- On first glance as I rode on the shuttle bus from the port (or in my first hours at the campsite), Mykonos appeared to be a dirty, rubbish littered, dry and barren island, with lots of animals wandering around the streets, bars, beaches (e.g. A chicken waddled past me as I sunbaked on the beach my first morning!) But as I began to explore the island, I learnt to appreciate the peacefulness of many little beaches scattered over the island, the abundance of cafes, restaurants and nightlife, the beautiful (and surprisingly clean) white wash walls of Mykonos Town and the little houses and buildings across the island, and how after everyday spent on this island, you fall further into relaxation.
- If your wanting to do some serious partying in Mykonos, be sure to stay in either July or August...it may be completely crazy with lots of visitors to the island, the hottest clubs around the island, particularly Paradise Beach will be pumping every night of the week. I was there in the second week of September and whilst there was pleasant buzz of activity, all the top clubs had already had their closing parties in the weekends prior.
- When you have 2 people on a quad bike, don't attempt to do a hill start on one of the many sweeping hills of Mykonos, and if you must! Then enlist some help from the locals to give you and your passenger a little push.
- Remember the name and location of the place where you hire your quad bike from. So if your like us and rushing with 20mins left before the bike has to be back by 8pm the evening before your checking out (so that you can collect your license that was left as collateral). You don't wind up going round in circles in the dark trying to remember if this gas station or maybe this white church looks familiar...as a place you went past on your first ride. Doing 70km on the sweeping hills was fun, but the being lost and counting down the minutes...not so much! I kept telling myself, it's only my license. If we don't get there in time, I'm not going to need my license while travelling. I have my passport...haha O did I just! Read on...
- Don't store your passport in a safe with other people and trust one person to mind the key, and then expect after days of partying and at 6am on the morning of checkout, that they still have the key! Thank god the Hostel Manager was able to break into the safe or I might have been stranded in Mykonos...there could be worse places...I guess!
- Elephant is another word for penis and trust me on Paradise and Paraga Beach, you see lots and lots of 'Elephants'! Now I'm no prude, quiet the contrary...I am an avid lover of the 'Elephant', but if i have to see it flopping round, catching some rays it's at least got to be on the right specimen. I.E. Young, tanned, relatively attractive. What I was not interested in seeing was large, hairy, beer belly's almost swallowing up their elephants or saggy, dark orange skinned, 70+ year olds; positioning themselves spread eagle beside me...and then feeling inclined to 'wink' at me, whilst putting a little (sun) protection on their 'elephant'... Wrong! Just wrong!
- Souvlaki pitas are a-m-a-z-i-n-g! There perfect for breakfast, lunch and dinner and are always soooo fresh! After days of drinking hard, little sleep and lots of sun! Diets and health tend to go out the door, when your presented with this marvellous Greek creation. Yum!
- Don't get drunk at a bar in the middle of Mykonos Town and think that you 'just' follow the grey brick road back to the taxi rank! I thought I was so good remembering that when walking down to the bars and clubs from the main taxi rank we walked along a grey brick road/path/street through the white buildings. What I didn't realise on my first night out in Mykonos town, most of the main streets have grey brick...thanks to my navigation we wound up down near the water with a beautiful view of the windmills and no idea where we were! In the light of the very next day we found that Mykonos town really isn't that big and while it might have seemed like we were crazy lost, we were actually only one street or 10 meters away from the taxi rank! Everything looks so different after...one to many sex on the beaches!
- Ok here's one for the single female traveller. Be aware of your surroundings at all times. I know my Mum and Dad are going to cringe at this lesson learned...but the story must be told. I'm in a club in Mykonos, it's 12pm, the nights young and I'm only one drink down. I'm dancing with some girls I had been staying with at Paraga Beach Hostel and decide I need to duck to the bathroom. I'm cautious to let them know where I'm going and to tell them not to leave without me. I'm lined up in the queue for the only bathroom in the club which is unisex, there's a guy waiting in front of me and a guy behind me followed by another girl. I'm dancing away in the line, still tryna have a good time, no communication with anyone, just me humming along to the tunes, as the guy in front of me moves into the now vacant cubicle the guy behind me grabs me by my neck and arm and starts to push me into the cubicle after the other guy!!!!!!!! Ok! Have you kept up with the story! A Greek guy has me by my neck and is trying to force me into a cubicle for 'god knows' what reason! This is where I owe my ex-husband my life. Because of him, I know strength, I know how to defend myself, I know how to fight back and to be honest, I know how to get ghetto! So I fight back, pushing him off me, hitting him, yelling WTF! Do you know what the dumb ass guy has the nerve to say... "No no no no no no...sorry...I thought! No no no no!" No! Is he kidding me! I'm the one saying no! I definetely said my prayers that night to God, Buddha, Greek Gods (whoever I believe in), that it wasn't worse than that, I hadn't had more to drink, and that I wasn't with one of my boys...because I actually think there may have been a murder in the club that night. Lesson learnt. There is a reason why girls always go to the bathroom together and no, it's not just to gossip!
