I'm not sure why we decided on Greece as we were pretty set on Kavos, again no idea why Kavos. Off we went to the travel agent and put our deposits down. Ness was the oldest and had her own Thai restaurant business so was good at bargaining and managed to get us a discount as we were a large group (always worth a try). I think it was just over £200 which isn't shabby at all.
I should mention before we begin that nearly all of the girls had boyfriends. That hadn't been the case when we'd booked it but just a few months later everyone was either in a full blown relationship or at least had a 'thing' going on back home. My boyfriend at the time had practically banned me from going, then when it became clear that I was still hell bent on going he relented but sulked for quite some time. I don't think the other girls boyfriends were too happy either and I don't really blame them as 18-30 holidays are the perfect place for one night stands and holiday romances and it's pretty much encouraged from the moment you get off the plane by the reps and holiday makers. That doesn't mean you have to but if you wanted to no one's going to tell your mum.
So off we went to catch our flight where two of the girls whipped out six bright pink vest tops they'd had made with our nicknames on the back. As far as my memory goes this is what they were:
Sarah- 'The Situation'Vicky- 'Sticky'
Katie- 'Bubbles'
Kirsty- 'Bam Bam'
Vanessa- 'Nessa'
Me -'Flipper'
I want to say that I know exactly why we were called these names but for the most part I don't. I know mine had something to do with a night out in Liverpool when I went wandering off on my own but it was so cold I stuck my arms to my sides and my hands out like flippers resembling a penguin and that's all the girls could see as I walked off into the distance. And I know Vicky was called 'Sticky' because it rhymes with Vicky amongst other reasons. Whatever each personal reason behind the names were we all loved the tops because they were pink and tight and made with love.
Our hotel was pretty pants by my standards, I didn't even have a bed! I'd opted to share a room with Vicky and Sarah and as they were besties I let them have the double bed. My 'bed' was just a shelf tacked onto the side of that, basically just a sofa but so thin that if I was to roll over in the night I often ended up face down on the floor. There was a kitchen area but it was just two gas rings and I do believe there was gone off milk in the fridge and some bugs but I'd run off before I could inspect any closer. The only redeeming feature about the room was that it had a big enough mirror so that 2.5 girls could use it at any one time. We were on the ground floor but we did have a balcony although no air conditioning.
True to form the reps were round within seconds of us plonking our bags down but this time I wasn't having any of it. I'd brought around £200 with me because I'd just moved into a flat with my boyfriend and all my money was going on rent and bills (yawn) so I'd had barely anything left over. His mum had ended up lending me £100 and my mum had slipped me £50 but I knew this wasn't going to be enough from the beginning. Especially as the girls insisted on doing at least three of the events which I think was the two hour euro bar, the booze cruise and the white UV party. I reluctantly agreed and handed over at least half of my money.
The weather in Kos was much better than Ibiza without a cloud in the sky so every day we'd get up early and head down to the beach. Nessa and I were hell bent on getting golden tans so we bought some carrot oil factor 10 and went topless but the other girls burnt pretty badly and stayed further up the beach in the shade. Nessa and I took tanning very seriously (something I would not encourage now I'm older and wiser) and stayed out almost till it went dark.
We made firm friends with the guys who ran the water sports activities and who also owned a bar behind the beach which meant we didn't have to pay for sunbeds and they'd bring milkshakes out to us every so often, winner! They also asked us to road test their new water sports ride and I readily agreed and managed to persuade the others after half a day of pleading- I just love water sports! By the time we'd come off the ride everyone was crying and our faces were put on the poster advertising the ride for all to see.
I can look back now and find it absolutely hilarious but at the time we were all terrified and screaming to be let off. I'm proud to say I never fell off but I think that was only because I was frozen with fear. That thing jumped 10 metres in the air with us on our fronts and every time it came down off a wave I thought my nose was going to break or my spine was going to snap in two and my ankles would end up by my ears.
The nightlife in Kos isn't the best. It was pretty quiet some nights and the strip was fairly small but they did do really big, colourful fishbowls which I loved. I'm sure I'm more affected by the e-numbers than the actual alcohol.
One thing I absolutely loved and is my main memory of Kos is that every bar and club had a pole in it which we couldn't resist swinging round.
I'm not sure there was a pole in Kos which we hadn't attempted to swing around, I don't even remember us being drunk so it must have been pure confidence! I definitely wouldn't be crawling on top of a bar to dance in my denim hot pants now but at the time that's all I appeared to want to do!
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Kos was a pretty innocent holiday for most of us. I couldn't drink much as I had no money whatsoever, I had to eat the child size options from the menu as they were half the price and I don't think I ate anything at all for the last two days! We didn't get on brilliantly as a group and there was one falling out in particular where I just flipped out for the first time and started yelling so much people were coming onto their balconies to see what all the fuss was about. I remember storming off and didn't come home till hours later unaware everyone had been out looking for me whilst I'd been at a silent disco.
As previously mentioned we all had boyfriends so every five minutes someone would be off calling the love of their life, mine didn't speak to me for the entire duration of my holiday! Needless to say I broke up with him pretty swiftly after that. As we were older we were definitely a bit wilder in terms of getting up and dancing and a few of the girls definitely got their flirt on. Everyone had lost their inhibitions and shed the shyness so we made friends on the beach, with the reps, the workers etc. Kos has a definite community vibe to it and you do feel like you're part of a family and that you know everyone simply because everyone is so friendly and it's such a small place it's easy to bump into the same faces. A couple of the girls stayed friends with the guys we met at the beach bar and went to stay with them the following summer so it just goes to show how friendly the island is.
I absolutely loved Kos but I found it a bit too quiet and small for my liking with only a couple of clubs, my favourite being 'Starlight'. I liked the girlyness of the holiday too even though there were some fall outs but it was nice being in a big group as well, I guess it makes you more confident because you know you've got five other girls behind you and it's fun getting ready all together, running in and out of each others rooms and swapping clothes.
If you're looking for more of a community vibe I'd go for Kos, especially if it's your first time on holiday without mum and dad but if you want the nightlife I'd look elsewhere.
Bella
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