like kind of good options I guess like but that's why I think it's such so good to like go there so many times because you can have different holidays. So true like I mean I've done all inclusive a few times I've done obviously my partner's Greek so it's easy for me to just go anywhere in Greece because I c I can feel safe and not have to stress too much. Yep. Um and when we did Volos which is a small town I want to say north Greece near Larissa it's actually just it's on the coast of the mainland and then just across the sea is Skyathos. Yep. So it's like close-ish to a tourist place but it's not like a tourist heavy area so it was good to have that kind of more authentic experience. And it had like I want to say Mount Olympus nearby and this really cool beach. Unfortunately we didn't get to see any of it because um there were floods like the week before I got there. So like all of the water was like dirty so we couldn't drink any of the tap water and we couldn't go in the sea because it was all infected. Wow and then it started raining again like the day that I was due to leave and I missed my flight because it flooded and this was the time. Got trapped in a bus station. Crazy yeah wouldn't recommend no um but overall pretty good trip. Yeah yeah we did get to one beach but not the beach that we wanted to go to so what where where is your favourite place? That I've been um I think if Volos if I'd been there when it was not not flooded not flooded yeah because like it it when I got there it the floods had receded but they'd left mud and sand literally everywhere so like every road was like covered in like dry mud and dust. Crazy so it wasn't really like a kind of holiday vibe um I think that would have been quite cool. And Larissa actually was quite nice that was just a kind of a Greek city I guess but lots of nice like squares and I didn't find many tourists there I don't think. Yep. But I think Cos was pretty cool.

SPEAKER_01 40:28

It was quite a small island had a really nice beach where we were um yeah I think very nice I'd like to give COS a go at some point yeah I'd really recommend roads I think like compared to Athens I felt a lot safer it was completely different like you heard conflicting reports on Athens I had a brilliant time I went with like some amazing friends um and the the bar scene there like very interesting cool bars cool music um very nice vibes there was one place that I went to and the view of the Acropolis was on a hill in the background and the way they light it up at night is just like this golden shining like orb in the sky. It's just crazy very very cool and again like so much cool history there's um there's this uh statue inside the museum there and it's um the keratites I don't know if you guys have yeah so it's the the sisters and um I think the British Museum stole one of them of course and they was like they've left a space where that sister would have been really it's like they're waiting for her to come home it makes me give it back yeah makes me emotional.

SPEAKER_05 41:51

That's quite funny I've I've been to the British Museum with my Greek partner and he was just livid the whole time. He was like why I shouldn't be here and I'm just rage bait essential I didn't move it um that's nice yeah yeah very I quite like to go to Athens I think but maybe like in the winter.

SPEAKER_01 42:10

I went in February and I think it was it was still kind of like 18 to 20 degrees which is nice.

SPEAKER_03 42:17

Yeah not too hot.

SPEAKER_01 42:18

Yeah there was also a very cool thermal lake that we went to um and the temperature of the lake I think gets to between 22 and 24 degrees. Nice. There's like a a restaurant that it overlooks and you can go in but we literally missed going in by like 10 minutes. So maybe another time. Okay. But yeah I think Rhodes has just absolutely stolen my heart like I'd love to retire there or something because it was so perfect where we stayed um in Columbia which is halfway down the sort of right hand side of the island and then it meant that we were an hour's bus ride from Lindos where you get like the whitewashed um buildings vibe an amazing beach like flowers everywhere kind of cove vibes um I think it was called St. Paul's or Anthony Quinn I think there's two there's two beaches um Anthony Quinn that I think interesting name for a beach yeah is it St.

SPEAKER_05 43:16

Paul did he get shipwrecked there? Well people get shipwrecked around Greece a lot don't they?

SPEAKER_01 43:20

Let me search I feel like St. Paul was shipwrecked somewhere or was that Gibraltar fact check yeah fact check apparently um St. Paul was said to have landed there in 51 AD there's a tiny like white chapel that overlooks 51 AD how old was he when the D happened to have landed there but that must have been he must have been quite old by that point surely crazy crazy crazy what do I know it's it's just absolutely stunning. But yeah and then um if you travel an hour in the other direction Then you can see Rhodes Old Town, which is um kind of remind me of when we went to Mallorca. I don't know how you describe it, but the traditional brick um buildings, just a very different architectural vibe, but like all these very narrow labyrinthine roads. Um yeah, just and all the cats kind of running along the top of them.

SPEAKER_05 44:25

You can't go to Greece if you don't like cats, I think.

SPEAKER_01 44:27

That's fair.

SPEAKER_05 44:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 44:28

They don't deserve to go.

SPEAKER_05 44:30

Do you ever like you know when you go on holiday? I do this all the time. You Google Street View where you're staying.

SPEAKER_02 44:34

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 44:35

So when I was doing that for the hotel where I'm going next week, I found a place on the map, like two minutes up the road called Cat Spot. And it's just where you go if you want to see the feed the local cats and like maybe donate money or whatever.

SPEAKER_03 44:48

Made it onto the map.

SPEAKER_05 44:49

Yeah. So I'll be visiting Cat Spot.

SPEAKER_03 44:51

Cat Spot.

SPEAKER_05 44:52

Um, yeah, taking some dreamies for them. Maybe some more nutritionally complete food, actually.

SPEAKER_03 44:59

Do they want that or do they just want dreamies? The cats just yearn for dreamies. Not sponsored by dreamies.

SPEAKER_05 45:04

No.

SPEAKER_03 45:05

I couldn't.

SPEAKER_05 45:05

Do you know what they call dreamies in in Greece?

SPEAKER_03 45:07

No, what do they call them in Greece?

SPEAKER_05 45:09

So I just assume they'd be called dreamies, but they're not. They're called catisfactions.

SPEAKER_03 45:12

Catisfactions are so much better.

SPEAKER_05 45:14

Which why don't we call them that here?

SPEAKER_03 45:16

Immediately change them to that. Yeah. Yep.

SPEAKER_05 45:18

So petition to the manufacturer of dreamies.

SPEAKER_03 45:21

Yep.

SPEAKER_05 45:21

Call them catisfactions everywhere. Because also like that's not that'sn't that doesn't work in Greek, I imagine. No, because it's not a good thing. It relies on an English language. Yeah. So why can't get no idea? So then you get catisfactions and we get dreamies.

SPEAKER_03 45:35

I feel like I've been robbed now.

SPEAKER_05 45:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 45:36

Damn. Nice. What about um has anyone been to Santorini? I have not, no.

SPEAKER_01 45:41

You would you would love to go. I did look at it as an option, but then I think the price is a lot higher. Yeah. I'd say it's on my bucket list for sure. Yeah, just the blue boot top buildings.

