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April 2000

Mykonos

David Aaronson
2005-09-24 21:36:40

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Mykonos is the most heavily visited of all the Greek islands. It is best known for raucous and elaborate nightlife, nude and gay beaches, and the worldwide celebrities who spend time there. Talking to other people who had been there before us, we had been warned about all of these things, along with the threats of throngs of people crowding the narrow streets and long sleepless nights due to the wild partying. Apparently, none of that happens in April. We found it to be rather charming actually, with relatively few people and a couple of innocous night clubs tucked away in hidden alleys. Among the most famous sites of Mykonos town (capital of Mykonos island) are the windmills along the water. Strips of cloth are suspended from the spokes when they are in operation, similar to sails. These five seem to be the most photographed as they sit just on the edge of town clearly visible from the harbor (1). There are similar windmills scattered all over the island however.

We got off the ferry in Mykonos along with the aforementioned French tour group and walked to the nearest building which happens to be the tourist office. Our guidebook claimed that the office was open from 8 AM until midnight, as did the sign on the window. It was of course closed. That seems to just be a facet of Greek life. In fact, Kostas (back at Byzantino in Athens) told us that the reason cancer rates are so low in Greece is because there is no stress, because you never have to go to work if you don't want to. This is a beautiful philosophy but it can make travelling fairly interesting. We walked into the center of town and prepared to search the guidebooks for reasonably priced hotels in the vicinity. We never got that far though as a wandering (or maybe lurking) native offered us one of his rooms to rent. "2 minutes walking" he told us. We later learned that everything in the Greek islands is a 2 minute walk and/or a 5 minute drive no matter how far away it might actually ...

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