###June 28 - Mykonos
After 2 days in Athens; we went to the Athens port to board the Jet ferry to Mykonos. The ferry is a 3 hour ride to Mykonos. A word to the wise; make sure you have your shuttle to the hotel place prior to arriving at any of the islands, since it is very chaotic with a lot of people debarking/embarking at the port. Your hotel or travel package person will be waiting with a sign to take you to your chartered bus.
We stayed at the Vanilla hotel. It's a nice quaint little hotel, which looks very similar to all the other hotels on the island from the outside ( they are ALL white with blue window shutters). LOL. Once we arrived, we went to a local beach near the hotel, and also relaxed at the swimming pool. The Hotel has a nice private swimming pool in the back, which has an open Bar area where you can order drinks from while at the pool. Our room opened up in the back towards the pool; hence the pool was literally right behind our room. The girls at the front are nice. Jenny is nice and funny, and very informative about the island also. And so is her colleague on the other shift, but her name escapes me at the moment. The breakfast is very average at best; since they only provide the basics for the all inclusive breakfast (ie...Cereal/Toast/sliced Ham/Juice). The wi-fi was spotty - where it worked well in the general lobby, but not so well in the rooms. The location of the hotel is great, whereby most things are a short drive away. The nice part is that the local supermarket (there are 2) for the area and bakery are walking distance away. There is also a restaurant attached right next door to the hotel which is also very convenient. Overall, I would rate the hotel a 3.5 out of 5.
TRAVEL TIP: Beers at our hotel were marked up almost 220% in price, compared to the grocery store which was located 100 metres away. If you can buy your beers there, and then put them in your fridge located in your room; you will save a lot of money versus buying the beers at your hotel.
TRAVEL TIP: The beers at the first beach we went to; were marked up almost 500% versus the grocery store. Hence; if you have a thermos which keeps liquids cool; you may want to fill some beers in there prior to heading to the beach. (This may be an option for those people travelling on a budget. )
TRAVEL TIP: Bring plenty of snacks from home; so you can travel with them when going on daily excursions or to the beach. This will also help to keep your costs down.
Once we got to Mykonos, we rented a four wheeler ATV and I had to learn to drive it very quickly. But going up the hills and down the hills was an amazing rush as the wind hit our bodies. The view was amazing as we drove and recorded our driving all the way to Paradise Beach. I highly recommend to everyone who comes here to rent a four wheeler ATV as opposed to a car. You will not be disappointed… Trust me!
We went to paradise beach in the evening of the 28th on Wednesday night. We had dinner at the top of the cliff at an Indian restaurant called Indian Palace, overlooking paradise beach and the Beachhouse party clubs that are there on Paradise Beach. The breeze was beautiful and the view was amazing. And as the sun was setting, the moon was out, and the music was playing… And the food at Indian Palace was absolutely amazing and we just sat there for a while enjoying the food; the music the view and the breeze. For those of you who would like a different taste from Greek food in Greece, I highly recommend the Indian palace in Paradise Beach which is situated on top of a cliff; you will see absolutely beautiful views if you sit along the long ledge area while you eat. Besides; Cavo Paradiso is located right beside the Indian restaurant also. For those who don't know, Cavo Paradiso is one of the most famous Clubs in the world.
###June 29th - Mykonos
With our ATV, we explored the island, and went to a couple of beaches called Paraga and Scorpio. They are actually, right beside one another. Scorpio is a private beach which you have to pay for. 30 Euros average per person. They have nice looking hostesses and music being played. However; the beach is small and very average. Next-door however….there is a beach just 50m away and it is much longer; and in my opinion much nicer. Besides it is free. You can pay for the lounge chairs which are €30 are €35 a person, or there are some small little trees that act as a shade which you can just bring a towel and lie down under those trees. The beach is very nice and I’d much rather prefer to go to this beach over Scorpio beach.