SPEAKER_03 45:54

It's pretty iconic. I fear I fear that it would be over over-touristed, but yeah.

SPEAKER_05 46:00

I, whenever I think of Santorini, it just reminds me of like a it was like a Muller yogurt advert with like Man Amanda Holden.

unknown 46:07

Okay, okay.

SPEAKER_05 46:08

And she was eating Greek Muller yogurt.

SPEAKER_04 46:10

Ah in Santorini.

SPEAKER_05 46:12

Yeah, and she really annoys me. No offense.

SPEAKER_03 46:15

Well, I can only assume she's listening. She's listening. Oh, she will be listening. She'll be one of our 12 listeners, yeah. She'll be listening. She'll be listening.

SPEAKER_05 46:22

Um yeah. Just a couple of things I wanted to touch on while we're in Greece. Um, Uzo. Wow. Fan.

SPEAKER_03 46:29

I haven't tried it. You've not tried it. I brought some, I yeah, brought some home from the airport. You go to like duty free, you know, stock up on your Greek bits and pieces. I I haven't tried it.

SPEAKER_05 46:38

Interesting.

SPEAKER_03 46:39

Yeah, what's it uh is it like sambuka, is that right?

SPEAKER_05 46:42

Kind of, yeah. It's it it is like a similar sort of aniseedy flavour. Yeah, I don't like it. I think it's disgusting.

SPEAKER_03 46:48

No.

SPEAKER_05 46:49

But like it's got this cool thing where you if you add cold water to it, it turns white.

SPEAKER_03 46:52

Oh, okay. Like a bit like pastise.

SPEAKER_05 46:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 46:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 46:55

So like that's that's how the locals drink it.

SPEAKER_03 46:58

Okay. With water. So they'll water drink down the drinks. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 47:01

Yeah. Um but you can do that with whiskey, can't you? Like add water to it. I mean, I I don't drink whiskey either.

SPEAKER_03 47:07

Yeah, nope, I haven't tried. I've got a little bottle of it on the shelf, but I haven't tried, I should have brought it in, shouldn't I? We could have all tried it together.

SPEAKER_05 47:13

Yeah. Oh my god.

SPEAKER_03 47:14

Life taste test.

SPEAKER_05 47:15

Um in Corfu, interestingly, they do have oozo, but they ha their local tiple is like it's bright orange.

SPEAKER_04 47:21

Oh, really?

SPEAKER_05 47:21

And it's made with oh, I'm gonna get the fruit wrong. I want to say cum quats. And it's like a kumquat liqueur. Interesting. And it's bright orange, and it it basically just tastes like uzo, but yeah. I remember actually liking it. I think I was probably it had a lot of alcohol at that point. I was just like, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 47:41

I didn't know that's what cumquats look like. They look like tiny little squat oranges. Yeah. Little you slice it and it's in the perfect form.

SPEAKER_05 47:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 47:49

Yeah. Wow. Um haven't tried that, but I have tried Mastica. Have you tried guys tried that?

SPEAKER_05 47:54

I don't think I have, no.

SPEAKER_01 47:56

When I was at um the hotel in Rhodes, the they did like a special cocktail, and there was a really lovely person there that um like talked us through it, and it was it was called like Salty Tears or something. I don't think their name was like a traditional name, but um, they put an olive in it. Um, and yeah, it's from I think the Mastica tree, and it almost reminds me of like a pine flavour, like you get that tree hint, or yeah, kind of like fennely, so not like super medicinal, like the sounds of like the yeah, such as and but um yeah, that we brought back quite a few bottles, and I've only made it once. I just don't know if I can recreate it in the same way.

SPEAKER_05 48:45

So, what is it like a cocktail?

SPEAKER_01 48:47

Yeah, you may you can have it quite a few different ways, I think. Um, yeah, let me see what sort of things is a liqueur. I think it's quite strong to be fair. Um, yeah, let's see what like the most famous cocktail is. I think I just added like soda, you can add basil to it as well, honey, lemon juice.

SPEAKER_03 49:08

I think it's it's in Greek honey. Yeah, yes. Sounds quite refreshing.

SPEAKER_01 49:13

Yes, that was it. I was like, it's quite neutral. There's enough going on. It felt like super refreshing, almost weirdly a health drink. I don't know, it's pretty dark at all.

SPEAKER_05 49:25

Yeah, like it sounds like a bit almost like tonic-y, like you know, when you have like all the botanicals in tonic water and gin, like it sounds a bit like that, which I love.

SPEAKER_01 49:34

So I'll bring some in. That's it.

SPEAKER_05 49:38

We'll have a little have a little chin chin next to you.

SPEAKER_01 49:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 49:42

Um okay, cool. What's your favourite Greek food?

SPEAKER_01 49:46

What a question.

SPEAKER_03 49:47

It's difficult. Um I love olives. I think where we where we went to in Greece was uh was in kalamata, so there was a lot of calamata olives. Olives. Um lovely. And it's like a Greek salad. Um Greek salad bangs. Yeah. We tried these like lovely little uh like a like a beef, almost like a kababi type thing, that with like some yogurt. Wasn't like Eros, it was like oh I can't think.

SPEAKER_05 50:14

Was it like one like a kind of sausage on a stick type?

SPEAKER_03 50:16

No, no, it was more like round, actually, like little, like little patties, like just some grilled beef thing. It was amazing. Um I mean I think all Greek food is pretty, is pretty lovely. Uh like one of my favourite things like the Greek buffet. Um the breakfast buffet in the morning, and there's like fresh honey with like the honeycomb. Yeah, yes, beautiful. The yogurt, oh, it's just so good. Greek yogurt. I think Greek food maybe is um is it might be one of the best cuisines I think you could have. Yeah. Do you? I f I think so. I feel like like younger me would have been like Italian, Italian, Italian.

SPEAKER_01 50:47

Um when it's hot and you want something, the taziki as well, like I would always like try and avoid getting a starter just to like save a bit of cash if I could sometimes, but I could not resist. It was taziki every day. Yeah, so good.

SPEAKER_05 51:04

Sometimes just flatbread and like taziki is like it's just that's enough. That's cool. Yeah, just happy with that for lunch.

SPEAKER_01 51:11

It's beautiful.

SPEAKER_05 51:12

Although I wouldn't get it at your hotel because it's only half board.

SPEAKER_01 51:17

What did you say about the sausage a second ago? The village village sausage is the thing, right?

SPEAKER_05 51:22

The village sausage. I haven't actually known.

SPEAKER_01 51:27

Oh, oh tell us about the village sausage that you've tried. It was very good. I don't know how to describe it much more than it's it is just a very, very lovely piece of sausage. It's quite let me see if I can find pictures. Village sausage.

SPEAKER_00 51:43

Did this village sausage have a name?

