Mykonos, Greece
The beautiful party island of Mykonos, Greece - June 2005
 Leaving Santorini, we took the narrow street down the cliffs to the port. We boarded a high-speed ferry which sat above the
water. This boat is normally very smooth, but the wind was rough and half the boat, including Stacy, was a little ill. We had three island
stops during the three hour ride before pulling into the tiny port of Mykonos. Happy to be ashore, we took in the view of the blue water in
the small harbor. White buildings creep up the hillsides around the town, and our hotel sits a short walk up the hill, and the balcony of
our room overlooks the town. The town is a maze of narrow paths between the buildings, and is also known as Little Venice due to the winding
streets and jumble of buildings.
On our way to dinner, we turned a corner and came across the town mascot, a giant pelican standing four feet tall walking down an alley (we think
he was looking for a sea food restaurant). For our dinner, Stacy had a shrimp risotto and Mel had a baked lamb dish which was great. For once our
meal came without french fries, we have been amazed at how everyone in the world eats so many french fries now. In Amsterdam, people walk down
the streets eating baskets of cheese fries, everyone in Australia eats them, and many of the gyros served here in Greece have french fries in
them now.
We ate our dinner at 9 pm and the city was still pretty empty. We walked around the small stores, restaurants, and bars and were amazed to see it
getting packed with people just getting to town when we went home around 1 am. Mykonos is known as a party island and locals told us there are
beach parties each weekend in the summer which don't even start until 3 am. Today we are off to enjoy one of the many beaches Mykonos is also
known for.
Paradise Beach, Sunday afternoon party. Best beach party in the world?
Our hotel in Mykonos sits on a hill and has a beautiful pool overlooking the city, but it would be a crime to go to a hotel pool here, as this
island is known for having some of the best beaches in the world. We figured out the bus system for the island, which seems a little more
disorganized than many places, and headed for Paradise Beach on the southern part of the island. All of the beaches here are in small coves with
white rocky cliffs on the sides, and blue water stretching out in front of us. We relaxed on the beach all day with lots of locals, as many Greek
families typically come to Mykonos for summer vacation.
Just above the sand on one side of the beach is a swimming pool surrounded by a terrace with
pillow covered beds overlooking the sea. White curtains flow down from columns standing above the pool. Around 5 pm, a DJ started blasting dance
music and we walked into the funnest party we have ever been to! It was insane- everyone was dancing around the pool, dancing on tables, dancing
on the beds, dancing in the pool, and of course, drinking shots of ouzo. People were jumping up and down, blowing whistles, and yelling
"ayiyiyi". The music was great and we made lots of new friends. I don't think the ancient Greeks could have partied any harder than this.
We headed to our hotel that night to watch the last of the sunset from the balcony of our hotel room. It was one of the best sunsets we have ever
seen. We then took a short nap before heading out with all the locals for dinner at midnight, and more fun afterwards. When we left the bar at 3
am, it was still getting more crowded- crazy.
Mykonos Beaches: Paradise, Super Paradise, Platys Gialos, and Elia
We took a bus again to Platys Gialos beach just a few miles south of town. From there, a small boat taxi takes people to the other beaches, so
we boarded this to get a scenic tour of all the beaches from the water. We stopped back at Paradise, Super Paradise, and ended up at Elia beach,
considered one of the top nudist beaches in the world. The reputation is well-deserved.
Back in town this evening, we had probably our 20th Greek salad for dinner, along with a crepe and some pizza. We're taking a ferry to
Athens tomorrow and are glad that the strong wind we had the day we came to Mykonos has died down, the weather is sunny and
beautiful.
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