Mykonos, first stop in the Greek Islands

Elena and Richard infront of a Mykonos church
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It was nice to get to Mykonos, where we would be spending 4 nights, and out of the heat. We got a Hellenic Seaways fast ferry from Athens to the island, which took about 3 hours. Funnily, the ferry had a plaque on it saying it was built in Western Australia!

My first impression of Mykonos was how fiercely windy it was, and this lasted the whole time we were there. At least it kept us cool though! Mykonos is traditionally windy, especially in summer, and the winds are known as 'meltemia'.

We were almost blown away by the strong winds!

Richard infront of Little Venice
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We were staying at a hotel called San Antonio Studios, built in the traditional Cyclades islands style of white boxy buildings with blue doors and window shutters. It was the cheapest place we could find at 80 euros each a night - more than 4 times what we have been spending elsewhere, and not good for our backpackers budget! So we were expecting our stay in Mykonos to be pretty expensive. The hotel had a nice pool though which kind of made up for it.

Once we had arrived, we ventured into town and wandered around. Again, all the buildings were in the traditional style, which has a nice effect when they are all bunched together. We walked up to a hill to look at the 5 famous windmills, where we were almost blown away by the strong winds! There was a great view of the part of town known as 'Little Venice' from here, where the ocean washes up against the side of the buildings.

The Mykonos windmills
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We had been told to try 'gyros' by many people, so we decided to grab one each on our first day. Basically, they are like Turkish kebabs - pita bread wrapped around chicken, tomato, tzatziki and French fries (yes, French fries INSIDE, not on the side). Richard was a fan! And at only 2 euro each, they were a bargain.

The rest of our time in Mykonos was spent at the beach. On one day we went to the famous Paradise Beach, known for being a party beach with lots of restaurants and bars... lots of posers too! Another day we went to the well known beach Plati Yialos. We hired beach umbrellas and sunloungers at both beaches and spent the days lying in the sun, swimming in the warm water, and reading.

Elena overlooking very windy Mykonos
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To tell you the truth, we found Mykonos a bit over-rated. Sure, the beaches were nice, but I'm sure they are just as nice at other - cheaper - islands. If you want to party, then I can see why Mykonos would be the place to go - but it was too expensive for us backpackers on a budget. Just to get into a club costs about 35 euros. We did enjoy our time there though and I'm glad we got to go!