Mykonos
JULIO
Since I've been involved in the clubbing community for many years, I have heard all kinds of cool, glamorous and legendary stuff about Mykonos. We got there and heard that Paris Hilton and David Guetta had just made appearances at local hotspot Cavo Paradiso. Watching some videos however, we weren’t sad to have missed them. Not quite the underground music scene in Mykonos.
My first impression is that it is lovely, sun-drenched and full of that gorgeous white Cycladic architecture. It boasts a very quaint and picturesque Little Venice district. It has a similar feel to Santorini, however a slightly more upscale, sheeshy, almost stuffy vibe to it. The boutique district houses all of the brands you are used to seeing in the West in very touristy elegant areas like Helmut Lang, Marc Jacobs, Hakassan, and the usual suspects.
The locals were very kind and charming, however it does feel a little packaged and overdone. We strolled up to the local windmills which are a famous landmark of Mykonos; stopped at some of the cafés and enjoyed a delicious meal at a very non-descript taverna on the main drag. One thing I’m learning is that it's definitely more enjoyable when there are less tourists around. The little, winding, cobblestone streets of the Greek islands are not easy to manage with slow, large, gawking tourists that always seem to be in your way. People are clamoring trying to get in line or get a table and somehow are being pushy no matter what they do. I prefer the less populated, less popular and spacious isles for exploration.
To be fair, we spent less than a day in Mykonos on this trip since it did not enchant me to stay longer as much as nearby Naxos. I'm sure like most places, if your spending big bucks for the best only and overly exclusive it is great. Being ballers on a budget we were happy to make it a short visit.
Christina
What's to say? While still beautiful, I think Mykonos has fallen into the trap of being over-hyped and over-consumed - if that's even possible. If you want a party, especially an expensive, fashionable one, this is the place for you but if you want the real Greece, skip it. I had been here 15 years ago - at that time there was more of a balance between the local and tourist cultures - whereas now it's truly become a manufactured environment. The people that are living there are still as wonderful and accommodating as ever, but the vibe felt like a velvet-roped door in NYC, not like a laid back, flourishing and equal environment that it once had been. Maybe we will try it again and see more - but I wasn't so impressed.. maybe I'm just getting older?