SPEAKER_01 51:46

That's just what it was known by. Yeah, I don't know how you guys would describe it.

SPEAKER_05 51:52

Like a big, a big, big old sausage.

SPEAKER_03 51:54

Yeah, like a big old sausage.

SPEAKER_01 51:56

There you go. But the flavourings, it was yeah, it was gorgeous. That was that was a bit of a highlight for me.

SPEAKER_03 52:04

Well I liked about Greece as well. I liked the fact that when you say like good morning, good evening, good afternoon, that they're all like really similar. Like the colours better, meta.

SPEAKER_05 52:15

Yeah. I ha I I'm ashamed to admit that I'm my Greek is terrible.

SPEAKER_03 52:19

I mean, come on now.

SPEAKER_05 52:20

Yeah, I know.

SPEAKER_03 52:21

You don't have lessons at home?

SPEAKER_05 52:22

No, I did try doing the Duolingo thing. For a week, a solid week, I was really good. I was like number one on the leaderboards for like the streak, but then I got back to England and just stopped entirely.

SPEAKER_01 52:37

It's one of those, isn't it?

SPEAKER_05 52:39

Um plus Greek is hard actually, because you have to there's like a different alphabet as well.

SPEAKER_01 52:44

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_05 52:45

Which like is a whole extra level of brain. Um I was gonna say something else actually, but I can't. Oh yes. Greek pastries.

SPEAKER_03 52:54

Oh, like uh we need to talk about.

SPEAKER_05 52:56

Okay. Because I feel like they often get overlooked in the kind of pastry like patisserie circle.

SPEAKER_03 53:02

Is it kind of like a backlit, but not because I presume backliver is not Greek, right? Is it not? Is it Turkish?

SPEAKER_05 53:08

I don't know, maybe it's I've just assumed it was Turkish, but maybe my eyes have been opened to Greek baked goods.

SPEAKER_03 53:15

Yep.

SPEAKER_05 53:16

And actually they are I think quite elite.

SPEAKER_03 53:18

So when you get like the it's like the pastry and like the honey, the nuts. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 53:24

Like there's the feta and feta feta and spinach one.

SPEAKER_03 53:31

Yes.

SPEAKER_05 53:32

It's pan spanicopita.

SPEAKER_03 53:34

Spanicopita.

SPEAKER_05 53:35

Yeah, love that one. Um even though I don't really like feta. Um but they're sweet ones. Um Bugatsa.

SPEAKER_03 53:43

Bless you.

SPEAKER_05 53:44

Which is like phyllo pastry with like like a kind of like vanilla custard type filling, and then more phyllo pastry on top.

SPEAKER_03 53:51

Why didn't we bring these along? We could have bugatsa, be a whole party. We're gonna be a whole thing.

SPEAKER_05 53:56

Yeah, and um they have it at Christmas. What is it called? Oh my god, what is it called?

SPEAKER_01 54:03

Is it a type of pastry?

SPEAKER_05 54:04

It's I suppose pastry's a loose term, it's like a kind of cakey biscuit thing.

SPEAKER_01 54:08

Ooh.

SPEAKER_05 54:08

It's like a kind of really moist biscuit, like lump I'm not explaining it at all. It's kind of like a cheesecake.

SPEAKER_03 54:17

We do moist biscuit in home with her in a sausage.

SPEAKER_05 54:19

Um, but like in a bowl, and it's like covered in like syrup or and honey, and it's got like walnuts in it.

SPEAKER_03 54:24

Very nice.

SPEAKER_05 54:25

But I forget the name of it.

SPEAKER_03 54:27

Melacamonera Melamaconara Oh, how can't you smell it?

SPEAKER_05 54:33

Melamacon macor Melamacarena.

SPEAKER_03 54:36

Melamacarena. Hi.

SPEAKER_05 54:40

Mella Melamacarona.

SPEAKER_03 54:42

Melamacarona.

SPEAKER_05 54:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 54:44

I'm looking at a picture now on it. Melamacarona's really, really good.

SPEAKER_05 54:47

Yeah. Honey cookies, egg-shaped dessert made from flour, olive oil, and honey, along with the curibes. Sounds like a band, I don't know what that is. Um traditional dessert prepared at Christmas. Um, littles do them at Christmas time.

SPEAKER_03 55:02

What?

SPEAKER_05 55:03

Add those to your basket.

SPEAKER_03 55:04

Another little plug there.

SPEAKER_05 55:06

Yeah. You they do the best Greek food in the UK, apart from you know, like Greek supermarkets.

SPEAKER_03 55:11

Yeah, but from yeah.

SPEAKER_05 55:12

Like actual Greeks probably do it better, but but yeah. So don't go alone time.

SPEAKER_03 55:17

Don't go alone. Yeah. Spooky.

SPEAKER_05 55:20

What do you know about the evil eye?

SPEAKER_03 55:23

The evil eye. Is that like the I brought my daughter like a bracelet that's got like a little eye on it and like some blue beads? Yeah. Is that the evil eye?

SPEAKER_05 55:32

It's it's it related to the eye. Related to the evil eye, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 55:36

It was a whole shop. There was a whole thing of the shop with that had that on it.

SPEAKER_05 55:38

Do you like but they're everywhere, aren't they, when you go?

SPEAKER_03 55:40

Yes. I mean, there was one shop on the resort that had it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 55:43

Oh, okay. But you didn't leave the resort.

SPEAKER_03 55:45

I didn't leave the resort, so uh, I'm sure I would have seen it everywhere.

SPEAKER_05 55:48

So I feel like you must have seen them as well. But the kind of blue charms with the eyes on.

SPEAKER_01 55:52

Isn't it like it's supposed to ward away like the evil eye? Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 55:58

So ironically. They are these sort of the charms themselves. Like, I feel like once you've seen them, you would just constantly see them. They're like in like you find them often hanging from like the mirror in a taxi, or like they'll be on someone's door, or they'll wear it as jewellery. Um, they are pretty much everywhere. And I just thought maybe we could explore that.

SPEAKER_03 56:19

Let me want to hear more.

SPEAKER_05 56:20

What's that all about? Um, so they the charms themselves are called something that I didn't write down.

SPEAKER_01 56:28

Oh, well that's perfect. Is it ha Hamza, or is that different? Is that the hand with the evil eye in it?

SPEAKER_05 56:33

There is a hand version as well. Yeah. Because the evil eye is like an ancient world superstition that's kind of spread across lots of different cultures, but actually in Greece they still sort of they still have superstitions about it, which I think is quite interesting. Like it's it hasn't really died away.

SPEAKER_03 56:49

No, what sort of superstition is it?

