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!
