Italy to Mykonos

On our final day in Italy we checked out of Amalfi , and caught the ferry to Salerno and then the super fast train to Rome. We ate at a great little trattoria called Mama Angela's just around the corner from our hotel.

We stayed the night at the Royal Court hotel, not far from the Rome Termini (central station). Despite Mick thinking we were in the red light district - there was a shop called the 'Sexy Shop' not far from the hotel - the hotel was nice, our first 4 star hotel so far. The decor was over the top with gold wallpaper and paintings of cherubs at every turn, but the room was spacious with a nice bathroom.

We had to get up very early to catch the train to the airport, as our flight to Athens was scheduled for 11am and we needed to be there 3 hours beforehand. We caught the express train and were soon checking in for our flight, which was uneventful. We transfered at Athens for our connecting flight to Mykonos, and after a 2 hour wait we were onboard a 747 flying out over the Aegean.

The main thing we noticed when arriving at Athens was how dry and arid the landscape is compared to Italy. This was even more evident when we landed in Mykonos, with its brown and dusty hillsides studded with white cube buildings. The sun was still warm even at 5pm as we waited for a taxi to take us to our hotel, but it didn't seem to be as ferocious as the Italian heat. We checked in to the Nissaki Boutique, at Platis Gialos, and then went for a walk down to the beach to suss it out, and have a drink. The beaches are full of beach lounges, belonging to the restaurants / bars that line the back of the beach, and they charge you to use them for anywhere between 10 to 15€ for the day.

We decided to head to Mykonos Town for dinner, so we hopped on the packed bus (we are the first stop on the way from the beach to the town and it gets very full very quickly). We trundled along stopping nearly every 500 metres to pick someone up or drop them off, and eventually we arrived at the centre of town.

Mykonos Town is a maze of whitewash buildings and narrow stone alleys, none of which seem to be sign posted at all. Needless to say we were lost in no time at all. We managed to find the harbour and we walked around till we came to the waterfront, with its many restaurants and bars. We settled into a restaurant over looking the water (and blaring, beautiful sunset) and had saganaki, souvlaki and risotto as the sun dipped into the sea.

With our exploration of Mykonos Town finished we went back to the bus stop (getting lost again in the process) and crammed into the bus to make our way back to Plates Gialos, and a welcome bed.