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Julia & Pierre's
wedding pages
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The island of Mykonos
-how, when, why, what?
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This here is a short summary
and info page about the lovely island of Mykonos
that was our "home" for two
lovely weeks in August of 1999
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Map of entire Greece.
Can you see the tiny island
of Mykonos marked by
a white arrow in the
archipelago of the "Cyclades"?
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| Pierre and I had been planning
on going abroad for quite a while, so it was mainly a matter of finaces.
We had been saving for a while, and after we had decided we wanted to get
married while there, all we had left was the choice of destination. We
knew we would love ot wherever in Greece we went, so we waited until the
beginning of August, and got a really good deal on a two week trip to the
"party" island and "gay paradise" of Mykonos. After the saleswoman at the
travel agency had assured me Mykonos was no wilder than any other place
in Greece this time of the year, we decided to go for it; because Mykonos
is also known for its extraordinary nature (a mixture of rocks, sand and
crystal clear sea in a delightful combination) and also has some of the
best beaches around. We also needed a place pretty close to Athens, since
that's where we were supposed to get married later on... |
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Mykonos is a very popular
island to visit (more than 1.000.000 (!) visitors over the summer season)
so there were boats coming and going to and from the mainland and the nearby
islands all the time
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In midst of the neverending
stream of tourists there were actually Greek women selling veggies and
flowers from their donkeys' back...
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There is a local law that
prohibits any buildings to be built in any other style than the typical
cubical Cycladic style, with blue, red or green windows and doorways. Also
no building may be taller than two stories. It was lovely not having to
see any huge ugly hotel complexes
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Mykonos is known as a
jet-setters island and is actually the most expensive of all the Greek
islands. There were tons of jewelers, posh boutiques and fine restaurants
that attracted people from all over the world.
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The good thing about Mykonos
is that it offered you whatever you wanted from it. OK there were lots
of gay people, but nowhere near the amount of "straight" couples, families
with small kids, Greek and Italian tourists, young people looking for a
good time... well all kinds of people who all found whatever they were
looking for in this wonderful place. There were many occasions to party
around the clock if you wanted to, but that as well was up to each and
everyone's own choices. Just a short distance from Mykonos town were small
clusters of houses each with their own church and goats grazing the sunburnt
bushes, quiet beaches and tall mountains overlooking a quiet bay visited
by some of the several huge yachts that frequented the island. There were
expensive, elegant shops and restaurants as well as small fast food places
serving local food (delicious "Gyro's" for instance) and tiny shops with
local artwork.
Pierre and I lived in a small
village called Ornos, only a short 10 minutes' bumpy bus ride from the
cosmopolitan town. Week one was spent in the beautiful but oh so hot (no
aircondition, so we had to lie under wettened towels at night to get some
sleep at all) apartment on a hill above the beautiful beach of Agios Ioannis
(if you have seen the movie "Shirley Valentine", this is the beach) where
a stunning sunset could be enjoyed every night. Lots of stray cats came
to visit us, to our delight.
After returning from Athens,
we had to change to another apartment, this time closer to Ornos village,
and this one had air condition. The local wind; The Meltemi, had
begun blowing though, so the heat was no longer that unbearable as before
(we had up to 115 degrees occasionally).
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| Our first week was pretty
hectic, but we enjoyed ourselves to the fullest! New trips and sightings
every day and we tried all kinds of food, bought snorkeling equipment and
visited the sacred island of Delos. Delos used to be the centre of trade
and worship in ancient times (from year 300 B.C and forward), and the legend
says that the god of, Apollo, and his sister Artemis were born on this
island. Archaeologist had made an enormous job excavating a huge part of
the ancient town, that was full of ruins, mosaics and old houses, temples
and statues. Pierre was extatic, to say the least!!! |
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After we had returned
from Delos, we went to the beach for a cooling swim, and to try watch the
funny fish that were swimming in the crystal clear (but oh so salty!) sea
down by Ag. Ioannis. We still don't know what happened, but somehow Pierre
cut his hand on something sharp while snorkeling, and since it was a bad,
deep cut in his right ring finger, we had to rush into town to see a doctor.
Pierre ended up with 3 stitches and wasn't allowed to go swimming any more
for 10 days!!! So the poor guy had to spend most of his vacation on the
beach in the burning sun, picking tons of stones and pebble to bring home,
and watching me have a blast in the lovely Mediterranean. Two days before
our flight back home left, he finally got rid of the stitches and was able
to dive into the sea again...!
Week two was our "explore
the island and all the wonderful beaches" week. We took the local bus and
got to see the core of the island, and we visited a new beach every day.
The beaches of Mykonos are truly amazing!!! There are beaches with fine,
powdery sand, as well as with pebbles or coarser sand (which actually was
to prefer, since it didn't blow around as much, and stick to your mouth,
eyes, hair, your bag and whatnot). And everywhere this crystal clear, turqoise
water that truly amazed us every time we went in for a swim. The most popular
beaches were pretty much crowded, but there were always calmer areas or
even pretty desolate beaches to be found. Mykonos sure was the island of
all opportunities!
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No matter where we go, and
no matter what we do, Mykonos will always have a special place in our hearts,
not only because this was our wedding/honeymoon trip, but also because
it was Pierre's first trip to a place far away, and also and our first
trip together to a place outside of Scandinavia.
We are really happy with how
everything turned out to for us (well except for Pierre's little accident)
and that we actually managed to do so much different and fun things during
the two weeks we had. Not only did we see most of Mykonos (and had he not
cut his hand, we'd had rented a moped to explore the more remote parts
of the island that weren't accessible by bus) but we also expreienced the
wonderful city of Athens, with the majestic Parthenon hill, PLUS (not the
least-) also had the time to do the greatest thing we've done so far in
our lives -become husband and wife!!!
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Hopefully we have tickled
your interest about this lovely place, so here are a couple of useful links
to find out more about Mykonos: |
Mykonos
Island -Holidays in Greece
Mykonos Island
Greekislands.com -Mykonos Island
Mykonos Island, Cyclades, Greece
Mykonos Island -Cyclades
Or read this pleasant personal
Mykonos travel story by Les Furnanz
Greece's Friendly Mykonos Island
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-And don't forget to see all
the lovely pictures we took from our vacation!!! Click here to enter the
"Mykonos
Photo Album"
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Julia
- Pierre - How
we met - How we became one
- Life together - Getting
engaged in Sweden Engagement
- Julia gets bitten by the bug
- The actual proposal
- Wedding preparations
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The
Big Day pt I - The Big Day pt
II - The Big Day pt III
- The Reception/Party -
Mykonos
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Photo
album - Links
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