Category: Blog

Winter in Mykonos

Winter in Mykonos. Where did everybody go?

Posted on | by M Mykonos Villas

Spending Christmas holidays on such an exceptionally cosmopolitan and beautiful island like Mykonos can be a fascinating experience — in many ways. With the weather often being mild till long after the end of November, there can be beautiful sunny days with dazzling blue skies and calm seas with glittering water, that call for a swim.

Back in the Town of Mykonos, many of the cafés, bars and restaurants are still open, with most of them making already preparations for Xmas, as if there is some huge celebration coming, like the notorious night long summer parties. According to the custom, instead of trees, residents decorate small boats, whose colorful lights flash behind the window panes of the houses and the shops.

And just as you expect the narrow alleys to be filled with crowds of people celebrating, singing, and dancing until the morning, suddenly there is nobody there! Shops close, lights go down and the locals board the ships that depart one after the other for Athens. Some of them will be visiting relatives and friends all over the country, while the majority will fly to top world destinations in Europe, Asia, Middle East or the USA. Needless to say that, after the summer frenzy, this is the only time of the year when they can take a break to relax and update their hospitality skills.

Because ever since the ’50s, when fishermen and owners of the humble taverns in Mykonos started welcoming VIP travelers who were exploring the Aegean Sea on board their private yachts, the locals got used to listening to them talking about tourist paradises like Cannes, Monaco, and other emblematic world destinations. Little by little they started learning foreign languages, getting familiar with more “elegant” attitudes, and applying this valuable knowhow to their everyday lives with the purpose to make Mykonos one of the most desired destinations in the world – which they did.

So, this is where Mykonians go every Christmas: to get new ideas and create new sensational experiences for their summer visitors who know that holidaying in Mykonos can surpass even the wildest imagination!

Christmas in the Cyclades!

Christmas in the Cyclades!

Posted on | by M Mykonos Villas

Is that Santa on the jet-ski?

One of the most beautiful sights at the islands’ ports around the Cyclades are the picturesque “karavakia” – small boats decorated with hundreds of small lights that shine, welcoming travelers who come home to spend Xmas and New Year with their families. Decorating Karavakia instead of Christmas trees is a tradition that goes back to the times when most islanders used to work as sailors and symbolizes the strong bond between Greeks and the sea. Colorful small boats look like shining vows to St. Nicholas, protector of all sea men.

The Cyclades in Christmas and New Year look very different from the loud summer partying ambiance that tourists experience between late April and early November. Most of the residents chose this time of the year to travel around Greece and abroad. Many shops, cafes, restaurants, and clubs are closed, giving the impression that the islands are deserted. Nevertheless, for those looking for an unusual yet very attractive Xmas holiday, this may be a great opportunity, as there are many spectacular customs concerning the 12 days known as “Dodekaimeron” (Christmas, New Year’s Day, and Epiphany).

Early in the morning of the eve of the above celebrations, children holding small metallic triangles that produce a sweet festive sound, knock on the doors of houses and shops to sing the carols, and get sweets or small money as a reward. In the meantime, household kitchens are “set on fire” to prepare the traditional Christmas bread, decorated with a cross and of course dinner that may include from stuffed turkey to roasted lamb, along with baked potatoes and onion pies with local cheese as well as sweet honey pies made of cheese and cinnamon. Every island features its own delicacies, while they all share in common the home-made traditional “diples” (fried dough dipped in honey syrup with nuts), “melomakarona” (baked biscuits dipped in honey syrup with nuts), and “kourabiedes” (butter biscuits dusted with powdered sugar).

Additionally, on New Year’s Eve each family’s “chief” cuts the “vasilopita” — a semi-sweet cake with a coin hidden in the dough. Whoever finds it is supposed to have plenty of good luck throughout the New Year. The islanders believe that a light northern wind or a pigeon in the house yard on New Year’s Day are also good omens and that if, after taking their bath on the same day, they touch their faces with a piece of iron, they will be healthy and strong all year long!

Finally, every year on the 6th of January the Greek orthodox church celebrates the Epiphany Day, where priests all over the country conduct the ceremony of the waters’ blessing: they throw holy crosses in the sea – or in rivers, lakes, even large tanks and then, young men must dive in, trying to retrieve the cross. He who finds it is said to be lucky and blessed for the whole New Year.

Insta-kind-of stories about Mykonos

Insta-kind-of stories about Mykonos

Posted on | by M Mykonos Villas

Too bad Instagram was not invented back in the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s, when tycoons, artists and Hollywood legends started crowding Mykonos, setting the foundations of what today is one of the top-10 global tourist destinations.

Too bad, because now, with the Social Media thriving, every summer we can have a full celeb-list of who was on the island and with whom, who flew in and when, who posted selfies from the deck of some super yacht and who kept holding private pool parties on the terrace of some beautiful villa with an amazing view of the Aegean Sea.

We know, for instance, that Izabel Goulart accepted her partner’s marriage proposal two years ago in Mykonos; or that Alessandra Ambrosio enjoyed there a rather quiet summer vacation last year; or that Kendall Jenner loves attending yacht parties on spectacular beaches. These celebs are just a tiny “sample” among the thousands of tycoons, artists, athletes, and Hollywood legends who fly in this exceptional Cycladic Island every year.

And then there are the authors, writers and actors of the new generation who choose Mykonos for inspiration and share their love for it through beautiful insights, like:

“Surrounded by the blue-green water of the Aegean sits whitewashed, windmill-strewn Mykonos, the island of the winds.” — Lizy Manola, author of Mykonos Muse

“In every island of the Aegean Sea are found abundant traces of a vast prehistoric empire.” — Eugenie Niarchos, designer

“But Mykonos was different in that respect. Mykonos made you long for the restful, happy day to day reality of life on the Greek island, and it was the brief visits that tortured the soul. Paris was a romantic respite from life, Mykonos was life itself, and living.” — Bobby Underwood, The Long Gray Goodbye

‘We’re often wrong at predicting who or what will transform us. Encountering certain people, books, music, places, or ideas at just the right time can immediately make our lives happier, richer, more beautiful, resonant, or meaningful. When it happens, we feel a kind of instant love for them, both deep and abiding. Now and then it can be something as trifling as a children’s book, a returned telephone call, or a night at a seaside bar in Mykonos.’ — Jonathan Carrol, author of Bathing the Lion