JAYWALKing the World : Mykonos, Greece, A Dream Come True

Mykonos, Greece, A Dream Come True

Greece has always been near the top, if not at the top, of my most desired places to visit list. Blame it on Uncle Jessie, Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, or Niko Niko's, but I am hooked on all things Greek. So when it came time to choose the destination of our annual post season trip, I immediately started pushing for Greece. Luckily, It didn't take too much convincing. It just so happened I had recently introduced Nathan to Greek food. That combined with a quick Pinterest search of "Greek Islands" would be enough to convince anyone to buy a plane ticket. We knew we wanted to go somewhere on the beach. (6 months in Western Europe will make you want to get to the warmest, sunniest place possible.) Based on that, flight schedules, and TripAdvisor reviews, we decided on Mykonos. We had no idea at the time that Mykonos was basically the party capital of the world, but also, we weren't complaining.

Contrary to popular belief, we never took a honeymoon after we got married. Based on time, location, and stress levels, we decided to save it and combine it with our after season trip. So we dubbed this trip our "honeymoon" and decided to make it extra special. Nathan was in charge of finding the resort, as well as planning the bulk of the trip. We stayed at the fabulous Myconian Ambassador, which, like most of Mykonos, was surrounded by spectacular views. These views can be partially attributed to Greece's strict building laws which state that all structures must be painted white, with accents allowed only in blue, red, or brown. This holds true even for businesses and corporations, like Starbucks, and Louis Vuitton which are only allowed on the island because they adhere to this policy. The white buildings against the blue Mediterranean Sea is one reason Mykonos is one of the most beautiful and distinct places in the world.

Another unique quality about Mykonos is the transportation system. The island is so small that they don't really have public transportation. Not even Taxi's. So as a tourist, this would typically be an issue. The island is small, but not small enough to walk from one place to another. So the common thing to do as a tourist is to rent a scooter or a quad. We went with a quad (four wheeler) and with limited instructions or directions we spent our time just exploring the island and driving from beach to beach. How often do you get to do that as a visitor? Have the freedom to just drive wherever you want, and share the roads with the locals. (The roads in Mykonos are very small, and are shared between vehicles, scooters, and quads, so it makes for quite the interesting driving experience.) It literally felt like something straight out of a story book, and we both agreed that driving around the island on the back of a four wheeler was one of the coolest parts of the trip.

Other then that we spent most of our time relaxing on the beach, eating more Greek food then I care to admit, and shopping in Mykonos town. The Mediterranean ocean was freezing! But we convinced ourselves to get in anyways in case we never got the chance to again. We also went on a kayak tour where we got the chance to visit a private beach and do a little snorkeling. I mentioned earlier that Mykonos was known for partying, but we caught what I am sure was only a very small glimpse of that since we were there before tourist season. (Although there was no shortage of nudity on the beaches!) Overall our trip to Greece seems like such a fairy tale. When people ask me where my favorite destination has been, I have a new answer: Mykonos. The colors, the views, the customs, the food, and the free spirit energy make it so unlike any other place in the world! Enjoy our pictures, (it was not easy narrowing them down from 700+) and feel free to leave any questions/comments in the comment section below!