SPEAKER_05 56:51

So the evil eye is um so the symbol on so the the blue charm itself isn't the evil eye, that's what you use to kind of fight the evil eye. Um but the evil eye itself um sort of is a belief that goes back thousands and thousands of years um to ancient Greece. Um and the idea is that basically if you like too much attention on a person, right? You can accidentally give someone the evil eye. So and it's not like it's not necessarily because someone doesn't like you or the or they've cursed you. It's like it's pretty much accidental.

SPEAKER_03 57:31

Is it like the universe is paying too much attention to you?

SPEAKER_05 57:34

It's more like um if someone has something that you covet or envy, yeah, like you can't kind of maybe you can't sort of help help it. Yep. So you just kind of it manifests as the evil eye, and it's kind of misfortune on the person who's got something that you want.

SPEAKER_03 57:51

Energy shifts.

SPEAKER_05 57:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 57:53

Okay.

SPEAKER_05 57:53

Um yeah, and we knew the evil eye right now. Yeah, well, I've got my my charm somewhere protected. Yeah, ancient Greeks suspected that it could make you ill, exhausted, or unlucky if you were to receive the evil eye, so they often warned against it. Um and like I said, the blue eye is what protects you from it, um, and it's an eye staring back outwards, which is supposed to reflect or absorb the energy before it reaches you. Oh, nice.

SPEAKER_03 58:21

Okay.

SPEAKER_05 58:21

So worth having. Definitely. Um and is that were you just asking why a blue eye?

SPEAKER_03 58:28

Um I might have done.

SPEAKER_05 58:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 58:30

Why a blue eye?

SPEAKER_05 58:32

Well, I'll tell you. We don't know for sure. Um, but there are several theories. One is that it relates to the sea and the sky, which famously are blue.

SPEAKER_03 58:40

Famously, yes. It's known. Yeah. The sky is blue.

SPEAKER_05 58:44

And also, obviously, blue is very Greek.

SPEAKER_03 58:47

But why is it why is blue a very Greek colour?

SPEAKER_05 58:51

People um have associated blue um with calmness, safety, spirituality, and protection. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 58:57

Um I mean, if you had to pick a colour to associate with Greece, it would be blue.

SPEAKER_05 59:00

I feel like it would be blue, yeah. Or white. But white's kind of like the default, isn't it? Yeah, no. Is it not? Lack of colour.

SPEAKER_03 59:06

It's that's it's actually all of the colours combined.

SPEAKER_05 59:10

Yeah. Like when they spin the thing really fast at school. Do you remember that? Yeah, yes. Um But yeah, the other theory um is that um people with blue eyes in like the ancient world, especially in the Mediterranean. It's like that would have been an unnatural. Very rare occurrence, yeah. You wouldn't find a blue-eyed person in that part of the world. Um, so they sort of were seen as a bit more sort of mysterious, a bit more unsettling, or perhaps more powerful. Yes. Um so yeah, people believed that they were more capable of giving the blue eye, the evil eye, excuse me. So that's why they then used that to deflect it. Um yeah.

SPEAKER_01 59:48

Interesting.

SPEAKER_05 59:49

Good to know. Very good to know. I've got blue eyes.

SPEAKER_03 59:52

Do you have blue eyes? Yeah. I don't think I've ever looked so directly at you.

SPEAKER_05 59:57

They're blue. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 59:59

How's that make you feel? Do you feel unnatural?

SPEAKER_05 1:00:03

When I go to ancient the ancient Greece, it's quite unsettling because people think I'm gonna give them the evil eye.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:08

I would be quite unsettled if I turned up in ancient Greece.

SPEAKER_05 1:00:10

Yeah. Yeah. I reckon it'll be alright. It'll be much more colourful.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:14

Like a fun time to visit vomitoriums and what was that Roman?

SPEAKER_05 1:00:18

Vomatoriums of Roman, yeah. Um funny, you should bring up Romans actually, because they also had their own version of the evil eye. Oh really? Yeah, but it wasn't an eye symbol that they used, um, it was a phallus.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:30

Oh.

SPEAKER_05 1:00:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:31

Of course it was. Is that why next to all the evil eyes in the in the souvenir shops, there's always a key ring or different paraphernalia?

SPEAKER_05 1:00:42

So I'm not saying that it's not why, but you know, but there's gotta be a reason why there's always that's interesting.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:50

That's because I was at the airport and we're climbing back, and I was buying the bracelets, and my daughter was there, and that was like, cover your eyes. Like, why is there just well there we go?

SPEAKER_05 1:01:01

Like, I feel like every tourist shop that you go to has a lot of stuff or a key ring that has that shape attached in some form.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:11

And now we know it's warding off the evil eye.

SPEAKER_05 1:01:13

Yeah. This week on the departure lounge. What does the evil eye and the giant dick have in common? So, yeah, interesting. I thought.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:21

Interesting, yeah. A lot of my South Asian friends they believe in the evil eye now as well.

SPEAKER_05 1:01:26

Yeah, do they have the hand like symbol more than the eye symbol?

SPEAKER_01 1:01:30

I haven't seen the symbols attached to it, like when they've spoken about it. Maybe it's just them as individuals, but yeah, for example, um, someone I know, they didn't post their wedding on social media because they were worried that they lie. Yeah, and they won't speak about certain accomplishments always, or yeah.

SPEAKER_05 1:01:48

Like it's very much like when you're when you you're you're you're successful or or you've got something that you think other people might want. Yeah, like it's kind of like don't talk about it because I don't want I don't want the evil eye.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:59

Stay humble, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 1:02:00

Which I guess is a nice is a nice message, but also like own your achievements.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:04

Yeah, like take those flowers.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:06

I see both, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 1:02:07

Yeah, I'll take the evil eye and I'll take the money.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:11

You're like bring on the evil eye, I don't care.

SPEAKER_05 1:02:13

Yeah, I've got blue eyes, I'll just send it back.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:15

Actually, you're putting the evil eye on all of us.

SPEAKER_05 1:02:17

Yeah, I am evil eyeing everyone. Um cool, yeah. So that's don't go alone this week. Well, not really scary, but I just thought it was quite yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:27

Yeah. Could be could be scary.

SPEAKER_05 1:02:29

Because I've oft wondered what those eyes are all about.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:31

Um I feel enlightened.

SPEAKER_05 1:02:32

Yeah, and now you don't need to. Next time you go to scree, you'll be like, I remember what that is for. Um we're gonna add a new segment now. Oh, a new segment. I know, only one two episodes in and I'm already changing the format. Um Beach reads. Beach reads, beach reads, books that you read on the beach, beach reads, or by the pool, or just abroad.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:54

Beach reads. Yeah. Holiday reads.

SPEAKER_05 1:02:56

Holiday reads, yeah. Yeah. So what were we recommending for a Greece holiday?

