Mykonos

Ah, Mykonos. Of course when we were pulling into the Mykonos port, I had to play the indie jam by Fleet Foxes relating to this beautiful, mythological island. Have to say, the song is very suiting for the island itself. Once we pulled into port, the first thing you notice is all of the white buildings covering the island. Literally every building on the island was painted white. I can't remember seeing one that wasn't (and I feel like I would have remembered it, if it existed). Once we got off the ferry, the owner of the small hostel we stayed at came in her jeep to pick us up. On our way to the hostel, I noticed the landscape in Mykonos reminded somewhat of a desert in that it was pretty barren but with gorgeous valleys and greenery. I loved it. Our hostel was actually a pretty good distance away from the main port and city of Mykonos. I don't know exactly how kilometers transfer over into miles, but I do remember it being a hell of a hike. Once we got to our hostel, both of us were pleasantly surprised at how accommodating our host was. She felt more like my long lost grandmother than the owner. Mina Studios was the name of the place and if I ever go back, that's where I am staying and Mina will most likely pick me up then too. What a fantastic lady. The hostel is the quaint little joint with a lobby that is really more of a kitchen in a house. When you walk in, she offers you some sort of fresh new baked good she has just conjured up. Herself and her husband run the place. She showed us into our room and it was way nicer than I expected. I usually expect to get less than what I paid for in Europe, but in this case I felt like it was the exact opposite. From our hostel, we located within 5 minutes walking of three beaches. We ended up checking out all three and all three were spectacular.

The first evening we were there, we decided to walk on one of the beaches to get some photos and check out the area. It was beautiful and we were treated to a gorgeous Greek sunset. From there, we decided to walk into town to check it out and grab a bite. Well like I referred to earlier, it's a long walk from our hostel, which was more in what I would call the beach-countryside, to the main city in Mykonos. We eventually got there, though I felt the need to stop at a local grocer and pick up a tall girl of Mythos. This leads me to the next topic: Mythos.



Mythos is Greece's finest beer. I have to say I really wasn't expecting too much from beer in Greece. Maybe because Italian beer is just 'okay'. Well, Mythos was fantastic. One of the best beers I have had in Europe. It's nothing really special just your simple pilsner style lager, but it just had a really fresh, smooth taste to it. Only problem with this beer is that getting it outside of Greece will prove to be a problem. Damn.

That night we ended up having a nice dinner right next to the main port in Mykonos. We hung out around the town till pretty late into the evening and caught a cab ride back to our hostel. The next morning, we got up early and walked back into the city. We went to a couple local grocery stores and shops, just walking around and checking out the local scene. We talked to a store clerk who explained to us why Mykonos' no-named streets can be rather confusing. Back when they first were building the city, apparently the island had a pirate problem. So they built the streets and buildings in a rather crooked, slanted, uneven, confusing way. He also mentioned that pirates weren't the only ones who had problems with it, drunk people seemed to struggle with it quite a bit too. This probably makes it pretty entertaining for the locals in summertime as Mykonos is renown for its nightlife. While we were there, a lot of stores and clubs were still closed because it was very early on in the season. This kind of sucked because it wasn't the true atmosphere of the city, especially nightlife, but it was also really nice because nowhere we went in Greece was packed with tourists. In fact, when we went to beaches while were both in Mykonos and Santorini, sometimes we were the only ones there! Hard to believe really.

The rest of that day we spent on the beach. It was awesome, just chilling and going in the water when I got a little warm. Super chill afternoon at a beach in Mykonos? Why yes, thank you. If you readers know me at all, I have been called a pretty chill bro at times, so chillin' on greek beaches for an afternoon was alright with me. That night pretty much entailed some more of the same as the previous night. More awesomeness in food, drink, and atmosphere. I believe this was the night where we had the awesome calamari. Wow. Can't say enough about it. It will never taste as good anywhere else I feel like.

Overall, Mykonos was definitely the 'chillest' stop on our break. It was a gorgeous island, with great food, great nightlife, great beaches, and amazing hospitality. I can't say enough about the way we were treated by our hostel's owners. They were wonderful and most definitely enhanced my experience while there. Mina dropped us off at the port a couple hours before our ferry left for Santorini, so we grabbed a bite, picked up some postcards and hopped on the ferry to our next destination, Santorini.