Greece is one of my top destinations in Europe and as I returned for the fifth year in a row I did it in a, for me, new way. Instead of executing my main summer activity: sailing around Saronic islands like Hydra, Spetses and Poros I went on a graduation trip to Mykonos. For 12 days. T-w-e-l-v-e days – on one island! As sailing means a new island every day I must admit I was a bit worried and looked for different day trips to islands close by. Unfortunately Mykonos only offered one or two less interesting options as the islands in this area are so spread out.

Luckily Mykonos proved me wrong. The windy party island has plenty of nice beaches and a lively downtown with restaurants, bars, clubs and shops that actually sell other goods than olive soaps and Mykonos-shirts. Off course you can find this as well if you fancy souvenirs! We stayed at AMAZING A-Hotel, which I will come back to in another post, danced some of our nights away while other nights were dedicated to some well deserved sleep after the maraton-writing of dissertations we all had gone through a couple of weeks earlier.

When I’m in the gassing sun 24/7 and the acrobatic move I make when putting sunscreen on my back is the only existing exercise I get my appetite changes somewhat from normal. Good for me that the Greek cuisine is at its very best when it comes to smaller dishes. My top-6:

Cheeses like feta and halloumi served fresh, grilled, baked or fried as in Saganaki. Anything goes!

The classic Greek salad with tomatoes, peppers, cucumber, red onion, feta cheese and often capers

Pita Gyros. Wrap with meat (think kebab), tzatsiki, fries and some veggies. (Best fast food in the world, normally just €2!!)

Dips and spreads like tzatsiki and fava with bread

Fried calamari

Keftedes – meatballs with different herbs, often in tomato sauce

Popular bigger dishes are moussaka (the “Greek lasagne” with eggplant, minced meat), souvlaki (meat skewers) and all types of fish and seafood.  Overall we were very lucky with the food wherever we went on the island – nothing you can’t always count on when visiting other Greek touristic islands.

For my next Mykonos post I will create a to-do-list!