SPEAKER_03 1:03:00

Obviously the Odyssey. You know, just pop to the beach pool side. Yeah. So I didn't How many pages is the Odyssey?

SPEAKER_05 1:03:09

I don't know actually. I did have a copy of it when I was like at university, I never read it.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:14

I thought you get like you know, we get those Kindle covers that are like look like book covers. You just like get like a fake one that's like the Odyssey, you're like, Yeah, I'm reading the Odyssey actually inside. It's like fifty shades of grey.

SPEAKER_05 1:03:24

Yeah, like some clean Hoover, not so interestingly, obviously the length varies by translation and publisher, but typically it's about 350 to 600 pages, which doesn't seem that long.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:36

It's achievable.

SPEAKER_05 1:03:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:37

There we go, reading the Odyssey.

SPEAKER_05 1:03:39

Um because it's an an ancient epic, it's more accurately measured by its 12,110 original lines of Greek verse divided into 24 books or chapters. Um so I suppose if you're gonna read the original Greek version, then you it might be a bit tougher.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:57

I feel like there's modern versions and retellings, aren't there?

SPEAKER_01 1:03:59

I think I read earlier that was it a 2017 or a 2019 book is the one that the new movie is going to be based on. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay.

SPEAKER_05 1:04:09

I read that, which is interesting. Like, I feel like why have so many translations for the same thing?

SPEAKER_01 1:04:16

I feel like there would have been a classic we would have landed on by now. Yeah. I don't know. Just set in stone.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:22

Yeah, I don't know. I feel like I sent you to Kefalonia, therefore I'll send you off with uh Captain Curly's Mandolin.

SPEAKER_05 1:04:28

Another classic. Another classic, yeah. Um isn't that the one that they always read at weddings?

SPEAKER_03 1:04:34

Um I don't you know again, it's a classic that I've never I've never read.

SPEAKER_05 1:04:37

Yeah, I've never read that either.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:38

I know there was a film, I didn't watch the film either.

SPEAKER_05 1:04:40

No, it had Penelope Cruise in it. Yeah. The famously Greek um actress.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:44

Famously Greek Penelope Cruise. Perfect. And the actor's name has escaped me. So yeah. It's meant to be very good, but don't know. No. No. Song of Achilles, we could send you off with Song of Achilles.

SPEAKER_05 1:04:55

What's the hat?

SPEAKER_03 1:04:56

Uh that's kind of a more modern one. Um someone Miller, I think, is her surname.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:00

Oh, I was gonna say Cersei by Madeline Miller. Yes, Madeline Miller, there we go.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:04

I wondered if Achilles is the first one.

SPEAKER_05 1:05:06

Oh, is it like a like a kind of modern retelling? Yeah, I guess it's about uh Achilles and a retelling of the Trojan War. So it's kind of like the Iliad. Yeah. But modern.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:16

Modern. And I guess on the love between Achilles and Patroclus or how you pronounce his name. Oh spicy.

SPEAKER_05 1:05:23

Oh weird novel.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:26

Yeah. I mean, I think Madeleine Miller's yeah, worse has she written.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:29

Um I those are the two main ones that I know I think really blew up. Cersei is the other one. Yeah, who's a goddess of magic, wish witchcraft, sorcery. I did start reading it in I think 2018, and I loved it so much. I'm just not a huge reader. I think I just got distracted and didn't go back. But this conversation just made me want to revisit it.

SPEAKER_05 1:05:55

I just thought of another book which actually would be quite good for Greece.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:57

Okay.

SPEAKER_05 1:05:58

Um, it's called The Penelope. Like a novella. Okay. And it's, I think it's Margaret Atwood who did the Pan Maid's Tale. She did. Um, and it's the Odyssey, but from the perspective of Penelope.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:11

Wow. Oh nice. Okay. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 1:06:12

So like where she's kind of waiting for like however long, it's like 10-20 years that she's waiting. Spoilers.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:17

Um yeah.

SPEAKER_05 1:06:19

And it's like her kind of batting off all the suitors and trying to kind of keep everything going while he's off, you know, having a great time with Calippo, Calypso. Nice. Um yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:33

The other one would be um Stephen Fry has really interesting um mythos. Yes, retellings of the Greek myths.

SPEAKER_05 1:06:40

I have actually written that one down.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:41

You have written there we go.

SPEAKER_05 1:06:43

Yeah, Stephen Fry Heroes, um, which I picked up at the book swap, the Folkestone book swap. Okay. Yeah. After two swaps, because I didn't like the the one that I got before that. Um yeah, I thought that I'd like to. I've read heroes. I've read mythos I've read. Yeah. Is it like is it fiction?

SPEAKER_03 1:07:00

Or is it like a kind of it's it's basically retelling of the Greek myths, but in like a much more I don't know, less textbooky kind of way.

SPEAKER_05 1:07:07

Right.

SPEAKER_03 1:07:08

Um I I learned tons. Yeah. That's great.

SPEAKER_05 1:07:11

I like that when you learn things, but you're having fun at the same time.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:14

Yeah. And um the audiobook is great. Although the voice is very soothing. That's it.

SPEAKER_05 1:07:21

I always forget about audiobooks. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:07:24

Um interesting.

SPEAKER_05 1:07:25

What are you reading right now? Anything interesting that might be relevant?

SPEAKER_03 1:07:29

That's a great question. What am I reading right now?

SPEAKER_05 1:07:31

I don't know.

SPEAKER_03 1:07:33

I'm reading something, but that might now you asked me, I can't remember what it is. I'm reading a book called The Expanded Earth. Okay. And everybody is um shrunk down to a tiny tiny size.

SPEAKER_05 1:07:46

It's like a Is it because there's like space issues?

SPEAKER_03 1:07:51

Um I I've only just started it, but yeah, I think that they I think they make a uh uh trying to speak to God, I think is the and then that everyone they wake up and they've all just been like shrunk down to like little borrower sized people and like not many people survived it. So that's what I'm reading at the moment. Yeah, how far into it are you? I mean pages. Oh, I've just got started. But yeah. Okay. How about you?

SPEAKER_01 1:08:16

Um yeah, not big reader. I am reading The Man, the Fish in the Sea randomly, which is a very, very short book. I think I picked it up for the flight um to Seville, actually, because I just saw it was tiny, just fit, um, fit in my bag. And yeah, I know that it's a huge classic, and I'm very interested to see where it goes. But yeah, it's following a um kind of the life of an old fisherman and his friends with a younger Jen, and he's living like a very stripped back, simple life, and I don't know, it's quite simple language, but like there's a lot of grit and heart in there so far.

SPEAKER_05 1:09:01

Um that's sort of what you want for a beach read. Like it I feel like the story or like the content can be whatever it is, but like told in a simple way so that you don't have to think too hard.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:12

Because when the sun's shining as well, it's like I can't process this.