- Its not that hard to find the Mykonos Mascot- Petros the Pelican. To be honest you just kind of stumble upon one of the three Petros' catching some sun while walking along the harbour. But when or if you do happen to stumble upon him... You cant help but smile! The funny thing was, I had seen all these pelican souvenirs and pictures and just thought they must love that type of bird there... I had no idea of the heart warming story behind Mykonos' love of a pelican.
Here's a snippet of the story:
Petros the Pelican has been officially declared as the mascot of Mykonos. He has made Mykonos his home since 1954. The original Petros passed away after spending a long thirty years in this enchanting island. Legend has it that more than 40 years back a Mykonian fisherman stumbled upon a wounded pelican. He was so moved by the pelican’s discomfort that he decided to take care of the Pelican, provided the cute creature with medication and once he regained his strength decided to set him free. But surprisingly, the Pelican did not become airborne to his destined abode. Instead he made Mykonos his home. With every passing day, the cute creature became the cynosure of all eyes and became a celebrity. It came as no surprise that when the Mykonos pelican died way back in 1986, the whole of Mykonos went into mourning. It took a person of the stature of Jackie Kennedy-Onassis to come to the rescue of Mykonos’s grieving populace and the compassionate Jackie Kennedy-Onassis rightfully donated another pelican to the island, Irene. It is learnt that the Hamburg Zoo had also donated a pelican named Petros. A few years back, there was an instance of another injured Pelican found in Mykonos by the local people who nursed it back to normal.They named the Pelican Nikolas. Now, in Mykonos, there are not one but three Pelicans that can be seen wandering about Mykonos’s harbour. The sight of the Pelican is a joy to behold. He simply enjoys the attention that he receives from one and all in Mykonos. The fishermen of Mykonos out of their love for the cute creature who has been an integral part of Mykonos’ popular folklore offer the choicest of fresh sea fish that they bring home after the day’s catch.
- I never quiet got used to the rule about not being allowed to flush toilet paper down the toilet in Greece...every time I would forget (out of habit for the last 24 years of my life) and find myself looking down at the paper lying in the bowl...I felt myself take a big breath in as I pressed the button to flush. Fearing it would be my luck, that the toilet would clog and everyone would know I had disobeyed the signs and flushed the toilet paper.
If you’ve been to Greece you may know about the practise of throwing toilet paper in the bin rather than flushing it away. It’s something that I had never come across anywhere else on my travels in Europe but wherever I went in Greece I saw signs in the bathroom warning me... Apparently the plumbing in Greece just isn’t up to it.
All I can say is that it was a relief to get to the apartment in Paris and know that I could flush without fear of the consequences.
That is all..
I would say goodbye in Greek, but I'm not sure I actually learnt any Greek words while I was there. Shameful!
SPECIAL NOTE: I chose to post my pictures with a rainbow haze over them, because everyday I spent on this gorgeous island, I felt like I was in a state of euphoria...just from being there. This is what Mykonos really looks like...if you were wondering!
- If your wanting to do some serious partying in Mykonos, be sure to stay in either July or August...it may be completely crazy with lots of visitors to the island, the hottest clubs around the island, particularly Paradise Beach will be pumping every night of the week. I was there in the second week of September and whilst there was pleasant buzz of activity, all the top clubs had already had their closing parties in the weekends prior.
- When you have 2 people on a quad bike, don't attempt to do a hill start on one of the many sweeping hills of Mykonos, and if you must! Then enlist some help from the locals to give you and your passenger a little push.
- Don't store your passport in a safe with other people and trust one person to mind the key, and then expect after days of partying and at 6am on the morning of checkout, that they still have the key! Thank god the Hostel Manager was able to break into the safe or I might have been stranded in Mykonos...there could be worse places...I guess!
- Elephant is another word for penis and trust me on Paradise and Paraga Beach, you see lots and lots of 'Elephants'! Now I'm no prude, quiet the contrary...I am an avid lover of the 'Elephant', but if i have to see it flopping round, catching some rays it's at least got to be on the right specimen. I.E. Young, tanned, relatively attractive. What I was not interested in seeing was large, hairy, beer belly's almost swallowing up their elephants or saggy, dark orange skinned, 70+ year olds; positioning themselves spread eagle beside me...and then feeling inclined to 'wink' at me, whilst putting a little (sun) protection on their 'elephant'... Wrong! Just wrong!
- Souvlaki pitas are a-m-a-z-i-n-g! There perfect for breakfast, lunch and dinner and are always soooo fresh! After days of drinking hard, little sleep and lots of sun! Diets and health tend to go out the door, when your presented with this marvellous Greek creation. Yum!
