Last weekend was my first trip to a Cycladic island. The Cyclades are a major chain of islands in Greece, (their shape forms a rough circle, hence Cyclades) famous for their beaches and parties mostly, but also for simple, beautiful towns. Mykonos is no exception. When i first arrived in the main town, i was struck with how different a feel the town was. No cars (with the exception of taxis and the delivery bikes) are allowed in the town, making it a strollers paradise. The streets are so narrow i can hardly think of how cars could even fit through. There were a lot of small shops, mostly selling touristy stuff, but a handful of private jewlery and such shops existed. Walking around, shopping in these shops was an easy way to spend an afternoon/entire day. There were enough coffee shops and bars and tavernas and all sorts of food places to keep one well fed and occupied for a long time.
The most interesting part of town is known as Little Venice. Here, the buildings jut out over the water and a number of expensive resturants/bars have opened up shop. I didn't eat here due to the fairly high prices, but i can imagine watching a gorgeous sunset over the water from here would be spectacular. Another fun place to watch from is where the old windmills are located. I can't remember what this is called, but there are about 5 old windwills still standing on a promentory looking out over the water. From here you can see some of the nearby islands and it's really impressive.
Our hotel was located next to one of the famous beaches on Mykonos, Paradise Beach. The hotel itself wasn't bad for the price, but sadly it was low season so nothing in the area was open. The place was getting ready to fully open, but wasn't quite there yet. One could easily go back into town and bar hop all night, but considering the public transportation wasn't fully operating, doing so was expensive. I therefore remained in my room reading, but did make it out onto the beach at night, which was pretty cool.
On Saturday, we went to Delos. Wow. If you are ANYWHERE near there, go. The amount of ruins and things to see is spectacular. Sadly, i was limited to only 4 hours given the boat schedule, but i could have easily spent another 2 or 3 hours without a problem. The nicest thing about the site is that there are practically no guards, meaning you can go anywhere on the island, and as nobody can stay here but guards/excavators, the island is empty. This provides for a really cool experience of walking around in hallways and rooms that the ancient Greeks and Romans did.
The site map wasn't much use as practically nothing was labelled. It did provide a good overview of the remains which was extremely necessary. My best bet is just go and get lost. Meander around, you'll discover some really neat things. Like in the public bathhouse, i found a toliet still intact with the cistern beneath it. You don't see that every day. Also, the number of mosaics is truly extraordinary. I love mosaics, so i was in heaven!
The museum was pretty cool, though some of it was roped off for some reason. It's definetly worth a detour through, with some more mosaics and wall paintings. My personal favorite was one of Hermes and Athena. Truly exceptional work. Another fun place is the theater on the south side of the island. I really wish i'd gone here first, as by the time i got here i had to rush through. Behind the theater is the ancient cistern which is uncovered now and a number of houses with more mosaics. You literally could get lost around here very easily and quickly. On the way up the big hill, there are temples to the goddess Hera and the "foreign" gods, not quite sure what that meant. At the very top was a shrine to Zeus. I managed to sprint my way up to this in about 10 minutes, so climbing it would prob. take about 30 or so. It's worth it though. The view of both the site and the nearby islands is magnificent. I loved it, totally worth the hot and sweatiness that ensued. Plus, the breeze was nice :-). On the way down, i went hunting very quickly for the Grotto of Heracles (Hercules), but couldn't find it. The grotto is inside the mountain a bit, with the doorway formed naturally by stalagmites/stalagtites. Wish i'd found it, but alas, the ferry was about to leave. You see why i could have spent a great deal more time here.
After some more wanderings around Mykonos Town, we went back to the hotel, slept, woke up the next morning, enjoyed the beach (which was very nice), then caught our ferry home. Long trip (5 hour ferry ride) but it could have been worse. The weather was at least nice. On the whole, a very very very good weekend, a nice change from Athens.
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