SPEAKER_05 1:09:16

Yeah, three cocktails in and you're trying to read exactly I'm reading a book called The Labyrinth. No, that's not right. The clock house murders. Oh, that sounds very cheerful for a big tree. Yeah, it's like a Japanese murder mystery. Fine. Um yeah, people get killed in the house called the clock house, they're currently locked in, getting picked off one by one.

SPEAKER_03 1:09:38

If we have a Japan episode, then that's they'll be perfect.

SPEAKER_05 1:09:40

Yeah, there's a there's a whole series of Japanese murder mysteries, it's called the the ex-house murders. Um I'm currently on my second one.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:48

Um What do you think of the first one?

SPEAKER_05 1:09:51

Um It was fine. Had a good double twist.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:55

Okay.

SPEAKER_05 1:09:56

Which there's literally no way you could see coming. You could see it coming, but like you couldn't see it coming. I can't really explain it. Um the seeds were sown, but all of the kind of it's one of those ones, it's kind of like, you know, what's that Sherlock thing like when you eliminate everything, then like basically there was only one only one possibility it could be. Oh but like the way that it's set up, like you kind of think, well hang on, that this is the only way this can be, but I I don't know because obviously there's one key bit of information missing until the reveal. And because of because it's a book, like it kind of it's it could only work as a book. It's hard to explain, you have to read it. Um yeah, beach reads. Um I have it on good authority that we're gonna get a new official Holiday Extras Beach Reads of 2026 list.

SPEAKER_03 1:10:48

I think that is true, yeah. We're gonna uh yeah, find out um what the team's favourite beach reads are, what our customers' favourite beach reads are, and yeah, bring bring them to bring them to the table. Yeah. Discuss them.

SPEAKER_05 1:11:00

Talk about them, read them.

SPEAKER_03 1:11:01

Read them, yeah. That's it. We've got a little book club, couldn't we? Yeah. Yeah. More homework to do between episodes. That's it. Read a book, read the Odyssey, plan a trip. Yep.

SPEAKER_05 1:11:11

I feel like we'll still be reading the Odyssey Odyssey next year. Yep. Um just watching.

SPEAKER_03 1:11:16

I have time to do read it though after this. I feel like I'm interested.

SPEAKER_05 1:11:19

Have a go.

SPEAKER_03 1:11:20

Right. Yeah. Report back.

SPEAKER_05 1:11:22

Um, right, it's time to get serious, guys. Oh no. It's time for gate change.

SPEAKER_03 1:11:27

Serious. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 1:11:28

Let's get serious. Check it out. This is where we talk about the most hard-hitting issues facing travel today, which we touched upon this earlier, there aren't really many at the moment. Um, but Greece specifically. I wanted to kind of talk about fantasy versus reality.

SPEAKER_03 1:11:41

Okay.

SPEAKER_05 1:11:42

You know, because it's like mythology and oh I like that. Yeah. Um by which I mean, does Greece live up to the hype?

SPEAKER_03 1:11:52

Okay.

SPEAKER_05 1:11:53

Because we taught you mentioned it earlier, like places like Santorini or or Mykonos is another big one. Um, very heavily Instagrammed and sort of very aesthetic, and sort of like the typical image of Greece is usually Santorini.

SPEAKER_03 1:12:10

Yep.

SPEAKER_05 1:12:11

Um is that is that what it is actually like, do you think? Is it it does do you think there's an issue with like you set up sort of Santorini or Greece in general being a sp like really kind of cool, really nice, and then when you get there, it doesn't quite match the expectations because they're quite impossibly high.

SPEAKER_03 1:12:28

I feel like, yeah, Santorini in particular is so so picturesque. Obviously, you know, everyone goes to is it Oya, isn't it the town that everyone goes to? But I mean that like it's a it's got the caldera and it's all the whitewash, and but like yeah, not not everywhere is so postcard sort of picture postcard. I mean, when we were driving through on the way to the resort, it's nothing it's nothing like that. You know, it's you know, it was hilly or it's quite you know arid. Um I feel like there must be parts of it that are, but you know, are they then you go there and it's like everyone's trying to take selfish. And like a lot of places in Santorini, uh like adult only and stuff as well now. Oh really? Um yeah, they're trying to keep that. And yeah, I feel like I mean it it's you can't deny it's beautiful. No, but then it's the experience ruined by when you go there, it's all Brits taking it.

SPEAKER_05 1:13:19

Like I can't think of anything worse than being in a sort of a hot place surrounded by people all trying to kind of get the same thing.

SPEAKER_03 1:13:30

And it how did you find it with Athens? Because obviously, like you can think of Athens and you think of and you say like the Acropolis, and it's like this old old city, but you know, is it is it quite modern or is there modern parts of it? Does it feel weird?

SPEAKER_01 1:13:42

Is it like a or is it still kind of old and you know what we were saying earlier about going on Google Maps and like checking where your Airbnb was? I did that, it was me and two other girls, and I immediately had my jaw drop because the road was just like massive bins everywhere, trash everywhere, graffiti all over the walls, and then also just on the corner, there was like a whole building that was like grumbling as we spoke. Um, so I didn't feel as like a as like female, young female travellers didn't feel very safe.

SPEAKER_03 1:14:23

Worried about that.

SPEAKER_01 1:14:24

Yeah, and I think we did stay in a particularly not great street, but also I think most of it was actually like that. Oh really? I was quite like, I was like, oh, it's not kind of what I expected. Um there's a couple of streets in Athens town that like the main, the main kind of high streety bits that I thought, oh no, this is this is cool, this is cute, and a couple of like side roads down down like kind of mountain sides that they had like lots of little bars going up and a cute vibe. But overall, I was like, oh, I'm surprised there's so much hype around this because yeah, if you have all your eyes on the Acropolis, then it is incredible. But a lot around it, I was like, oh, this is not as definitely not like romantic place to stay, and yeah, not super safe and what from what I felt, but and I guess on like Xanti, Corfu, like kind of they have reputations now more of like party islands as well, right?

SPEAKER_03 1:15:26

Like that doesn't kind of fit with what you kind of picture as you know idyllic Greece, I suppose.

SPEAKER_05 1:15:32

No, but I I mean obviously I mean I've been I've been to Corfu I haven't been to Zanti yet, but on Corfu the places that I've been weren't the party places, yeah. So and uh Corfu's actually quite a picturesque place, like it's very like m mountainous and sort of there's lots of like pine groves and things, like it's a very nice looking place. Yeah um so yeah, it's it's interesting. Um interesting as well because of like the the kind of the way that Santorini is always like the place. Like whenever I'm if we're thinking about going to Greece, it doesn't even make my list because I would just really Yeah, I don't I don't I can't be bothered with like all of those people. The steps feels a bit basic now, yeah, and it doesn't feel like it probably is probably quite authentic because obviously it's very traditional and like there's got like I mean I don't really know like ancient bits or whatever, but like when you kind of strip out all of the Greekness from it and just make it a tourist place, it just kind of feels a bit fake.

