If ever there were a place created for The Bartender, or if The Bartender were ever created for a place, it would have to be the Greek Islands.
The Greek Islands are my heartbeat, my soulmate, my Margaritaville. They touch my heart, warm my soul and feed my voracious appetite for fun.
Greece has all The Bartender could ever desire in a destination – a beach, a laid-back and casual atmosphere and kick-ass nightlife. It first came to my attention courtesy of Dugan, a calm Californian who served as my hair stylist at the time. She would return from Greece with tales about dancing on bars, drinking loads of alcohol with people from all over the world and being so happy and drunk for two weeks that she hated to leave and couldn’t wait to return.
Yet even this did not properly prepare me for what I was to encounter on my first visit. One night, while struggling through ouzo at the Caprice Bar on Mykonos, I was taken under wing by a sympathetic group of Athenos who showed me if I was to party on the worldwide stage I would have to turn up my revelry level.
Away went the ouzo, in came a squadron of kamikazes and soon I was kissing strangers while standing on the bar singing the latest techno hits. The next day, I awoke naked on my bed covers with a half-eaten gyro on the floor. And I was ready to go after it again. This, I realized, was the power of Greece.
Then there was the time at the Two Brothers Bar in Santorini. A friend and I walked into a frenzy – the place was packed, the music was rocking and the bartenders were handing out shots as if they were free food samples at a grocery store.
.A few hours later the same bartenders strapped us on the back of their mopeds, rode us off in the night and took us to a Greeks-only after-hours bar where, without warning, the two attractive female bartenders stood up and began a striptease to “Leave Your Hat On.” I wound up with the blouse from one of the girls and the other’s underwear was on my friend’s head.
There is so much fun to be had in Greece, it’s hard to actually pinpoint the highlights. For me, would it be learning to ride mopeds, acting like the studs in Easy Rider while headed to the beach? Or sitting out on the deck of the Tropical Bar watching the full moon glow over the caldera on Santorini? Or weaving through Mykonos’ maze of streets in drunken stupor with a girl from Cypress trying to find either one of our rooms?
One of the great thrills of Greece is meeting people from all over the world. Until that Mykonos encounter, I always thought Cypress was a tree. I met a girl from Switzerland on a one-hour ferry ride that transformed into a great friendship with one of her pals who is now States-side.
All the world travels to Greece. And, because they are on holiday, meeting and mingling is as easy as saying “hello.” There is hardly a more friendly place on the planet. The Greeks contribute to this atmosphere by hardly noticing the wild behavior happening all around them. Whatever is going on, they have seen before and will see again. So go crazy. It’s encouraged. And so, I might add, is The Bartender.