Flora has recently returned from a spot of island hopping in Greece; tirelessly researching all the very best hotels, beaches, views and restaurants... poor her! This is the first in a three-part series in which Flora explores the beautiful Mykonos.
Arriving...
Mykonos was the first stop on my trip and, if I am being honest, the one I was probably least excited about. Yes its southern coastline is peppered with beautiful sandy beaches and yes the island is famous for its ebullient nightlife, but neither of those are particularly appealing when you arrive during a rain shower with just a toy giraffe for company.
An hour or two later, the rain had cleared and I was sipping the first iced 'freddo' coffee of my trip (from here on in I consumed these sugary, frothy concoctions at an alarming rate and have been miserably failing to recreate them since my return) and thinking that there was more to Mykonos than booze and bikinis.
The Town...
Mykonos town is a bewildering maze of twisting alleyways designed to disorientate marauding pirates; frankly it makes the Cretans with their Minotaur and their labyrinth look a bit basic. There are few more enjoyable ways to spend a lazy afternoon than getting blissfully lost pottering around town; sooner or later you'll stumble across the sea, or one of the iconic windmills, and be able to orientate yourself again.
It was during one such rambling wander that I, quite literally, bumped into the town's resident pelican as he enjoyed a spot of lunch in the back of a restaurant. In the 60s the Mykonos pelican stopped off on the island during his annual migration and decided, quite understandably, that flying all that way was a bit of a faff and that he'd much rather just stay in one place, thank you very much. The locals fell in love with him and he was adopted as the island's unofficial mascot and has generally lived the life of riley ever since; the fact that he appears miraculously refreshed and youthful every few years or so is clearly testament to the benefits of his new beach lifestyle.
The Hotels...
The giraffe, the pelly and I had a thoroughly pleasant weekend in the sun, largely thanks to the fact that Mykonos does luxury hotels very well indeed; most of them as crisp and white as the champagne that is being quaffed around their pools. I had the particularly onerous task of visiting many of them, and without exception, they were some of the most self-indulgent, spoiling places I have ever had the pleasure of being. Whether you prefer to be tucked above a quiet beach (step forward Grace Mykonos and Kivotos) or within stumbling distance of the bustling town centre at the iconic Belvedere, there is a sunbed and a cocktail with your name on it somewhere on the island.
Departing...
The weekend's glamour ended in abrupt fashion at precisely the moment that the flying catamaran left Mykonos harbour; Otie and I were treated to some Exorcist-level vomiting by our fellow passengers and disembarked to their wails of delight at arriving on Santorini.
My top tips from Mykonos? Take the ferry when you leave, or never ever get on the flying catamaran without making absolutely sure that you have recovered fully from the night before...