The insane-ness that is Mykonos - and Delos

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Wow - Mykonos is certainly not what we had expected!!!

We arrived 3 days ago, and were greeted at the port by a handful of people asking if we wanted a room - normally there are hundreds! We chose one who informed us that we have arrived on one of the busiest weekends of the year - the Greeks' version of Spring Break. Bearing in mind Mykonos only has a population of 5000 - 30,000 students have descended on this small town for the weekend! Needless to say, it was a bit of a struggle finding somewhere to stay. We managed in the end and are staying outside of the town near the beach, about 3km away.

Mykonos is a pretty town amazingly not too marred by tourists. There's Little Venice where all of the bars and hotels pretty much drop into the sea, backed by a windmill-topped headland which is very picturesque. There's also the port which is where the hub of activity happens (including, amusingly considering Mykonos is renowned as a gay island, Club Ramrod). The rest of the town is similar to the rest of the Cycladic islands, with small warren-like streets and whitewashed houses.

We've spent a lot of time on the beaches as there isn't too much else (aside from clubbing) to do here. They're absolutely gorgeous beaches - just a shame you can't see the sand due to the sheer amount of students on them! It's very similar to American teen programmes where beaches are covered with skinny pretty people (Charlie: I have suddenly felt very fat and very white!). The beaches that are less crowded are really lovely though.

Yesterday we went to Delos which is apparently the island that the Cyclades 'circle' as it were -and one of the most important in Greece. Only 20 inhabitants and apparently it's illegal to give birth or die on the island, so no overnight stays. Legend goes that a Greek goddess (can't remember which one) decided to turn herself into an island which is where Apollo and his sister were born. The island therefore became a religious sanctury when Greek Gods were all the rage. There are literally hundreds of ruins - that's right, we have seen MORE ruins!!! The most famous are things like the house of Apollo and also the terrace of the lions. Built in C6th B.C, these lions were meant to intimidate pilgrims as they travelled to Delos, I think to remind them of their mortal status! Unfortunately, we can't put photos up of them, but we will once we can. It really is amazing however, again to see statues and ruins that old.

We were planning on going to Athens tomorrow- but unfortunately so were around 15,000 students, so no luck. Off on Wednesday instead so probably just have to spend more time on the beach until then. And for all of you who boasted to us on Britain's lovely weather when it was crap over here - it hasn't moved below 30 degrees in the day for about a week here, and set to get hotter!!!

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