The One With the Shipwreck
Day 3️⃣ Alright y’all, we got a 78 sleep score last night which compared to the solid 30s I’ve been averaging? Groundbreaking. Life changing. It was 63° when we woke up today which SOUNDS pleasant until you remember we were spending the day swimming & speeding around the sea on a boat. & this girly pop packed exactly zero pants. So we rallied in shorts & swimsuits like true athletes. (Yes I was freezing. No I learned nothing.)
I responsibly applied sunscreen this morning (ahem Noreen, this one’s for you) & we headed out for the day.
Because of the “cold,” our tour got pushed back a little which was honestly a blessing in disguise because:
We got to sleep until like 6:45 / 7
We got to experience the hotel breakfast buffet again
Free breakfast tastes even better when you think you almost missed it
Our goals for the day:
See a turtle
Fly the drone
Eat gelato
Honestly? Manageable goals. Inspiring even. ONWARD & UPWARD! BIG THING we learned today about Zakynthos: Apparently it’s a HUGE tennis island??? There are courts everywhere, there’s literally a tennis club & I would like to formally propose this as the next family 80th birthday destination solely because of this information (@Michele @Susan @Noreen - thoughts?)
We joined a tour with our guide Phillipe (“Phillip in American”) alongside 4 other Americans, proving the haters wrong. Also a couple from the Netherlands & a Greek woman. We drove through Solomos Square, which inspired the Greek national anthem. Very yellow. Very empty. Very cute. NOW onto our adventure (which definitely was not exactly what we signed up for, but THAT’S OKAY!)
First stop: Panoramic View of Bohali Πανοραμική Θέα Μπόχαλης
Absolutely gorgeous. You could see most of the island, the water, turtle island, all of it. Zakynthos honestly feels weirdly Italian Riviera meets south of France meets “places TikTok forgot to tell me about.”
Meanwhile I’m casually developing mystery hives. Love that for me.
Because of the weather, the itinerary got rearranged which honestly prepared me for my natural habitat: chaotic group travel. Thank you BRI. So instead of the boat first, we headed to
Therianos Family Farm
Immediate issue: deciding whether buying olive oil on day 3 of a multi-city trip was ambitious or deeply irresponsible. Because if that bottle explodes in my suitcase? every outfit becomes focaccia bread.
A woman named Claudia showed us around the farm & casually informed us that the family that owns the farm has been on Zakynthos for over 600 years which honestly made me feel like a temporary guest on earth. The farm was BEAUTIFUL. Woven carpets everywhere that looked exactly like the ones we had growing up, tons of plants, donkeys, ponies, herbs, olive trees, artichoke trees, turtles… yes REAL turtles. baby ones. our mission was technically complete by 10 am. Then came olive oil tasting.
The first EVOO had a bite to it which apparently means it’s good? I nodded like I understood. They also make high phenolic olive oil which is supposedly incredible for you & connected to research on cancer & autism at the university in Athens. This is to be sprayed UNDER the tongue (?) & yes we all shared a bottle. When in Greece, right? But basically olive oil here is less “salad dressing” & more “ancient healing potion.” We also tried their various wines (yes, I said “we” - me included).
Next stop: the oldest olive tree on the island.
This thing is estimated to be over 2,000 years old & STILL produces olives. meanwhile I sleep wrong once & can’t move my neck for 3 business days.
We also learned about the massive 1953 earthquake & saw homes still standing from that time which was super interesting.
THEN IT WAS BOAT TIME YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY
We hopped on this tiny speedboat & headed along the west coast of the island toward the famous shipwreck beach. Do I think this shipwreck might be staged? Possibly. The lore is that it’s called the MV Panagiotis, & it was a freighter that ran “aground” as the sailors say on October 2, 1980, during a storm while allegedly smuggling contraband cigarettes from Turkey for the Italian mafia. I wasn’t alive then so I cannot confirm.
This is where I’d like to thank every terrifying bus ride I’ve ever taken through mountains, winding roads, & cliffs because apparently I’ve built immunity to motion sickness. Meanwhile Evan was fighting for his life beside me. No judgement. Only concern. Don’t tell him I said that.
The scenery though? Unreal. Tiny coves, caves, cliffs, beaches. Greece really said “what if every turn looked fake?”
Eventually we arrived at White Sand Beach where we literally jumped off the boat into freezing cold water & swam to shore. YOLO. obviously I jumped in immediately.
I ended up chatting with some lovely girlies from the UK who had spent an entire WEEK on Zakynthos which only reinforced my belief that I need to come back here someday. Unsure who’s funding this future trip or what milestone we’re celebrating but we’ll figure that out later.
We had about 40 minutes there & honestly? One of those moments where you stop & go “oh this is real life.” I have virtually no photos because I was living my mermaid life in the blue water. But visualize this: cold water. White cliffs. Bright blue sea. No overheating. Incredible.
Then we explored more caves which were… fine? like they were cool but not life altering. I think after seeing beaches that look AI generated it’s hard for caves to compete.
After the boat, we stopped for lunch at Galaxy Taverna where I once again ordered chicken souvlaki because consistency is key. & honestly? this one slapped. Evan ordered a steak approximately the size of his head right before another winding van ride which felt bold but I support him on his personal journey.
THEN we finally made it to THE reason I wanted to come to Zakynthos: THE SHIPWRECK OVERLOOK (yes, this shot is from my drone)
Absolutely insane. Completely worth it. Like genuinely one of the prettiest views I’ve ever seen in my entire life. We walked all the way to the edge, I flew the drone & only almost crashed it (YAYYYY), & honestly I could’ve stayed there for an hour. After that, the group did one final beach stop involving a massive hike down to the water but I was:
still wet
wearing inappropriate footwear
chafing
So we sat that one out. BUT. The biggest news of the day: I officially convinced Evan to rent an ATV tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!! Actually it’s more like a teeny tiny blue ATV car thing but still. HUGE FOR THE PROGRAM!
When we got back to the hotel, we remembered that our room literally has a private pool which still feels fake to type. so naturally we played mermaids. (By “played mermaids” I mean swam awkward laps while trying not to make eye contact with neighboring balconies because apparently people can sort of see into it.)
Current pool ranking: 7.6 / 10 but we reserve the right to adjust this rating after experiencing future pools because apparently this is our life now.
Dinner tonight was at the hotel because we LOVE included meals & as professional food connoisseurs we obviously tried:
opera cake
some mysterious choux dessert
walnut cake (not for me personally)
a milkshake
a smoothie
Honestly? incredible final dinner here. We genuinely loved this hotel so much & tomorrow we even get a complimentary 15 minute massage before checkout because apparently we are spa people now.
Tomorrow’s agenda:
ATV adventure
leaving Zakynthos 😭
finding stracciatella gelato because I haven’t had gelato in TWO DAYS & frankly I deserve compensation
Updated Greece Stats:
Sunscreen applications today: 4
Actual Greek meals: 4
Greek words learned: 4
The new word is Yamas, cheers!
Sunburns: technically 1. missed a tiny patch on my wrist. devastating. apparently my back is also slightly pink according to Evan but I choose not to believe him.
Times I crashed my drone: 0 - TAKE THAT HATERS! But it did almost come crashing down when it lost service which we knew was a risk.
okay that’s all for now. will keep you posted. love you say it back 💙