I’ve always dreamed of Greece. Since first reading ancient Greek myths when I was a child, through studying Classics at school, and on to modern-day fantasies of Greek idylls – inspired as much by Shirley Valentine and Mamma Mia as scenic photos and travel magazines – it’s been on my list of “must do” destinations. Having visited both Cyprus and Corfu in the early days of our relationship, it’s taken almost twenty years of travelling the world together for us to return to this part of the Mediterranean.
Finally, we are heading off on a nine-night jaunt around the Cyclades’ most famous islands – Mykonos, Delos, Naxos and Santorini – each proving themselves very different from each other, but all equally seductive. It seems sometimes dreams really do come true…
Vencia Boutique pool
Famed as the Greek party isle, and a mecca for gay tourists, Mykonos is an obvious starting point for our Hellenic odyssey, and one we’ll return to at the end, staying in different hotels on either side of our trip. The first is the Vencia Boutique which overlooks Mykonos Town, and by the time we’ve checked in and dumped our bags in the room, the golden glow of sunset is starting to paint the skies, so we sit by the pool and watch as dusk falls over the Aegean Sea.
It’s unseasonably windy today, with ferry crossings suspended between the islands and boats firmly moored in the harbours due to the Cycladic winds, which usually whip around the islands earlier in the year, returning with a vengeance. Wrapping our jackets around us we descend the steep steps into town, soaking up the brilliant white architecture and cute cobbled streets, blissfully unaware of what those steep steps and cobblestones will later induce.
Mykonos Old Town
Our first stop is at Appaloosa restaurant for a Greco-Mexican dinner, watching tourists and locals promenade along this little back street, before we head down to the old harbour and have a dessert of Greek yoghurt ice cream with a ginormous dark chocolate and Grand Marnier crepe at a little gelateria by the sea. The restaurants around the old port, usually open to the balmy night air, have clear plastic awnings protecting diners from the choppy breeze and our walk to the stretch known as Little Venice is punctuated by strong gusts and crashing waves.
Mykonos Town is absolutely gorgeous though, both a visual, twinkling treat at night-time and a cosmopolitan, gleaming white experience during the day. Pedestrianised and full of winding streets, it’s like an open-air, designer souk – populated with fantastic art galleries and fashion houses rather than the leather shops and spice merchants of North Africa. However, it’s just as easy to get lost in the maze of alleyways, wandering past tiny churches, pulsing bars and cute restaurants, all the while pushing through thronging crowds.
Mykonos Town
On the second night we bag a prime spot for the sunset, at a restaurant called Nice N’Easy between the famous Mykonos windmills and Little Venice, serving vegan food and killer cocktails. It’s both hilarious and tragic to watch the hordes of tourists photographing themselves against the burnished sky, posing for their #Insta selfies, while the evening turns from bronze and gold into deep hues of pink, blue and purple; a spectacular twilight following the setting of the sun.
Chilling at Nice N’Easy
Disconcertingly I’ve felt a weird ‘pop’ in my left knee whilst grabbing our own selfie by the windmills, the vertiginous streets and cobblestone pavements proving a challenge for my middle-aged joints. It’s more of a curiosity as we wander on through the town to Lola’s Bar, one of the most famous nightspots in town, but will prove a challenge as the days progress.
Yet tonight, the fabulously camp Edwardian boudoir that is Lola’s, proves the perfect painkiller, its brocade lampshades, ostrich feathers, boas and mirrors, all bathed in a pink red light, reminding us of our own interior designs back home. With a soundtrack of European 50s jazz and big band divas, its insanely strong cocktails (particularly the almost neat fumes of the Cosmopolitan) prove deeply anaesthetic, and the climb back up the steep streets and many steps to the Vencia Boutique is managed without hindrance.