SPEAKER_01 1:16:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 1:16:37

And I don't really want that.

SPEAKER_01 1:16:39

I do find that a lot of the restaurants are family run and it is local people, which you you really felt like the heart and the care and the cooking a lot of places that I've been to. Yeah. That's nice to see. I don't know if places like Santorini if it's the same because it's such like a hotspot.

SPEAKER_05 1:16:56

Yeah, I mean I just I don't know. I guess we'd we'll have to go. Oh, we'll just have to go. Yeah. We'll just have to trap ourselves. Yeah, interesting.

SPEAKER_03 1:17:04

Yeah, when we were planning trips, I wasn't even didn't even look at it for you. No, yeah, no, I was I assumed it would be much more expensive to go there.

SPEAKER_05 1:17:13

What I find really interesting about Santorini, I guess probably because I'm a bit of a nerd, is like because it's in it's in like a volcanic Cold Era. Cold era, isn't it? And it's like there's this whole kind of um I might be completely wrong, but I feel like you know, like the eight like the there's like a flood myth in every sort of tradition. Like there's a kind of theory that like the great flood from like Christianity was from that volcano erupting, however many thousands of years ago, and that's sort of and I think it because it wiped out the Minoans, yeah. Who lived on Crete.

SPEAKER_03 1:17:47

Yes.

SPEAKER_05 1:17:48

Um so that there's kind of theories that that's where the kind of flood myth originated was because lots of people got wiped out by that volcanic eruption.

SPEAKER_03 1:17:57

It was a super eruption, right?

SPEAKER_05 1:17:59

Yeah, I think it yeah, yeah. Um so that's the only that's why I would want to go to kind of see all that.

SPEAKER_03 1:18:04

Yeah, I feel like for like geographically it's quite yeah interesting. It's just kind of a shame that it's kind of been taken over by kind of Instagram and TikTok and yeah.

SPEAKER_05 1:18:12

But maybe you know, maybe it it's deserving of it as well. Maybe it genuinely is. It's that beautiful, it's that place, and that's you know, yeah, you should go because it's it is really cool. I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 1:18:22

Love to hear everyone's opinions. Yeah. People who have been.

SPEAKER_03 1:18:26

Yeah, if you've been to Santorini. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:18:28

If you want a budget version, Lindos are really.

SPEAKER_05 1:18:35

But that I feel like that's another thing as well, like, because it's so popular, it's so expensive as well, isn't it? So like you kind of you're priced out of it almost.

SPEAKER_03 1:18:43

You are because it's all like infinity pools and all that sort of nonsense.

SPEAKER_05 1:18:46

Yeah, and I see I feel like a lot of the pools in in Santorini are very like private, yeah, like in the accommodation, so you can't just chill at the hotel and go in the pool because it's all too tight and I don't know. I mean I've not been, I can't I couldn't say we assume yeah, we assume from the you know, all the Instagram. Um anything else before we move on?

SPEAKER_03 1:19:08

No, I don't think so.

SPEAKER_05 1:19:09

I think it's destination unknown time. Where um I'll give you three facts about the destination we're talking about next time.

SPEAKER_03 1:19:19

And there's points at play.

SPEAKER_05 1:19:20

Yeah, there is actually very good point.

SPEAKER_03 1:19:24

Points win prizes.

SPEAKER_01 1:19:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 1:19:26

Let me just unhighlight my text so that it's not rejected.

SPEAKER_01 1:19:32

No.

SPEAKER_03 1:19:33

Not cheat allergia. Did you? I didn't cheat. This I feel like is actually a little bit of a cop out, but Oh Um, I don't think it's too easy.

SPEAKER_05 1:19:45

I just think you'll see when you find out what it is.

SPEAKER_03 1:19:48

Fine.

SPEAKER_05 1:19:49

Um okay, fact one.

SPEAKER_03 1:19:50

Okay. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 1:19:51

The world's longest international border is shared between two countries in this region.

SPEAKER_03 1:20:01

So are we trying to guess a region or are we trying to guess a place?

SPEAKER_05 1:20:04

A region, a place. It's not a country. It's not a country, it's a region. No, it's a region.

SPEAKER_03 1:20:09

Like Southeast Asia.

SPEAKER_05 1:20:11

Like any geographical region. Right.

SPEAKER_03 1:20:16

Asia border.

SPEAKER_05 1:20:18

Is that your answer?

SPEAKER_03 1:20:19

I don't know. No, it's another clue. Geographical boundary.

SPEAKER_05 1:20:24

International border.

SPEAKER_03 1:20:25

International border. I feel like it's gotta be like Russia or something.

SPEAKER_01 1:20:28

This is such a silly question, but the Great Wall of China, what does that is that dividing two regions? Or is that just chilling in the middle? It's just in China. I'm trying to look at there's a map over there in front of it. Okay.

SPEAKER_05 1:20:42

Fact two?

SPEAKER_03 1:20:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 1:20:44

One country here contains more than 30 active volcanoes. Which might maybe give you a sense of what I mean when I say region.

SPEAKER_03 1:20:57

Okay.

SPEAKER_05 1:20:58

Because if I say what it really is, then you'll just get it.

SPEAKER_03 1:21:01

30 active volcanoes.

SPEAKER_05 1:21:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:21:04

That's got to be like Pacific Rim. I feel like I should know this. Okay, carry on.

SPEAKER_01 1:21:10

I feel like you're more on it with the geography than I am.

SPEAKER_03 1:21:14

Do you have a degree in geography? There you go.

SPEAKER_01 1:21:16

It's not doing very well right now though, is it?

SPEAKER_05 1:21:18

Okay. Fact three. Uh hang on.

SPEAKER_01 1:21:23

Out of three?

SPEAKER_05 1:21:24

Yeah, out of three. This region includes the busiest airport in the world and some of the least densely populated wilderness on earth.

SPEAKER_01 1:21:35

Busiest airport in the world. Singapore? Busiest No.

SPEAKER_03 1:21:40

Busiest airport in the world.

SPEAKER_05 1:21:42

I hope this is right. I actually didn't chat with these fans.

SPEAKER_01 1:21:47

Busiest airport in the world. Singapore I thought was up there, wasn't it?

SPEAKER_03 1:21:51

Dubai. There's volcanoes around there.

SPEAKER_01 1:21:54

Yeah, the volcanic thing has really thrown me.