- Don't get drunk at a bar in the middle of Mykonos Town and think that you 'just' follow the grey brick road back to the taxi rank! I thought I was so good remembering that when walking down to the bars and clubs from the main taxi rank we walked along a grey brick road/path/street through the white buildings. What I didn't realise on my first night out in Mykonos town, most of the main streets have grey brick...thanks to my navigation we wound up down near the water with a beautiful view of the windmills and no idea where we were! In the light of the very next day we found that Mykonos town really isn't that big and while it might have seemed like we were crazy lost, we were actually only one street or 10 meters away from the taxi rank! Everything looks so different after...one to many sex on the beaches!
- Ok here's one for the single female traveller. Be aware of your surroundings at all times. I know my Mum and Dad are going to cringe at this lesson learned...but the story must be told. I'm in a club in Mykonos, it's 12pm, the nights young and I'm only one drink down. I'm dancing with some girls I had been staying with at Paraga Beach Hostel and decide I need to duck to the bathroom. I'm cautious to let them know where I'm going and to tell them not to leave without me. I'm lined up in the queue for the only bathroom in the club which is unisex, there's a guy waiting in front of me and a guy behind me followed by another girl. I'm dancing away in the line, still tryna have a good time, no communication with anyone, just me humming along to the tunes, as the guy in front of me moves into the now vacant cubicle the guy behind me grabs me by my neck and arm and starts to push me into the cubicle after the other guy!!!!!!!! Ok! Have you kept up with the story! A Greek guy has me by my neck and is trying to force me into a cubicle for 'god knows' what reason! This is where I owe my ex-husband my life. Because of him, I know strength, I know how to defend myself, I know how to fight back and to be honest, I know how to get ghetto! So I fight back, pushing him off me, hitting him, yelling WTF! Do you know what the dumb ass guy has the nerve to say... "No no no no no no...sorry...I thought! No no no no!" No! Is he kidding me! I'm the one saying no! I definetely said my prayers that night to God, Buddha, Greek Gods (whoever I believe in), that it wasn't worse than that, I hadn't had more to drink, and that I wasn't with one of my boys...because I actually think there may have been a murder in the club that night. Lesson learnt. There is a reason why girls always go to the bathroom together and no, it's not just to gossip!
- Its not that hard to find the Mykonos Mascot- Petros the Pelican. To be honest you just kind of stumble upon one of the three Petros' catching some sun while walking along the harbour. But when or if you do happen to stumble upon him... You cant help but smile! The funny thing was, I had seen all these pelican souvenirs and pictures and just thought they must love that type of bird there... I had no idea of the heart warming story behind Mykonos' love of a pelican.
Here's a snippet of the story:
Petros the Pelican has been officially declared as the mascot of Mykonos. He has made Mykonos his home since 1954. The original Petros passed away after spending a long thirty years in this enchanting island. Legend has it that more than 40 years back a Mykonian fisherman stumbled upon a wounded pelican. He was so moved by the pelican’s discomfort that he decided to take care of the Pelican, provided the cute creature with medication and once he regained his strength decided to set him free. But surprisingly, the Pelican did not become airborne to his destined abode. Instead he made Mykonos his home. With every passing day, the cute creature became the cynosure of all eyes and became a celebrity. It came as no surprise that when the Mykonos pelican died way back in 1986, the whole of Mykonos went into mourning. It took a person of the stature of Jackie Kennedy-Onassis to come to the rescue of Mykonos’s grieving populace and the compassionate Jackie Kennedy-Onassis rightfully donated another pelican to the island, Irene. It is learnt that the Hamburg Zoo had also donated a pelican named Petros. A few years back, there was an instance of another injured Pelican found in Mykonos by the local people who nursed it back to normal.They named the Pelican Nikolas. Now, in Mykonos, there are not one but three Pelicans that can be seen wandering about Mykonos’s harbour. The sight of the Pelican is a joy to behold. He simply enjoys the attention that he receives from one and all in Mykonos. The fishermen of Mykonos out of their love for the cute creature who has been an integral part of Mykonos’ popular folklore offer the choicest of fresh sea fish that they bring home after the day’s catch.
- I never quiet got used to the rule about not being allowed to flush toilet paper down the toilet in Greece...every time I would forget (out of habit for the last 24 years of my life) and find myself looking down at the paper lying in the bowl...I felt myself take a big breath in as I pressed the button to flush. Fearing it would be my luck, that the toilet would clog and everyone would know I had disobeyed the signs and flushed the toilet paper.
If you’ve been to Greece you may know about the practise of throwing toilet paper in the bin rather than flushing it away. It’s something that I had never come across anywhere else on my travels in Europe but wherever I went in Greece I saw signs in the bathroom warning me... Apparently the plumbing in Greece just isn’t up to it.
All I can say is that it was a relief to get to the apartment in Paris and know that I could flush without fear of the consequences.
That is all..
I would say goodbye in Greek, but I'm not sure I actually learnt any Greek words while I was there. Shameful!
SPECIAL NOTE: I chose to post my pictures with a rainbow haze over them, because everyday I spent on this gorgeous island, I felt like I was in a state of euphoria...just from being there. This is what Mykonos really looks like...if you were wondering!
