It's Olympic year and this year is historical, for the first time in years, the Olympics comes home to its birthplace in Greece.
The ancient form of the games that inspired the corporate sponsored, global jamboree that we know today was started as a way to bring peace to Greece's warring states. It now brings healthy competition to professional athletes of warring countries.
The games is always an extravaganza, from the opening ceremony to the closing. The Greeks this year were put under significant pressure as up until a few weeks ago, a lot of it was still not built. Perhaps the builders were on GMT - Greek Maybe Time (yes, I stole that line from a rep).
We didn't get tickets to the opening ceremony or any of the other high profile events. I've been about as lucky at ballots as I am with the lottery. We did manage to get team gymnastic finals, so we were in at least.
As predicted, the prices to stay in Athens sky-rocketed, so we stayed in Mykonos for most the holiday. The island is known for its homosexual tourism, I'm guessing it's why the service industry is really camp. The baron island nothing spectacular. Harsh mountain terrain and beaches are in comparison to other Greek islands, a bit of a letdown.
The only jewel in Mykonos' crown is Mykonos town. Whitewashed townhouses lined narrow cobbled streets that were perched on a hillside. Every section of Mykonos is covered with opulent bars and sophisticated restaurants. I have vivid memories of a beachside bar selling cocktails, covered in fairy lights and white draped silk shrouding the walls had seat vicariously teetering on the ocean's edge. The fish restaurants that were dotted around the docks were overlooked by windmills, but none of these are worth visiting, disappointing considering it's an island and Mykonos town is on the coast.
The delights are in the deep depths of Mykonos town where bars open their backyard to revellers, little do they realise that stepping a millimetre the wrong way would end up as a late night dip in the Med.
Paradise Beach was a Mecca for clubbers with dance music blaring all day and night. The best restaurant was Mr Nick's, but getting a table there was nigh on impossible. The other restaurants despite being housed in the most beautiful Venetian buildings were distinctly average, hugely unusual for Greece.
I found Mykonos over-priced and pretentious. It attracted vain Italians who couldn't even pop out for a ciggie without spending hours grooming themselves. They were unfriendly and had a superiority complex, which gave the place a bad atmosphere of posing and not much else.
This is nothing special about this island, yet even the locals had an air of snobbery about them, rivalled only by the rude Athenians, 'If you don't like the price, go to Crete' retorted one beach attendant - really, how many qualifications do you need to collect deck chairs, arsehole.
A taxi driver took up to the middle of the island promising us place with 'go-karts, casinos, nightclubs, shops, bowling, restaurants, bars... whatever you desire!' However, other than go-karts, there was nothing there, not even a taxi. So we embarked on a trek home through unforgiving landscape being threatened by savage dogs and shunned by locals. Increasingly frustrated by people's indifference to our plight, I started yelling 'we could die out here, it's on your conscience' and 'I'm going to murder that taxi driver' I needn't of waste my breath - there wasn't a bugger around. Later, I promised another taxi driver marriage and children for rescuing us, even though he only had to drive 10 minutes.
To top it all off, we ended up in a restaurant that charged us 90 Euros for four pizzas, 'you're going to have a good Christmas' I said to the smug waiter on the way out. Mykonos should've proven that rude service and substandard output is a one-way ticket to bankruptcy, but it seems to have gone from strength to strength.
The Olympics was an incredible experience. It wasn't overpriced and had a wonderful multinational spirit. Everyone was friendly and wanted fun. There was an atmosphere of togetherness. There was barely anyone around, as due to the bad publicity surrounding whether the games would even go ahead due to grounds not being ready meant that there were plenty of empty seats.
They needn't have worried. The stadium was finished to a high standard and it was something else. An architectural delight where art was just as important as function.
We ended up staying the red light district of Athens and still paying a fortune for it. These areas are normally the most interesting, but this was Athens. The civilisation which inspired the majesty of all European cities from Rome, Paris, Vienna, Berlin and London lacked any kind of beauty or grandeur. It was just a city, a grubby city, a grubby city full of rude people, a grubby city full of rude people with nothing to see.
That said, the Parthenon is the symbol of Greece and after climbing what felt like Everest we got to the top and nothing can prepare you for how big and intricate it is. Thank god it was there, simply to act as a reminder that this was one of the greatest civilisations in history and is the cradle of modern Western civilisation.
We also stopped over at Naxos on the way between Mykonos and Athens. The boats run like buses and they're dirt cheap. Naxos is beautiful, friendly, amazing food and hidden ancient gems. It felt like a proper fishing village and tourism was just a nice offshoot. A breath of fresh air after a stay in the worst city on the planet and the worst island in Greece's stock.
