And you will go to Mykonos...

...with a vision of a gentle coast. - Fleet Foxes

Mykonos Harbour

γεια σου! I'm back and have fallen in love with yet another beautiful spot of the world.
The greek island of Mykonos - famed for its windmills and friendly Pelicans - was the chosen destination for our holiday to celebrate my completion of University.

April, as we would soon find out, is slightly out of season for Mykonos however this had its definite advantages as well as disadvantages. Our journey was to start from Manchester, fly to Athens and then take a smaller plane from Athens to Mykonos as there are no direct flights at this time of year. The "smaller" plane part was kept from my Mum which resulted in her clutching her Rosary Beads for the entire 20 minute flight - whoops!

Elia Beach

The Arte & Mare Suites situated on Elia beach was our home away from home for the duration of our stay. Elia beach is a 15-20 minute drive from the main town of Mykonos but Arte & Mare provided a free shuttle service to and from the town at different times of the day. We were the only people staying at the suites for our first couple of days. This may not be everyone's idea of fun but it allowed us the pick of the poolside beds and a deserted beach for the majority of our stay, perfection in my eyes!

Delos

One of our days was spent on the ancient island of Delos - the birthplace of Apollo and Artemis. We decided on a guided tour as walking around ancient ruins means nothing if you don't know the stories behind them. The ancient houses, shops, markets and even theatre were so fascinating to walk around and although some restoration had occurred, the majority of the walls and columns were the originals from all those years ago. Our boat ride back gave us our first view of "Petros" the pelican causing a stir on the harbour. Initially Petros seemed fed up of all the attention and faced a doorway rendering photo opportunities useless. Funnily enough the Greek word petro means rock or stone but can also be translated as "old and grumpy" - he was definitely living up to his name. Eventually, Petros overcame his "shyness" and posed for obligatory photos.

We were told that May to September is the main season in Mykonos, however in June and July it becomes near impossible to navigate the town. This wasn't hard to see why as trying to walk through the tiny streets when a cruise ship had docked was near impossible in April, never mind during its season's peak.

Little Venice

The streets of Mykonos town are the prettiest streets I have ever seen. All white washed buildings with bright blue or pastel coloured wooden accents sit astride pavements painted grey and white that make it look like you're walking on giant pebbles - just gorgeous in my opinion. It really isn't hard to fall in love with the place. One major disadvantage of travelling out of season though was that many of the restaurants and shops weren't open. It seemed like the town was just starting to wake from a long hibernation as shop fronts were getting fresh coats of paint and being restocked ready for the season ahead. I wonder if we had travelled 1-2 weeks later whether it would have been a different break altogether, but I wouldn't have changed cocktails by the sea in Little Venice for the world. There's something about listening to sea that makes everything 100 times better.

I'd like to go to Mykonos again but next time I would choose late May or early September instead. All in all the break away was just what I needed and a massive thank you to my family for organising it.

Γειά χαρά!