Zakynthos. 40 and Feta than ever.
Two words:
Birthday and Greece
Where do I even begin?
I have never had so many questions from you guys during a holiday of mine. Ever. So it was always inevitable that I was going to write a blog on what was, without doubt, one of the best weeks of my life. Mine and 23 of my closest friends. Unless they are all lying to me and they secretly hated it, which I doubt judging from some of the photos that will never see the light of day ;)
I always knew I wanted my big four-oh abroad with friends. The destination became a solid option back in 2020 when, after the borders opened post lockdown, I visited Zakynthos for the first time.
We had such a fabulous break that I kept in touch with our villa host Dimitris for the past two years. I started planning my birthday trip 12 months prior – I knew getting my group of crazy friends together would be no mean feat. With the help of Dimitris, we planned a trip that I’ll still be talking about when I turn 100.
Me and Theo, along with our friends Nat and Sam, arrived in Zakynthos – or Zante as us Brit’s like to call it, a few days before the rest of the group. I wanted to make sure everything was just perfect. I know everyone had made a huge effort to join me in celebrating my birthday, so I needed to make sure all the finer details were taken care of. The fridges were overflowing with champagne, the bathrooms of every en-suite were stocked with all my favourite products – from Living Proof and Murad to Weleda and Kate Somerville and all diets were catered for.
Back in July, I sent everyone a detailed itinerary with meals, excursions and activities all laid out – in a fabulous design obvs. Most people were going to arrive on Saturday and stay until Wednesday. A handful of us stayed a little longer because why not? Although we had to slightly amend some activities due to weather, the whole plan went off without a hitch.
Day 1
Theo and I, along with Nat and Sam flew out to Zakynthos. We cleared the shelves of Duty Free’s champagne in under five minutes and barely made it to the gate in time. We arrived early evening and made our way to Olea All Suite Hotel. It is the most beautiful, elegant, minimalistic hotel – no wonder it has won interior design awards. This spot was a real treat, but def worth it. That evening we headed to Yard of Taste, an amazing gluten-free restaurant in Zakynthos Town that Theo found on Trip Advisor. The food was incredible and just what we needed. It was also the beginning of our Saganaki love affair. If you know, you know. The previous few days of packing and excitement meant we slept like babies.
Day 2
This morning T and I got up, grabbed some brekkie and then met up with the legend that is Dimitris, to go supermarket shopping. There’s nothing I like better than a foreign supermarket. There’s always so much fun stuff isn’t there? After grabbing every flavor of crisp imaginable, we headed to an EPIC Alcohol warehouse. They usually only sell to restaurants etc, but Dimitris literally knows everyone! So we had an in. Here we stocked up on all the key products. Mainly Champs, beer and tequilla. I’ve learnt from past events that you should always buy more than you think, and boy did we go for it! Then we headed back to the hotel to meet Nat & Sam and we had a super fun relaxing day which ended up with a sunset swim and a Margs at a local bar. Gorgeous.
Day 3
Today was an exciting day. It was the first time we were going to see the villas IRL. And on top of that, Dawny was landing to help me set everything up before the chaos began. GUYS! Villa Amara, Dimitris’ villa is just spectacular. The attention to detail, the design, the outside space, the bedrooms. ALL OF IT! Just Mega. Perfect for a big group.
We also hired a villa literally next door called Karousa. This wasn’t quite as swish, but it was still lovely.
I wanted to make sure that, when everyone arrived, things were as stress-free as possible. I allocated all rooms ahead of time (this is honestly such a game-changer), stocked all fridges with drinks and snacks and laid out toiletries and makeup for days. After sorting out all of the rooms and making them look like we were at the PR event of dreams, we chucked on a film and had an early night ready for everyone’s arrival.
Day 4
I woke up to excitable text messages from Gatwick Airport: “We’re boarding…OMG so excited… LOL having bubbles at 6am.” The group landed at Zakynthos Airport around midday. They were greeted by none other than Theo, dressed as a bottle of champagne, holding a tray of tequila shots for everyone. As you do. Everyone hopped onto a coach – AKA The Party Bus – and set off to the villas.
Lunch was ready at the main villa so everyone dumped their bags, changed into swimsuits and headed over. When I say that we ate like kings and queens, I am not exaggerating. With the help of Dimitris, I arranged the most wonderful cook, housekeeper and all-round legend called Dina. She made the most delicious breakfast every single morning and casually rustled up the most incredible lunches and dinners. I am talking homemade moussaka, stuffed calamari, beautiful grilled fish… the list goes on. Obviously everyone jumped in the pool after lunch (we were clearly never taught not to swim on a full stomach :) and had more than a few glasses of champagne.
That night, The Party Bus picked us up to go to Movida, a gorgeous rooftop restaurant and bar about 40 minutes away. We connected our music to the bus’ speakers and danced all the way to our destination. And when I say danced, I mean danced. There was twerking, slut dropping, dangling upside down from the overhead storage units. It was a full-on club on a bus. Dinner was fantastic – the risotto was out of this world – and after a few more (who is counting at this point?) glasses of bubbles, we continued the dance party on the way home.
Day 5
Main Party Day! We started off with Dina’s hearty breakfast of pastries, pancakes, eggs, bacon and homemade bread. That woman knows how to feed a hungry group! Our stomachs lined, we headed over to the villa next door for a day of Pool Olympics. This was organized in advance by Theo and Julio.
