Our little piece of paradise

This is our last morning in Mykonos, which means our last day in Greece; we fly out for Vienna very early tomorrow morning. We very much see our holiday in three parts: Greece, which is almost over; then Austria, Slovenia and the Czech Republic for two weeks; followed by a little over two weeks in Spain.

Mykonos has been, well, amazing; we could easily have stayed another two weeks. Although, technically, we couldn’t; our part of the island, Platis Gialos, and actually most of Mykonos for that matter, literally goes into hibernation for six months as the cooler weather starts to take hold. As luck would have it, we were among the five last guests of the hotel before they close today. Because of this, we were personally invited to their breakup party, which was held at their very own restaurant right on the beach. The party was very large, and I think included friends, workers, suppliers to the hotel and, of course, us. In a testament to the incredible generosity of the owners of the hotel, who have become more like our friends than our hosts, the unbelievably magnificent food was totally free to everyone invited. Although the party went on past 2.00 AM, we left well before that, us being weary travellers and all.

Last night's party to celebrate the end of the season

Mykonos, and in particular Platis Gialos, is like a little piece of paradise. We will miss sitting on our favourite beach lounges looking over the magnificent waters of the Aegean. We will miss the beautiful evenings, with the lights of Mykonos silhouetted against the jet black sky. We will miss our lovely Greek breakfasts, which sustained us well into the afternoon. But, I think most of all, we will miss our hotel, The Argo, and everyone who works there. Never have we been to a hotel where we actually hugged and kissed people as we left; I don’t know whether this is typically Greek or just typically Argo, but we will never forget this place.

Mykonos by moonlight

Finally got Alison in the water - what an effort

So, now it’s off to Vienna, Austria, with its magnificent buildings and tree-lined avenues, about as far removed from Greece as is possible. It is also about eight degrees cooler, so that will be a real shock to the system. Still, we have really loved Greece, particularly the Greece outside Athens, and I think we’d love to return one day, perhaps with the family.