SPEAKER_03 1:21:57

Volcanoes. It's like Japan. Oh, like Indonesia.

SPEAKER_05 1:22:04

No. Way off.

SPEAKER_03 1:22:07

Way off. Way off.

SPEAKER_01 1:22:09

America. Mexico. It's not gonna surprise me and be like somewhere in Italy, is it?

SPEAKER_05 1:22:14

No.

SPEAKER_01 1:22:15

It's not it.

SPEAKER_05 1:22:16

So you're you're you're in the region.

SPEAKER_01 1:22:18

I'm in the region, North America.

SPEAKER_05 1:22:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:22:20

Oh, okay. Okay, okay, okay.

SPEAKER_05 1:22:21

So we're copying out, we're just doing a whole continent. We're just doing all of Canada, right? That was painful. Yeah, just because we're from City the US and Canada. The bear with, let me find Canada and the United States stretches for roughly 5,525 miles.

SPEAKER_03 1:22:37

Okay.

SPEAKER_05 1:22:37

And that also obviously includes the bit of Alaska that goes up the side. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 1:22:41

Are we theming this? Is this because of the World Cup?

SPEAKER_05 1:22:43

Yes, obviously. My favourite thing. Yes. So what makes it this a good clue, apparently, is that it instantly evokes North America.

SPEAKER_01 1:22:55

Which part? I don't know.

SPEAKER_05 1:22:56

Just the I don't feel like that. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:22:58

Am I allowed to get North America up as a as a map? Canada, America, Mexico.

SPEAKER_05 1:23:03

Yeah. That's it.

SPEAKER_01 1:23:04

That's it. As in it could be one of those. It's all the whole continent is. You are actually doing con the continent for the next episode.

SPEAKER_05 1:23:11

I feel like we we're just going through the countries too slowly.

SPEAKER_01 1:23:13

So my god, very specific.

SPEAKER_03 1:23:17

It was like Greece, and then we've gone to we'll have a whole continent. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 1:23:20

Damn. So volcanoes-wise. Yes. Ring of Fire. You're very, very correct. Mexico sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire and has dozens of active volcanic systems. Most famous, oh I can't pronounce these. Popo catapetal.

SPEAKER_03 1:23:33

Popo catapetal.

SPEAKER_05 1:23:33

Yeah. Popo catapetl. Colima and Perikutin. Um yeah. Famous active volcanoes in Mexico. I actually didn't know that. Mount St.

SPEAKER_03 1:23:43

Helens?

SPEAKER_05 1:23:44

Yeah, in Northern America. Yeah. Yeah. The big one. If that blows up. The big one. They're all dead.

SPEAKER_03 1:23:48

No, that's Shellowstone.

SPEAKER_05 1:23:49

Oh. Mount St. Helens was one that killed that photographer in the 80s.

SPEAKER_03 1:23:52

Yes, Mount St. Helens was uh famous for having a pyroclastic blast that went sideways out the side of the mountain.

SPEAKER_05 1:23:57

Isn't that what happened in Pompeii?

SPEAKER_03 1:24:00

Uh Pompeii didn't think about it out the side, but yeah, there was that was covered in everybody in ash.

SPEAKER_05 1:24:04

Yeah. I think that's probably one of the worst ways to go. Yeah. Although it must be quite quick.

SPEAKER_01 1:24:10

Yeah, it must be quick. Unless you're just like roasting from as you see it come towards you and you think, oh, that's gonna boil my skin off. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 1:24:16

Yeah. I would probably angle myself head first. Yeah. Perfect. Yeah, because then you haven't got a anyway.

SPEAKER_03 1:24:25

Um I just need to prepare some beach reads for next week then. Yeah. Yeah. Thematic.

SPEAKER_05 1:24:30

I've actually got a really good one, which I read on holiday. Um, it's very on-brown for me, you'll find out when we get to apparently the busiest airport in the world is Atlanta.

SPEAKER_03 1:24:45

Oh, fair enough.

SPEAKER_05 1:24:46

But I don't know if that's true.

SPEAKER_03 1:24:48

Uh I feel like a lot of connecting flights go into Atlanta. Yeah. It's kind of like a hub. Like if you were going to go for somewhere regionally in um US, you would call them flight to Atlanta.

SPEAKER_05 1:24:56

I suppose like domestic ones. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. I suppose actually they get flights like buses, don't they?

SPEAKER_03 1:25:02

Yeah, a lot of them will change in Atlanta.

SPEAKER_05 1:25:03

Um yeah, and obviously you've got northern Canada and Alaska being sort of sparsely populated wilderness.

SPEAKER_03 1:25:09

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 1:25:10

Um so yeah, those are the clues for next week.

SPEAKER_03 1:25:13

Excited.

SPEAKER_05 1:25:14

Um yeah, so we're doing North America because of the football.

SPEAKER_03 1:25:18

Because of the football.

SPEAKER_05 1:25:19

Yeah. But we won't be talking a lot about football, I think. We can talk a little bit about football, but I just I don't think I can carry a podcast for for such a long time talking about football. Um but yeah, I'm actually quite excited. I've not been to North America before.

SPEAKER_03 1:25:34

I've been to North America. Oh, I feel like I've got my leg up here. Yeah, I think you do.

SPEAKER_05 1:25:38

I think advantage. So, um, and actually, do you want me to give you a clue about the the challenge?

SPEAKER_03 1:25:43

Oh I do, I want a clue. Okay. I want to start thinking.

SPEAKER_05 1:25:46

So I want You want an adventure of a lifetime.

SPEAKER_03 1:25:51

Oh my phone. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 1:25:54

I'm thinking, I mean, I don't know yet, but we might just we might bin off the budget for this one. My budget. Because I want there's one specific thing I really want to do, I'm not gonna tell you. But there's one thing I've always wanted to do.

SPEAKER_03 1:26:07

Okay.

SPEAKER_05 1:26:08

So if one of you gets it, then you'll probably just win. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 1:26:16

Interesting.

SPEAKER_05 1:26:16

I mean there's more than one thing. But like specifically, I've always had it on my like bucket list of things.

SPEAKER_01 1:26:22

Okay.

SPEAKER_05 1:26:22

Yeah. So have to see how that goes. I'll send you the challenge in due time. Um but yeah, that brings our episode to a close this time. Episode two, complete.

SPEAKER_03 1:26:36

Nice. We'll see you next time. Yeah. Enjoy your trip to Greece.

SPEAKER_05 1:26:40

Thank you. Have a good time. Thank you. I'll talk about it when we in the next episode for a little bit.

SPEAKER_03 1:26:43

Excited to hear.

SPEAKER_05 1:26:44

Cool. All right. Bye.

SPEAKER_03 1:26:47

Bye. See you.