Η Ελλάδα είναι μια υπέροχη χώρα – Apparently that means “Greece is a wonderful country” and I could not agree with it more!
Our ferry ride over from Italy was so much fun. It was an overnight ferry ride so we had a cabin of four on the ferry. I must say, that was probably the best nights sleep I’ve had in a very long time. I think it was mainly due to the fact that our cabin was absolutely pitch black and window-free, well, that or the nausea pill that Jess game me knocked me right out; either way, it was a well needed nights sleep.
After docking in Greece we drove over to Athens to pay a visit to the Parthenon. Along the way, though, we made a stop off at the first ever Olympic stadium used when Greece was first to hold the Olympic Games back in 1896. This city holds so much amazing history and culture. I love it. The Parthenon is a temple of the Greek goddess Athena. It was built in the 5th century BC and is the most important surviving building of Classical Greece. Its decorative sculptures are considered one of the high points of Greek art and the Parthenon is regarded as one of the world’s greatest cultural monuments. While I were there, the Parthenon was undergoing a program of restoration and reconstruction and luckily, the reconstruction works did not get in the way of any awesome photo-taking opportunities. It was so surreal to see something like this standing right before me. The vicinity of the Parthenon was filled with run down statues and temples; sand and stone covered the ground, and the stormy, angry sky made for a great back drop to that perfect photo. The weather held up long enough to allow me to go exploring and to capture some great shots. It started to rain and thunder so I joined the others and we made our way back to the bus.
That night we went for a Greek Plaka dinner in Athens. For those of you that don’t personally know me, I am quite the fussy eater, so this was the first time ever that I was going to be experiencing Greek food. Greek food is extremely popular where I live in Melbourne because we have the biggest population in the world of Greeks outside of Athens. Pretty impressive, huh? Despite Greek popularity here, I had never tried their food, so this was a first for me. We had lamb kebabs and these amazing Greek potatoes. My taste buds ran wild. Never in my life have I tasted meat with such flavor. It was absolutely superb. A fool I was to be missing out on such flavorsome and delicious food all my life. MENTAL NOTE: Must make Greek food a regular consumption when I return back home.
The next morning we caught another ferry across to the Greek Island of Mykonos. Mykonos is a mass-tourist destination renowned for its cosmopolitan character and its intense nightlife. The nightlife scene is marketed as one of the best in all of Europe and is hugely populated and loved amongst the gay community.
Mykonos was like a dream come true. It was everything you see in travel brochures plus more. Pure, soft, white sand and crystal clear, sparkling blue waters. If this was not heaven, then I don’t know what was. The next three days were going to be devoted purely to relaxation by day and partying by night. The resort we stayed at was gorgeous. We had four of us to a room but the room was large enough for us to be comfortable. In typical, Greek Island form, the resort was white and blue; so beautiful. Our resort pool had a bar which served drinks all day, every day… but who needed the pool when right across the road was a sprakling, fresh, inviting ocean??? The Aegean Sea; another water mass to tick off the swimming list. We were living in pure luxury. I really had to pinch myself because this felt almost too good to be true. I’d never seen anything more beautiful and didn’t think that it could get much better than this. That afternoon, we went banana boating off the back of a speed boat. It was so much bloody fun!
That night we hit up Paradise Beach. It is known to be one of the biggest partying beaches in the world. It was something straight out of a movie. Guys in g-strings dancing around, girls on bars dancing, people drinking on the beach with a DJ pumping out the latest dance sensations, a pool, couches and umbrellas on the sand and alcohol all around. It kind of reminded me of one of those American movies where all the kids are partying on the beach in Miami for spring break haha. Great night, great memory. I fell in love with Mykonos.
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