Mykonos: the island that never sleeps.. except on the beach
Posted by: Alyssa Cashman on: May 5, 2009
Well, only a few short days after I returned from spring break, many from our program took off on a student government trip to Mykonos. I had heard such outlandish things about this legendary island, first put on the map by Jackie O, I couldn’t wait! Unfortunately, all things come with a price, and ours was being crammed like sardines into a bus for 8 hours to get to Athens first. Those sneaky Greek students scoped out the roomier bus first. This was not the last time we would be foiled by them.
Blue, blue and more blue
We got on a ferry for Mykonos at 7:30 a.m. After sleeping for a while, I ventured out on deck where the weather was astoundingly beautiful. I have never seen water that beautiful in all my life. When we arrived in Mykonos, we had to sit at the port and wait as the Greek students were bussed up to our hotel first, and then we were picked up. We stayed at Hotel Jason, and I was with Dewey, Jill and Jacqueline. Between the four of us, we had all the neccesities covered… or rather, between the three of them. I overpacked, but it was all clothing, not things that are actually useful in Mykonos.
We walked down to the beach, 10 minutes away and my spirits immediately sky-rocketed. Since it’s the off-season, we could sit in the comfy beach chairs free of charge and the locals loved us. After a few drinks, game of cards, plenty of relaxing, and a delicious dinner at a seaside taverna, we headed out for our first taste of Mykonos nightlife.
paradise
Down Under
We first went to a bar called Mykonos Down Under. It was such a blast! We danced the night away and acted goofy the entire night. The only negative part was this Greek dude who kept dancing all up on me and then saying, “I’m here.” He probably came up behind me at least 10 times to say this until I finally gave him a big sarcastic thumbs up and said “OK!” He left me alone after that. We went to another dance club, Argo, which was dead, but was playing ABBA and Grease.. how could we not go in? There were many times that night when I just closed my eyes and thought of how insane it was that I was on one of the biggest party islands in the world dancing the night away. Nice life.
Foiled again!
The next day, we were told that the bus would leave for a famous beach, Super Paradise, at noon. So we laid by the pool for an hour and then all the Americans gathered outside to catch the bus. Suddenly an angry worker came around snatching our hotel towels out of our hands! “These are not for the beach!” Woah. That would NEVER happen in the States, or somebody would be getting fired for sure. Anyway, after about a half hour, something was clearly amiss. Soon we found out that the “poor” Greek students had been out til 6 a.m. and were still sleeping so the bus wouldn’t be leaving until 4. Jacqueline and I had had enough so we left immediately for our beach, while everyone else seemed to mill around staring at one another, wondering what to do next. Forget that! Some of them eventually walked down to a beach farther away, but Jacqui and I laid in our comfy chairs again. It was a windy day, so we kept having to move back from the water so we didn’t freeze! We ate at the same taverna again, but this time I avoided the cinnamon-tasting shots they gave us for free.
We went out again (2 nights and counting..) that night to a bar where all the ACT students were going. It was fun for a while, but soon there was just too many of us and my sober state of mind certainly did not bode well for being suffocated among crazy, drunk Americans! Jill, Jacqui and I took off for home as Jill and I were about to die from the pain in our heel-clad feet.
Enjoying the beach
Roomies at the club!
SUPER Paradise
The next day, we took a water taxi for 5 euros roundtrip to Super Paradise. To be honest, I was not impressed. There was nothing super about it. Perhaps it’s more hopping in the peak season. The water was very beautiful there, I’ll grant the beach that. And the loud construction nearby really added to the ambiance… Soon though, the clouds were covering the sun, so we left for some shopping in Mykonos Town. It was probably good I wasn’t out too late, as my back and the back of my legs reminded me of the lobster claw that was my arm in Florida last year.. painful.
Mykonos Town is a really cute little area with narrow, windy streets. The whitewashed buildings and colorful banisters and doors were so Greek. I bought a couple of bracelets and some heels (hey, I need black heels – they’re a staple! And they were half off!). We met a funny man from Florida who owned a jewelry shop there. He said “Mykonos is a safe island. There are many men.. but they’re all gay.” So true. There was a club called Ramrod for goodness sake. We ate by the port and watched the sunset and went home to prepare for our final night of shenanigans in Mykonos.
Beautiful water
sunset in Mykonos Town
Ready for our last night out!
What happens in Mykonos, stays there
Our room was party central, as people milled in and out. Dewey’s friend, Josh, who is from Idaho and who Dewey met in Prague, came to our place, as he was in Mykonos traveling on his own. We had a great night. Lots of dancing (return to Mykonos Down Under) and laughing. I definitely had a TRUE Greek experience that night. After finally crashing at 5 a.m. getting up to get on the bus at 10:30 a.m. was a little rough. And then we had to wait for another hour and a half, because our bus had broken down the day before. Mind you, this is the third time buses have broken down on school trips. As much as I love Greece, there is no denying the country is a little.. off.
Well we got on the ferry, which at the next stop, was soon overwhelmed by crazy, loud Greeks who woke me from my slumber. I was not a happy camper. But then some crazy Greek gameshow was on TV where people have to jump through weird cut-outs. No volume was necessary to enjoy the ridiculousness of this show. After our incompetent bus driver got lost in the suburbs of Athens for an hour, we were finally in the final leg of our journey. After four hours, and no stop, we became restless. As we passed, Goody’s a loud “NOOOOOOO” emitted from the bus. Finally, we stopped at an overpriced nasty gas station which had the most disgusting spanicopita (sp?) I have EVER had. Four euro down the drain. I was happy to get back home, although I never wanted to leave paradise in the first place.
