Crystal blue water, whitewashed stone-paved alleys, and the most epic Greek feast!
Mykonos was our second port on our Mediterranean cruise, and honestly, what started as a simple beach day turned into so much more than expected!
When planning for our trip, I had asked around for suggestions of places to visit while in Mykonos. It was one of the places we were going to that I knew little about. A couple of friends had raved about a restaurant called Kiki’s Taverna on Agios Sostis Beach, and my son’s friend, whose family is Greek and goes to Greece all the time, had also mentioned it. We decided that was our plan for our day in Mykonos… beach and yummy Greek food! So, I thought…
Our taxi driver had other ideas! When we mentioned to him where we would like to go, he immediately frowned and started shaking his head. “No, no, no. That place is very remote today. Hard to get service, you can’t get a taxi back easily, and it’s really windy on that side, today.” His fellow cabbie agreed.
Well, there went our plans! Instead, he recommended and brought us to Platis Gialos Beach. At first, I’ll be honest, we were a little bummed. It was around 10a and the whole area felt pretty quiet. There was a long stretch of beach with rental chairs and umbrellas, plus a row of restaurants that weren’t even open yet.
We found a free sandy spot at the end of the beach and spread our towels out.
The water was freezing cold but absolutely crystal clear with gorgeous rock formations along the shoreline. We enjoyed the water, climbed the rocks and soaked up the sun, but we were still thinking that maybe we were missing something by not going to Kiki’s and wondering if we should try to get there somehow.
So, I got on my phone and started googling. Turns out our driver was totally right. Kiki’s really was super remote with sketchy cell service. Not exactly what you want when you have to get back on a cruise ship! When I thought about it some more, the friends who had recommended it to us hadn’t visited Mykonos via cruise and therefore didn’t have the time restraints we had.
By now it was 11a, the beach had completely come alive! It was packed, all the beach bars were open and pumping music, and we were now glad we had got there when we did to claim our spots. We continued to relax and enjoy ourselves!
We stayed until about 1:30p, we had 3 hours before we had to get back to the ship, were getting hungry and ready to explore someplace new. I started scrolling through my phone again and came upon Mykonos Town. We packed up, called our taxi, and off we went… Best decision ever!
Oh my gosh, Mykonos Town was like something out of a dream! The narrow whitewashed stone-paved alleys were winding everywhere, and every single house was white with the most different bright colored shutters: red ones, blue ones, green ones. It felt like walking through the most perfect Greek postcard.
There were little shops tucked into every corner, and the whole place just had this magical energy.
And then came lunch at La Petit Taverna Windmills, where we basically lost our minds ordering food! There were eight of us, and somehow, we managed to order enough for about twice that many. We got Spanakotiropita, Spicy PDO Feta Bake, and Keftedes (delicious fried meatballs). We ordered TWO of each for the table.
Then we added Moussaka as an appetizer because, you know, clearly, we needed more food! And THEN we all ordered our own entrees on top of everything else.
The Moussaka in Greece, wow! I mean, everyone knows it’s a classic Greek dish but having it in Greece was something special. I got the Lemon Lamb, which came out more well-done than I usually like, but it was still absolutely delicious. My husband ordered Shrimp Saganaki, several people got the Grilled Pork Souvlaki, and my daughter tried Pastitsio, which is basically like a Greek baked ziti, and it was also delicious!
Our poor waiter kept coming over with this completely bewildered look on his face. He looked like he’d never seen Americans before, or maybe he was brand new – either way, it was hilarious! I swear he was thinking, “Americans”. After we finally finished eating, we each had a shot of some type of orange liqueur and no room for dessert.
We all decided to split up in our pairs, explore some more and meet up back on the ship. My husband and I wandered down to the waterfront and discovered this amazing row of windmills right along the water, which was unexpected and actually an iconic sight!
Around 4:15p, we decided to head back to the ship. My husband, my son, his friend and I chose to walk back to the beach from town. It was only about a mile, but what a mile it was! We spent the entire walk facing into the wind along the edge of these cliffs, with the most gorgeous sparkling water stretching out beside us. It was invigorating and beautiful and just perfect. My daughter and her boyfriend took a water taxi back (secretly, I wish I thought of that) and I have no idea how my oldest son and his girlfriend made it back to the ship, but I love how everyone managed their own little adventure!
Since I’d never really seen pictures of Mykonos before our trip, I had no idea what to expect. The whole island ended up being such a wonderful surprise, and stumbling into Mykonos Town an unexpected treat!
Sometimes the best travel days happen when you throw your plans out the window and just see where the day takes you. Our Mykonos adventure was proof that going with the flow can lead to the most amazing discoveries – and the most memorable feasts!
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