Greek Island Adventure - Mykonos & Syros

Our journey starts with Mykonos, one of the better known, larger Islands.  Most people have heard of Mykonos even if they aren't travelers.  We picked the Alkyon Hotel, Mykonos for our stay on Mykonos.  It was a great choice!  The staff is friendly & helpful.  The rooms were clean and spacious.  Alkyon offers transfers from the airport or port.  Breakfast is included in the room rate

Alkyon Hotel - view from the Breakfast room 

Alkyon Hotel - view from the pool

After getting check in, we explored the property and then asked our hosts for suggestions for dinner near by.  The driver of the shuttle recommended Oregano's.  It was in walking distance and he told us it was were the locals eat, very reasonable prices too, so we decided to give it a try!  We walked in around 6:00 pm, which is early in Greece for dinner, but the restaurant filled up around us - with mostly men getting off work!  Interesting, not many women or families.  We were both tired from travel, with it being arrival day, so we ordered what we were familiar with - Baked Feta for an appetizer  and Gyros for the entree!   The food was excellent!!

Gyros and baked Feta OMG!

First full day in Mykonos - After a good nights sleep, we went up the street to pick up an ATV at George's Rents (recommended by the hotel)  We wanted to take our own personal tour of the beaches of Mykonos.  There are so many!!! There really is no way to see them all of course.  There are party beaches like Paradise & Super Paradise - we call them the Boom-Boom beaches because of the DJ music.  There are definitely plenty of party beaches if that is what you are looking for.  For us, we wanted a little more peace & quiet and beautiful water.  In the two days we had the ATV we visited quiet a few beaches including: Frangia, Lia, Kalafatics, Aghia Anna, Elia, Pranaga, Platis Gialso, Ormos & Aghios Sostis.  They were all different and fabulous - here are a few snaps from the beach tour...

toolin' around the island 

Golden sand and no rocks!

sailboat sitting on the crystal clear water - seagrass underneath 

looks like a swimming pool!

At Aghios Sostis there is a Hotel & Beach Club called Scorpios.  CS loved this place for photos, so she did a little photo safari here.  (that's what I call it when she is consumed by the need to photograph something lol) . Scorpios is unique and different from other hotels.  They place emphasis on Mind & Body treatments and Music Rituals.  Check out their website for more information. https://www.scorpiosmykonos.com

Scorpios 

To end our day we were at Aghios Sostis Beach and we discovered this amazing tiny restaurant called 'Kiki's'  It had 12 tables and was family run.  It's open for a limited time each day.  We were there at around 6 pm, had to wait a little bit for a table but not too long.  Had a fabulous meal.  Around 7:30 or so, we heard the owner say to a couple that just arrived ' we are closed for the day.'  There is no sign, no posted hours or anything like that.  Just take a chance and go find this charming little place. 

Kiki's - giant tree in the middle of the tables

the view from Kiki's 

For our Second full day in Mykonos, we decided to keep the ATV and brave our way in to Little Venice for a few photos.  We could see cruise ships in port, so we knew it would be a bit crazy in town.  But everyone knows the windmills are a must see photo stop!   After capturing a few snaps, we went in to Mykonos Town, again braving the crowds for a little shopping.  We found a shop called Haris Cotton, and I bought a beautiful linen top.

The money shot by CS

Windmill shot from Mykonos Town Cafe 

Lunch at Hippie Fish 

After shopping it was off in search of a restaurant called Hippie Fish.  CS had read about it and wanted to find it.  It was on Aghios Ioannis Beach.  Hippie Fish is the restaurant on the beach attached to the Hippie Chic Hotel.  Great lunch, service, view!

The view from our lunch table 

swim platform at San Georgio

After lunch it was off to find Paranga.  This beach has beautiful clear water, nice for wading & swimming.  There are 4 Beach Clubs here with lounge chairs, F&B and the requisite loud music with heavy base. We took a little side trip to the San Georgio Hotel were CS had stayed the last time she was in Mykonos.  I agree with her - lovely hotel!

The lobby at San Georgio 

On our third day on Mykonos, we returned our ATV after breakfast.  We took one last stroll around before heading to the Ferry port to catch our ride to Syros.  We enjoyed our stay on Mykonos very much.  The Alkyon Hotel was a perfect location for our stay.  The hotel took us to the ferry port.

