Greece ... "Bullis-Style", by Bas Koole

Posted Tuesdsay July 17th

Tue Jul 03 2007: Best Event in Athens

Best Greece asked me to come to a big event in Athens the weekend of July 7th & 8th. I left Holland this morning to check out Greece and to have some fun!

This was really good to see when I was sitting on the runway .. my board bag made it onto the plane with me!

In the plane to Vienna

Right now I'm at the airport of Vienna waiting for the gate to my plane! I have a good movie with me "Surfs Up" so I will enjoy my flight :)

Nice view of Vienna ...

Wed Jul 04, 2007: Arrived in Athens!

So I'm in Athens for the first time! Luckily, there are no fires anymore and the temperature is ok, 30 degrees Celsius. I'm staying in the Sofitel, a super nice hotel with all the things that you need, even a friendly welcome on the tv in my room!

Mister Bullis, Best Greece, invited me for the event this weekend. Yesterday, a friend of his showed me their surfclub, Nissakia. There was no wind, but it looks like a really nice spot. Hopefully we will have some wind this weekend. It was already getting late, so I had a nice dinner at the surfclub with a nice view over the sea.

The spot for the event in Athens, no wind :(

Surfclub Nissakia

Nice dinner

Today, Bullis called and told me that Clinton Bolton and I are flying tomorrow to Corfu! That is super sick! Corfu is an island between Italy and Greece and is really good for kiting. We will fly tomorrow morning early to Corfu, so we can ride the whole day and have some good partying during the night.

Me updating my blog that you are reading now!

Thursday July 5th, 2007, Very Early: Missed the flight!

At 4:00 AM, we get our wake-up call from the hotel for our 5:30 flight to Corfu. First we have a good breakfast and then leave fast for the airport.

We arrive at 4:40 and stand for half a hour in the queue. When we arrive at the desk, the lady flips and tells us that we are too late for the flight! WE MISSED THE FLIGHT!!! How is that possible?? She tells us that they where calling over the loudspeaker the whole time to see if there where any passengers for the flight.

We feel so f**&ed up! we didn't hear anything! We didn't hear the word "Corfu" or anything like that ... but still, there is no possibility that they'll let us on the flight.

Here, you can have a closer look at Clinton's shoes ... :)

Ok, what now…

We run around with our luggage to the desk of the flight company, trying to get another ticket, but everything is FULL!!! We could take the bus to Corfu if we wanted, we were told. That is an option, but ... 7 hours on the bus? We really needed to get there! Ooowwhhh ... Bullis is going to be really mad at us, and if you know Bullis, you'll know how Clinton and I were feeling!!! Clinton gets to call Bullis to tell him we missed the flight (hahaha). We need to book another ticket, so we try to find another company.

YES! We have two new tickets to Corfu, leaving at 8:20, and we are flying Business Class! That is a big relief: we will arrive in Corfu today. Later, somebody at the desk tells us that they also call Corfu "KERKYRA," which is the name they were probably calling for the flight we missed. So if you ever fly to Corfu, make sure to remember that they might call the flight as "Kerkyra!" Now we know and I will never forget it ... hehehe!

So now we are waiting here in front of the desk of the gate, making sure that we can NOT miss the flight!

Hopefully there is wind on Corfu!

Thursday July 5th, 2007, continued: Corfu Day One

Around 9:30 AM, we arrive in Corfu. We grab our luggage and drop our stuff in the back of Bullis's big Mercedes 500. The island looks beautiful, super-green and a lot of old buildings. After a drive with a lot of "Malaka's" (stupid people :) ) on the road, we arrive at our hotel.

It's time to go to the spot, which is in the south, about a half-hour drive. As you can see, the spot looks really nice. It's a little bit gusty, because the wind is cross-offshore. Mostly the wind isn't that strong here, but today we can ride with our 7 meter kites. Clinton and I prepare our gear to have a nice session!

My sweet 7m Yarga07

Ready to have some fun!

After a good hour of kiting we came off the water. A lot of local riders where coming down to the beach to try the new 2007 equipment. They all had a lot of fun. They almost never have strong wind - most of the time they kite on twelves and fourteens. So they where stoked when they were trying our 7m Waroo and Yarga.

At five o'clock we left the beach and went back to our hotel. While driving around the island we realize that Corfu is really beautiful. We arrive at our hotel and see that it is super windy in the bay of the hotel, but it seems to be gusty and dropping down.

Time to eat something at Bullis's new restaurant, which is in the middle of the center of Corfu. The food is super good, nice pasta with seafood!

Bullis's restaurant in Corfu:

When we finished our meal, it was time to get into the party life of Corfu. First we went to a Dutch bar and had some fun there.

Now the funny part starts! Clinton is out of money so we go to a cash machine to get some money. When Clinton puts his credit card into the machine, the machine tells him that his credit card is blocked! And, it EATS his credit card! So ... no cash for Clinton.

Clinton and the card eating cash machine!

After this sad story the party kept on going in some other clubs and we had a good time in Corfu! But beware of the cash machine ;)

Friday July 6th, 2007: Corfu Day Two

We wake up early to get some breakfast in the hotel, always hard after a good party. Bullis tells us that we are not going to make it to drive all the way down to the south, since we have to leave today with the boat and car to get back to Athens.

But we're lucky. It looks to be windy in the bay of the hotel! It also looks gusty, but I want to ride! I pumped my Yarga 9m, and after that Clinton tried to launch his kite with no wind. So they gave me a ride with the boat into the bay. I had a super nice session, although a little too powered sometimes in the gusts. Here are some pictures ... not hardcore action ... but it's something ;)

We had such a good session and were enjoying our time on the water somuch that we forgot the time and missed the 4 o'clock boat back to the mainland. Ok, we are again too late ... hehehe! Bullis came up with the best idea ever: we went to the SPA! It was super relaxing.

Totally relaxed we got into the car and drove to the ferry. On the ferry we had a super nice view of Corfu. The boat trip took an hour and a half, with some crazy German school people!

Around 9 PM, we get off the ferry and start out journey back to Athens. It's a long drive but after some really nice junkfood and some frappes, we were ready for the 5-hour drive in Bulli's limo!

(Editorial Note: Bas: right about now, it would be a really good time to give us a closer look at YOUR shoes :) )

Saturday and Sun July 7th and 8th, 2007: Last Days in Greece

In Athens, we went back to the surfclub Nissakia. Because there was no wind, Christian Holley and I went to the center of Athens to "sight seeing" some nice old buildings. It was beautiful; you have to see them when you're in Greece!

After a short session at the end of the day, we went for a nice diner. Around midnight, we went to Athens to have a good party with some local dudes! Mercedes Villa was the place to be, and we had a gooood party!!!

Next morning my friend Serf was waiting for me...this is Serf, a really cool dog!!!

And the last day was perfect! A super sweet session with my 11m Yarga. Ethan Ford, a really cool photographer who can also THROW IT DOWN on the water, took some nice pictures. Here are some of them.

That was it! I had a great time in Greece! Bullis, thanks for the great time. I'll come back to Greece soon!

- Bas

For Clinton's side of the story, Clinton in Greece.

For more on Bas, click here.