My sister, Katie, decided to bring me along on her dream honeymoon vacation to Greece back in September of 2018. Everywhere we looked in Greece, lovey-dovey couples roamed the streets. Our first stop was on party-island Mykonos! Unfortunately, we were SO jet-lagged at that point, we wished we had chosen to visit Mykonos a bit later into the trip. We had been traveling and flying (with 2 layovers in Spain and also Athens, Greece) for over 24 hours at this point, so we were excited but a little loopy from how exhausted we were. We also were met with a very stressful scenario where we had not heard from our Airbnb host (no check-in instructions, no specific address, no replies to any of our messages) less than 12 hours prior to our Airbnb check-in. Airbnb as a company handled it so professionally and took care of us the whole way, but man oh man, it was quite a start to our vacation. We ended up rebooking with another hotel in the area and finally had a confirmed place to stay when we arrived. All of our stresses and troubles melted away though the moment we stepped out amongst the gorgeous white and blue buildings with the perfectly warm sun shining down on us. Talk about a little bit of Greek magic.
Upon landing in the Mykonos airport, we saw our newly booked hotel was only a 20 minute walk from where we landed. Being the ambitious gals we are, we decided we were fit enough to walk the distance with our luggage. Boy oh boy, was that a mistake. There is no sidewalk (aka a very dangerous situation), cars zipping by at top speed just inches from us, the road is VERY rough/uneven from the airport to where the city center is which brings me to say: please get a taxi or rent a car/moped if you decide to go to Mykonos!
Once we finally got settled in at the hotel, took a shower, and got dressed, we ventured out and explored the hustling and bustling center of Little Venice in Mykonos Town! It was everything we had imagined and seen in the photos: gorgeous whitewashed buildings with blue accents, small alleyways, winding roads, and cobblestone floors. The place was overflowing with tourists with a sprinkle of locals doing their daily chores. Little shops are lined up back to back and there was never a shortage of things to admire. The alleys and roads are SO randomly placed and have no particular pattern. I found this layout charming, but I most definitely would have gotten lost if Katie had not been there with her natural sense of direction. You can ask her - I get lost easily, more often than I’d like to admit.
Our first official food stop was at Kastros Restaurant & Bar. It had the cutest outdoor seating area lining a small alleyway that led to the ocean. It was here where we had our first official Greek salad & fell in love with eating octopus. We were seated by the open windows next to the water and dined with the sound of the ocean behind us and a glass of rosé in hand. We met sweet English-speaking travelers to both our left and right, chatting and sharing recommendations of places to visit and dishes to try.
Jetlag + afternoon wine = sleepy sleepy sleepy. To keep ourselves awake, we decided to stop for an afternoon snack at Jimmy’s! We ordered a pork gyro (because you have to try a gyro in Greece). It was very delicious, hit the spot, and ended up sending us into a major food coma (but in the best way possible). Jimmy, the restaurant owner, also had many photos up on the walls of him & many guests - and I kept wondering if they were famous people or just regular people. I still have no idea, but Jimmy sure seems like a social guy! We explored a little more and met a very friendly waiter who proceeded to chat with us and told Katie that she was beautiful multiple times (pictured below). Hello & goodbye friendly strange waiter man!!
After a night of much needed rest, we trekked on over to Cosmos Cafe for a very delicious breakfast of omelet + Greek yogurt with fresh fruit & honey. The food options were both delicious and nutritious, which had us coming back for breakfast two days in a row.
We then hopped onto a bus from the center of Mykonos Town (only 1.80 euros one way) and headed over to Ornos Beach for some tanning by the beach. The area had a modest crowd, but there were still plenty of sun beds open upon our arrival. We paid for a couple of sun beds with umbrellas (as you must do for any Greek beach) for 10 euros each - although I heard they have raised their prices since I was there over a year ago. Here we cracked open our books, sipped on mint lime mojitos, waded through the aqua blue waters, and took a deep breath as it finally started sinking in that we were in Greece!! Before leaving, we stopped by Kostantis for dinner, which definitely lived up to its high ratings on TripAdvisor! The restaurant was literally on the beach (warm sand underneath our toes) and we ate some tzatziki with pita bread, ceviche, and kleftiko (baked pork and lamb). Warm and well-fed, we then hopped back on the bus to Mykonos Town.
Fun Fact: Katie highly recommends oregano lays chips (featured as sun shield above)!
Lastly, on our search to watch the sunset somewhere in Mykonos, we stopped by a random sweet shop on the side of the road and picked up a couple dessert options to munch on. We spent a short 3 days on Mykonos island, but it was a sweet start to our sister-sister plan to tan in Europe (this was literally the name of our Google Docs Greece travel itinerary)! Everyone in Mykonos is super nice and they often speak English (as there are a lot of tourists in the area). I highly recommend walking around Little Venice in Mykonos Town as there is just so much to see. Mykonos Island is gorgeous and everything we had dreamed Greece to be. Now that we are less jet-lagged we are so excited to hop on the ferry and jet off to the next Greek island destination!!
