The magic of Mykonos
July 04, 2008
There are some 1400 islands in Greece and only 227 of them are inhabited. We will visit five of them during our cruise. First stop, the white sandy shores of Mykonos!
A voice over the speaker alerts passengers to the fact that we are approaching beautiful Mykonos, known the world over as the party centre of the Greek isles. I am unaware of this fact, and more concerned about seeing Mykonos’ clean whitewashed buildings, vibrant blue doors and famous beaches. We pull closer and the ship is able to disembark passengers right to the dock. Mykonos, as we soon discover, can get extremely windy. Sometimes, passengers have to be brought to shore by smaller boats as the ship is unable to dock. We leave the ship in great anticipation of four glorious days here.
Our Transat Representative Sophie greets us and we immediately know that we are in good hands. She is from Quebec City, a beautiful girl as friendly, smart and charming as they come. Sophie makes sure we get to our hotel, and informs us she will meet with us in the morning at 10:30 for a briefing.
Before then though, I attempt to take in my surroundings – am I really here? I know it’s a cliche, but this is picture perfect. When our travel agent Melody told us that everything would be exactly like what we saw in the travel brochures, well…she was right.
The Acrogiali hotel is located in a highly desirable beach front area of Mykonos. It is open and airy and very European. We walk through the lobby and right onto the umbrella-dotted beach. Beyond the umbrellas is a cove with aqua blue, clear-to-the-bottom water. “Our” beach – for the next few days anyway, is not very large, but very populated – which may not sound too appealing, but there is a certain electricity in the air. Along the beach are a few restaurants with waiters trying to usher you in, Gyro stands, bars and a convenience store where we buy our first bottle of Greek wine. Our first night in Mykonos is spent sipping wine on our private balcony and pinching ourselves every now and then to see if it’s real.