Next we went to super Paradise Beach. The drive to get to super Paradise Beach is much longer from where we were staying as compared to getting to Paradise Beach. The road is long and curvy; and then right before you get to super Paradise Beach there's a steep downward cliff where you have to be extremely careful; especially if you rented a four wheeler ATV. Once you're on super Paradise Beach, the beach is very similar to Perago beach or Scorpio beach, however the one difference I noticed is there is a joint beach called Pinki Beach, and at Pinki Beach - you cannot enter into the beach straight away when you get into the water because you have a seaweed ledge right as you enter the water and then there's a fall of about 6 feet which is different and interesting, but you have to be prepared for that. There are no small little trees for shade, hence you are either sitting in the sun or you have to get one of the pay benches if you want some shade. There are some nude women walking around but not many. And right alongside super Paradise Beach; right next-door as you walk along the beach coastline; as I mentioned, there is a beach called Pinki beach and right beside that there's a beach called Jackie O beach. These seem like three different beaches; however it's one long beach, which simply changes its name as you walk along the coastline.
Right at the intersection of super Paradise Beach and Pinki beach, you can do motorized sports if you choose by paying for it for usage per person.
Hence if you go to Paraga beach, you have basically been to Scorpio beach, since they are basically beside one another. And if you go to super Paradise Beach, then you've basically been to both Pinki beach and Jackie O beach.
Evening:
Took pictures in the town of Mykonos where the windmills are located, and got breathtaking views of the Ocean and mountains in the background.
We went into the actual town of Mykonos on Mykonos island, and it is absolutely a beautiful all time setting reminding you of the old golden renaissance European time period. We strolled along the seaside, and saw all the different cafés and restaurants there and it was absolutely beautiful. We then went inside the narrow streets of Mykonos town and went to different shops and took a lot of amazing beautiful pictures with lots of bright colours including white and blue from the buildings, and other vibrant colours we were wearing. We went to a restaurant called Mamalouka, and had absolutely amazing oysters on the half shell which were very delicious. And the staff was very friendly and the setting was beautiful. After our appetizers there we went to a restaurant right on the seaside called Sea satin market. This restaurant has an amazing sunset views that are to die for, but you must get seating right along the sea side of the restaurant in order to get a full appreciation of the sunset as it goes down. We went there at 8 PM and the sun had set by 8:40 PM. Hence; be prepared to take a lot of pictures of the ocean and the cruise liners and the sunset and the mountains and the entire scenery that you will get in the background. The food however; was not very good and I wouldn't recommend this place simply from a food standpoint. It is also very expensive, but then again I assume all of these restaurants in the town of Mykonos are all very expensive so perhaps this is a moot point. If you want to experience the beautiful sunset of Mykonos; you can sit along the seaside where there are plenty of benches and rocks that you can sit along and view the sunset from there and take plenty of pictures from there also. You can also take gorgeous pictures from the windmills which are located right above the restaurant and also get an amazing view of the sunset right from the top of the cliff where the windmills are located.
TRAVEL TIP: All the restaurants in Greece charge you for the bread that they will bring you per person. And they will also bring you a big bottle of water, without telling you that they will be charging you for it. So be aware that you will get charged for the bottle of water and the bread that they bring you per person.
We went to Cavo Parodiso that evening at approx 1:30am. It is situated on top of a cliff, with breathtaking views. The cover was $20 pp, but this amount can change based on the DJ which is playing. They were playing a lot of good house music. We stayed for about 1.5 hours and then left to go back to the hotel
###June 30 - Mykonos
We also purchased a Boat tour to take us to the island of Delos with a tour guide to see the archaeological ruins. In my humble opinion, unless you are a big archaeological buff, your time is better spent exploring the different beaches of Mykonos and the overall island itself. The Tour was pricey, and the heat was about 45 Degrees Celsius. Not worth it, in my opinion. Ultimately, it is an island with lots of broken rocks and boulders which represented a civilization approximately two thousand years ago. This of course sounds intriguing at first, until you get there and realize it is nothing but broken rocks everywhere.
We also went to Panormos beach. This beach has beautiful sand and calm turquoise water. It is also not very crowded. This is my favorite Mykonos beach so far.
Henceforth we went to another beach which is five minutes away called Agios Sostis. It is yet another isolated beach very small but absolutely beautiful. There's also a restaurant that you pass as you go down the stairs to get to the beach which is called Kiki's. The food here is absolutely amazing but there is approximately one hour to 1.5 hour wait, as it is a small little restaurant right on top of the cliff. Both the beach on the restaurant or a must-see unless visit place if you're in Mykonos.
TRAVEL TIP: Take a small portable beach umbrella with you if you can; as the sun on the beach can be scorching. This will also allow you to save the €30 they charge for the beach beds and umbrella that they also provide.
TRAVEL TIP: Take a sun blocking hat; and sunscreen