One thing I can suggest when planning a group holiday is to delegate. I only have two hands and one head so when they suggested taking Pool Olympics off my plate, I was very happy indeed. What a day it was. There was beer pong, flip cup, inflatable races and diving competitions. We were divided into teams and competed for first prize: A WWE style belt and engraved gold medals. We danced, performed and swam to our hearts’ content, only stopping for a brief liquid lunch. At 4pm, the first group of girls headed off to the main villa. I had arranged for a team of hairdressers to come over to get us all dolled up for the evening’s Cher-themed party. I mean, the theme was a no-brainer! My friends certainly delivered. The outfits were on point; there were sequins, glitter, wigs, platform shoes, fishnets, hairspray and a LOT of eyeliner. My own outfit of joy was the most incredible electric blue dress adorned with feathers and – obviously – sequins, paired with metallic blue cowboy boots. Possibly my favourite outfit to date. The night was a roaring success. We dined, drank margaritas – courtesy of our enthusiastic Greek barman – and danced to the DJ’s music until the early hours of the morning. Oh, and Dawn made me promise to add that she provided glowsticks. WHAT A NIGHT.
Day 6
I am going to lie, this was not my finest day. Let’s just say there were more than a few Advils involved. But alas, the show had to go on…no rest for the wicked! Initially this was supposed to be a chilled pool day but the weather forecast made us change some plans around which meant that today was boat day. We headed to White Beach, a secluded rocky beach where we dusted off the cobwebs from the night before. The water was the most amazing turquoise blue I’d ever seen and washed off my hangover almost immediately. There were these piles of amazing rocks everywhere, like pieces of art that had been created by the visitors before us, so of course we had to make one and leave our own mark.
After a few hours, we headed back to the port where a bus waited to take us to a restaurant for lunch. We feasted on gyros, souvlaki and giant bowls of Greek salad before heading back to the villa. Back home, everyone dispersed into different groups: there were some who headed for full-body massages from the masseuses I had arranged to come to the villa, some lazed by the pool, and others took a well-earned nap. That evening was a relatively chilled one – I know, miracle! We had a BBQ and played pool, laughing at all the antics from the night before. A few people cracked open a few bottles of wine and chatted away until 3am, only going to bed after my friend Jayce’s famous spicy Chinese noodles.
Day 7
We made it! Today was the final full day. Everyone fully recovered, we boarded The Party Bus and headed to Nobelos Bio Restaurant. This is easily one of the best restaurants on the island. The food, cocktails, service and setting were second to none. This waterfront restaurant is the only organic restaurant on Zakynthos and they have the freshest, most delicious ingredients, from gigantic prawns to gorgeous bowls of seafood pasta and meat cooked in traditional wood ovens. We were there for hours; eating, drinking and chatting away. We went back to the villa, full and content. My pal David who had packed his DJ decks, like you do, put on the tunes and the dancing commenced once again.
In keeping with tradition, the night ended with us all jumping into the pool to Bon Jovi’s Always. A classic.
Day 8
Home time. The majority of people were due to fly back to London in the morning. Luckily most of them have rubber arms, which I managed to twist and change their flights to later that evening. We decided to make the most of their last day and headed to The Peligoni Club. It’s a beach club in the secluded north of the island and super laid-back. We sprawled out on beach beds, Bloody Mary’s in hand, and enjoyed the last of the summer rays. Lunch was at the beautiful open-air restaurant of the club, a spread of pizzas, fresh pasta and gorgeous grilled seafood. After lunch it was time for watersports. I told you we didn’t adhere to the “no swimming on a full stomach” rule :) We got on something I can only describe as a sofa version of a banana boat. This was then towed behind a speedboat, us directing the driver to slow down or speed up by a thumbs up and thumbs down. Needless to say, there were a lot of “FASTER!!!” screams coming from the sofa banana. At 5pm came the tearful goodbyes. I couldn’t believe it was over. The few of us that were left headed to The Jungle Bar in town where we drank espresso martinis and relived the trip. No trip would be complete without stopping at a local souvenir shop to buy everyone a 5 Euro memento. Someone received a dancing cactus which I am hoping will be on their mantlepiece forever and always.
A handful of us stayed a couple of extra days, blissfully unaware of the cold weather awaiting our return. There were a few final table tennis matches, rounds of mini golf and of course, champagne sunsets before we said goodbye to Dimitris, Dina, Veronica and Mo. In the blink of an eye, this trip of a lifetime had come to an end. As we headed to the airport – after promising our hosts we’d be back in two years’ time for Theo’s 40th - I had the most magical sense of calmness, love and content wash over me. I am aware how lucky I am, getting to experience this with the people I love the most in the world. Our friends have always been such an amazing constant in mine and Theo’s lives and spending five belly-laughing days with them was priceless.
I often say that you should surround themselves with people who believe in the same magic as you, and I sure do practice what I preach.
If you are looking on planning a trip, I 100% recommend booking Amara or any of Dimitris’ other villas as without his help, I couldn’t have made all of this happen. There was nothing too big a feat for him. You can contact him at info@villaamara.gr
Now what to plan for my 41st……….