Monday, December 5, 2016

HONEYMOON DIARIES: MYKONOS, GREECE


The first leg of our honeymoon was in Mykonos. We flew via United using our Chase Sapphire Preferred points. Each one way coach ticket was 30,000 points with an additional charge for taxes and fees (around $70). We first flew from San Diego to Washington DC. Then we flew from London Heathrow to Athens and then to Mykonos. We arrived in Mykonos around 7pm and was greeted by Anesti, our driver from the Rocabella Hotel. It's about a 30 minute drive from the airport to the hotel. When we arrived at the hotel, we were offered champagne and other refreshments while we waited for an orientation of the property and a personal walk over to our room.



We were exhausted after traveling for over 24 hrs so we went to sleep right away. The next morning, we were greeted with this view from our balcony.



We were extremely hungry so the first thing we did was went in search for lunch. I had done some research about restaurants to visit in Mykonos and with the hotel staff also recommending this spot, we decided to go to Kiki's Tavern. Visiting during the off season does have its benefits. We pretty much had the whole place to ourselves and didn't have to wait to be seated at all. It was just us and one other family. I had read that during high season, the wait is usually 1 to 2 hrs. The view from Kiki's is beautiful and I would highly recommend sitting at a spot closer to the ocean.



As with most parts of Greece, there was an abundance of cats and there were quite a few that came to visit while we ate. The first one pictured below we ended up naming Steve and then the second one we named Milton. There was also one that we named Denise that came later but she got into a cat fight with Steve over territory and had to leave.



After our lunch we had some coffee and enjoyed the view of the waters. We also walked down to Agios Sostis Beach and also had the entire beach to ourselves.





In the picture below, there are a bunch of pebbles to our right. When the water runs thru the pebbles, it sounds like one of those sticks that water runs thru and it makes a soothing sound. It actually sounds really cool.



Another benefit of going during the off season is having the entire area to yourself. Not a single person on this beach! It was like having our own private beach.


There's also a private church next to Kiki's that we walked past.


After eating at Kiki's and spending some time in the surrounding area, we went back to the hotel. We chilled for a bit before heading out to Mykonos Town. We headed to the pool area and enjoyed the views while we sipped on some cocktails. Unfortunately, it was much too cold to utilize this beautiful pool.


After some relaxation, we headed to Mykonos Town to walk around and catch the sunset by the windmills and by Little Venice. Again, because we were here during the off season, many of the shops were closed. A lot of the shops were actually closed before 5pm and then open up around dinner time so don't despair if you walk around and it looks like everything is closed. We walked around after we had dinner from 8 to 8:30pm and there were a lot more shops open during that time than during 4pm.





One of my favorite pictures is this one below. There were so many cats and we found this one randomly in this little cart.






After walking around for a bit, we decided to just enjoy a drink by the water. The view was definitely worth it.






After we were done walking around Mykonos Town, we waited for the hotel shuttle to come grab us. Since it was the off season, before we left the hotel, we had to let the hotel staff know when we wanted them to come pick us up. Another option was to carry around the hotel's phone number and to have the restaurant/store call at least an hour before you wanted them to come get you.


For our second day in Mykonos, we had originally planned to go to Delos. Again, due to the weather, we were not able to go so we headed back out to Mykonos Town. Before we headed out, we were able to utilize our complimentary massages at the Rocabella. Even though I only go the 15 minute massage, it still felt absolutely amazing.









On our last day in Mykonos, we woke up to find that the weather had gotten a lot better. However, our ferry to Santorini actually got cancelled because it was a Greek holiday. Luckily for us, Margarita at the Rocabella was able to quickly book us plane tickets from Mykonos to Santorini. It was quite the expensive endeavor but it was definitely worth it once we got there.


I've listed below some websites and videos I used to do research on things to do in Mykonos. I found them very helpful. Use them as a guide but I think it's really important to just go out there and make your own mistakes. Most of the reviews we read for the places we tried didn't live up to the expectations anyways. Some of the funnest times we had was just from wandering around and going into tourist traps or discovering hidden gems ourselves. Trust me. You don't need to read a review for everything.


MYKONOS RESOURCES:

  • Blog Posts:
    • Mimi Ikonn 2015 Mykonos Travel Guide (link)
    • The Little Magpie 2015 Mykonos Travel Guide (link)
    • Santorini Dave: Best Mykonos Tours (link)
  • Videos:
    • Sona Gasparian: Honeymoon in Santorini and Mykonos (link)
    • Mimi Ikonn - Outfit Diary (link)