Thank you Mykonos!  Hope to be back some day!

Now it was time to take our first ferry ride.  We purchased all our ferry tickets in advance online.  We printed out our online confirmations and carried them with us.  Once we got to the port, we had to find the 'Sea Jets' office to pick up our actual tickets.  If you do this, make sure you take your printed confirmation - much easier to hand the agent a piece of paper they recognize.  They WILL NOT accept your paper confirmation as a ticket when you board the ferry.  It is quite the cattle call when the ferry pulls in.  These are fast ferries and they do not mess around.  They pull in, everyone gets off, including cars & motorcycles.  Then they hustle the new passengers on and take off.  It happens fast and the ferry crews have it down to a science - be prepared for your transfer just as you would boarding a plane, just a bit more hectic.

Sea Jet Fast Ferry 

Actual Ferry ticket 

It is a short ferry ride from Mykonos to Syros, about 30 minutes.  Very few passengers got off with us at Syros.  It was an easy 5 minute walk to our hotel, the Aktaion Hotel.  Since we arrived early afternoon, we just dropped our bags and headed out to explore.  We walked towards St. Nicholas Church from our waterfront hotel.  We walked around the area and saw a cute lite Cafe named Vaporia, where we stopped for a lemonade and later went back for dinner.   We had a yummy salad that had peaches, local cheese & nuts on it and pasta.  It was delish and I can't complain about the view!

View from our dinner table at Vaporia Cafe 

After our dinner we wandered back to our hotel, Akation.  This hotel had 12 rooms, built in 1843.  Its right on the waterfront, an easy walk from the ferry port and a delightful friendly staff.  Due to the age of the hotel, it has no elevator and there are some pretty step stairs - just be aware of that if you choose this hotel.  Its basic, but clean, reasonably priced and includes breakfast in the room rate.  And don't worry, you don't have to carry your bags up the stairs, the staff will do that for you !

 On our second day in Syros we decided to explore the island a bit.  Syros has 2 main 'towns' seated on adjacent hills.  One has a Catholic church and the other Greek Orthodox.  We took a taxi up to the top of the hill, then walked down exploring the neighborhoods as we went.

CS looking towards the two hills & churches 

Greek Orthodox church on the left 

Catholic Church on the left

I should mention here that everywhere you go in Greece, there will be stairs, lots of stairs!  They always seemed to build their churches & towns on the top of hills!  So, be ready to do a lot of climbing on your Greek Islands adventure. 

When we stopped at the Greek Orthodox church a priest was out front and kindly offered us a tour of his church. 

 One of the shops we discovered wandering around town was The Curious Cat.  The owner loves cats and is a sewist.  She makes all the clothing, jewelry and backpacks in her shop.  In the picture to the right, I am wearing one of her kitty backpacks.  Loved the stuff in her shop.  CS bought a couple of her summer dresses.

Tamata hanging on a shrine 

Close up of Tamata

Tamata may be offered to an icon, or shrine of a saint as a reminder of a petitioner's particular need, or in gratitude for a prayer answered. A wide variety of images may be found on tamata, with the images capable of multiple interpretations. A heart may symbolize a prayer for love or a heart problem. Eyes may indicate an eye affliction, hands or legs may indicate maladies of the limbs, a pair of wedding crowns may mean a prayer for a happy marriage, a torso for afflictions of the body, and so forth. They are made out of silver, gold or tin.  (wikipedia) 

It was warming up in the afternoon, so we decided to go to a swim platform that we had seen the night before at dinner.  Figured a little dip would cool us down!

swim platform 

View standing on the swim platform 

CS enjoys the view 

come on in the water is fine!!

Artwork on the water fromt

We enjoyed our time in Syros.  A beautiful island with friendly people. Our next stop was to be Piraeus (Athens) to board our Yacht for a 7 day sail of the islands.  We didn't need to be at the ferry port until 2:30 so we stored our bags to take a stroll.  We found a jewelry store that sold Tamata, so we each bought one after looking a several in gold & silver.  We strolled into a street market and decided to buy a cheese pie in a local shop and eat as we walked. There are bakeries everywhere in the Greek Islands.  We stopped in one on our way to the ferry to buy some cookies to tide us over until dinner!

Next Stop - Poseidon Charters - catching a rid on Christianna VII.  Hope you join us!

Until next time, Safe Travels!

Susan