These photos were taken off the coast of Corfu on a sunset tour I was personally invited to. This happened a little while ago, I was in Corfu and decided to go on a cruise to the Blue Lagoon.
We started by sailing around some small rock islands and through some caves, some of which had paint scraped along the inside where some unfortunate sailors had met an untimely fate with their boats being smashed against the cave wall (look at the far right of the image below).
While I was on this cruise I was introduced to the 1st Mate of the Captain, a tall, tanned, and muscular local man. He was dismissive of me at first (I would later find out it was because English people have a bad reputation on that ship for being rude and rather cowardly) and would stay with the Captain mostly. It was only once we got the lagoon that he started to pay me any attention.
This was because when we got to the lagoon he told a story about how some crazy travelers once insisted on climbing to the top of the ship and jumping off into the lagoon. I am a total adrenaline junkie. As soon as I heard this I really wanted to do it, so when the 1st Mate turned to me and jokingly asked if I would do it I determinedly said yes. His face went from smug and amused to shocked and a little impressed. I excitedly climbed to the top of the ship, as high as I could get.
The 1st Mate followed behind but said nothing but a short warning not to slip. I got to the top, a small audience had formed at this point, and looked down. It was far taller than I expected. I have no fear of heights but looking down I felt a little vertigo. Before I could back out I leapt from the side, striking a weird pose on the way down. Big mistake. I hit the water hard, and as I wasn't holding my nose water rushed up and caused me to have a nose bleed. However, I did not let that get me down, and I emerged aching and bloody to the sound of cheering and applause!
The 1st Mate congratulated me and laughed, telling me that he was impressed. Other people got into the water alongside me, and we swam in the lagoon. There were thousands of fish here, swarming the swimmers. They nibbled my toes, causing me to yelp in surprise. I heard laughter and looked up to see the 1st Mate leaning over the side of the ship watching me. He went away after he saw that I'd noticed him watching me and returned with some bread that had been used to make sandwiches for the cruise goers.
He started throwing bits of bread at me so that the fish would splash me, laughing all the while.
Eventually we got back on board and started sailing back to the town we had departed from, and the 1st Mate sat beside me. He asked me about my trip and how I liked Corfu, we talked for about an hour before he had to go back into the cabin with the Captain. I went to the upper deck to watch the ocean. After around an hour and a half I heard footsteps running up behind me and suddenly I was soaked again, the 1st Mate had splashed me with water! I had a bottle of water myself, so I retaliated, and we chased each other on the deck splashing each other with water and laughing like children until we ran out. Tired but happy I sat back down and watched the ocean until I started to sting from sunburn and went back below deck. The 1st Mate was busy as we were pulling in towards our destination, but as I was about to depart from the ship he pulled me aside and invited me back later in the evening to watch the sunset with him on the ship.
I agreed to come back to where he was dropping me off later in the day, and went back to my hotel to shower and change.
The sunset cruise was beautiful, I was served sparkling white wine while we sailed around the lower part of the island. The 1st Mate showed me where he and the captain lived, a large Mediterranean manor house on the water's edge. He also showed me the small town he grew up in, a series of houses and fruit juice stalls trailing down the mountain side.
The sunset was astounding, as most sunsets are in the Mediterranean. The journey back was a short one, only 40 minutes, during which the 1st Mate and I continued talking, about growing up in Corfu and life in such a tranquil place.
He tried to talk me into staying, as I was flying back the next day. Even inviting me to sleep on the ship if I didn't want to stay in his house. I laughed and joked that I wished that I could, but unfortunately life was awaiting me back in England and I had things to get back to. I was genuinely sad to turn down his offer, a life living by the water's edge sailing every day - that's the dream. However I had a lot of responsibilities that I had to return for, like finishing my degree.
I often wonder what my life would be like if I had said yes. I should have said yes.
♥ Photos taken on a Samsung Galaxy S5 phone ♥