“We ended up walking a mile before we found the first open restaurant and any real signs of civilization.”
Excerpt from 3/13/19
Spring break in Mykonos was one of my most memorable study abroad trips for a couple reasons. First, this island is the most beautiful place I’ve ever visited. Second, the trip was NOTHING like what I expected. Let me explain.
It was mid-March when I was there. I’m not even exaggerating when I say that the island was completely deserted. I was aware going into the trip that it would be off-season, but I had no idea most of the island would literally be closed and boarded up.
Mykonos typically has a reputation for being very upbeat with tons of night life. Was I disappointed I didn’t get to experience that? Maybe a little. On the flip side though, not only did my friends and I have the entire beach to ourselves but in many ways it felt like we had the whole island to ourselves. After visiting busy city after busy city, it felt nice to escape to somewhere so peaceful and relaxing.
Traveling to the Island
There are two main options for getting to Mykonos from Athens: plane or ferry. The flight was only about an hour, whereas the ferry was around four hours. We took the ferry because in addition to being cheaper, it was also more of an experience. It was my first time riding a ferry, and I’m so happy I was able to experience it.
The nicest part was getting to spread out wherever you wanted on the ferry. There were plenty of indoor and outdoor seating options, but I spent most of the trip outside. I passed the time updating my travel diary and listening to music while enjoying the view of the ocean. The ferry also stopped at two ports before arriving at Mykonos so it was cool getting to see some different Greek islands up close.
Staying by the Beach
My friends and I stayed in the most gorgeous little house overlooking the beach. It had two bedrooms, a kitchen, and a cute little porch with seating. I remember being shocked at how cheap it was when I found it on Airbnb. Looking back now, I realize it was because everything around it was closed during off-season.
If I could go back and do it again though, I would still stay there. Even though nothing around was open, it was the perfect little island escape. Very few people can say they had an entire beach in Mykonos to themselves.
It’s easy to say all this now, but I should point out that in the moment we were definitely freaking out. After our Airbnb host dropped us off we all had a moment where we stopped and said: what now? We had no idea where the closest open restaurant or grocery store was. All the nearby ones on Google maps said they were open but were completely boarded up. So we just started walking.
We walked for about a mile and at that point we were really starting to panic. Survival mode kicked in. Where would we find food? Who could we even call? The taxi numbers we found online were not in operation.
Finally after walking a little further, we spotted a few cars and what looked like an open restaurant. We may have been the only customers, but they were indeed open. We breathed a sigh of relief, and I quite literally ate an entire pizza by myself. Hey, I didn’t know when my next meal would be.
Luckily, the sweetest woman was working at the restaurant. I’m sure she could tell we were quite flustered. She asked us what we were doing on the island, especially during off-season. Ultimately, she helped calm us down and gave us the number for a taxi that was in operation. She also told us what parts of the island were open and also the location of the closest open grocery store to where we were staying. God bless that woman. I don’t know what we would have done without her.
Exploring the Island
Once we had the information we needed to have some peace of mind, we began exploring more of the island the next day. We called a taxi to take us to Mykonos Town, which is essentially the “downtown” of the island.
There we saw these gorgeous windmills along the coast. A cute gift shop with tons of handmade items was also nearby. I found this helpful description about the iconic blue and white eye pictured below. I had seen them all over Athens and Mykonos, so it was nice finally getting to read about what they symbolized.
After strolling along the water, we ventured to the heart of the downtown area, where the streets were still largely empty but the photo opportunities were abounding.
Alley after alley were the cutest white buildings with vibrant pops of red and blue. I even stumbled across this door frame with #happiness above it. How cute is that??
While we didn’t see many people walking through the streets, we did cross paths with a cute little stray cat.
After taking tons of pictures, we found this lookout where we watched the sunset. After eating dinner in Mykonos Town, we took a taxi back to our place and pretty much hung out there and on the beach for our remaining couple days.
Memories
- Waiting for the bus that was never coming…
When we first got to our Airbnb, I’m embarrassed to say my friends and I waited at the nearby bus stop for probably thirty minutes. We eventually figured out it didn’t operate in the off-season when it never showed up. I still laugh looking back and imagining us just sitting there so patiently for a bus that was never coming.
- Dinner in Mykonos Town
I had the best restaurant experience of my life in Mykonos Town. The owner was so generous and down-to-earth. It was a bit of a chilly night and he must have noticed we were a chilly because he literally brought out blankets for us. Not to mention, he gave us a complimentary bottle of ouzo (a Greek liquor) and a sampling of several authentic Greek desserts.
- Pasta, guacamole, and wine
One night, we stayed in and decided to cook for ourselves. With the basic ingredients we bought from the grocery store, we whipped up some pasta and chips with guacamole. I know, quite the interesting combination. To top it off, we shared a bottle of wine and sat in a circle on the bed just talking, laughing, and enjoying each other’s company.
Even though the trip to Mykonos wasn’t quite what I expected, it taught me how to think on my feet and adapt. Trips don’t always go according to plan, but sometimes that can be a good thing.
Check out my podcast episode about this trip:
Mykonos was the second of three destinations during my spring break abroad. Look out for part three in the coming weeks (hint: it’s Barcelona)!
Check out my other study abroad diaries:
London | Florence | Ireland | Prague | Paris | Athens
