Ah, Mykonos. You wooed us with your stunning beauty, crisp white villages, artsy shops, and golden Greek men in Speedos beaches.
The entire island has a really laid back and relaxed charm about it.
That is, until we found ourselves driving on the roads…
This below is a ‘before’ picture with our luxury rental car, not knowing of the impending doom!
Let me tell you a fun, poop-your-pants tidbit about our driving experience in Mykonos.
A Stop sign means FLOOR IT like a bat out of hell. Or so it seemed.
Not one driver we saw stopped for a stop sign. The drivers flew through stop signs and yields with a crazy smile on their face and their gorgeous manes blowing in the wind.
It was the stuff heart attacks are made of.
“ERIC, ARE YOU SURE WE DIDN’T NEED CAR INSURANCE????” I screamed over the loud engine and blaring radio.
“WE’RE FINE….FINE, ANGE….HOLY CRAP DID YOU SEE THAT? WE ALMOST DIED!”
After a couple of near poop-our-pants experiences, we figured that Mykonos wasn’t the worst place in the world to bite the dust. I could deal with my ashes being scattered over the turquoise waters. It could be worse.
But somehow, we made it to several beautiful beaches…alive!
I kissed the sand.
Before I knew it, we were enjoying crispy batter fried zucchini (Kolokythakia Tiganita) at a beachside restaurant.
We just needed to make it back alive…
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Previous honeymoon posts: 1) Venice, 2) Athens, 3) Kusadasi and 4) Istanbul
Nice to see such weather when the fall is approaching!
Wow! What a gorgeous vacation! Greece is in my TOP 5 places to travel… someday! I was hoping we would get to go to Ireland this year, but now that we have a little one on the way, I guess we need to save, save, save!! Hopefully someday…
Great photos! Haha this post was hilarious :)
greek food=AMAZING
oh man, you make me miss traveling so much! mykonos is fantastic!
I have found that when driving out of the US….all bets are off in terms of paying attention to or obeying signs. Seriously, have had more near-death driving experiences than I’d like to remember. Yikes! But glad you guys were safe!
And the beach looks…amazing!
Your pictures are absolutely and completely breath taking!
You should go to Vietnam…
You’ll wait hours just to cross the street unless you’re daring enough to run across to the other side of the road (note: there is no ‘sidewalk’ on most streets). It’s scary :\
At least you guys got to see some amazing beaches!!
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Just stunning! Such a lovely colour palate…quite a bit different than the browns and reds of autumn in Ontario right now! :)
Haha, I’m glad you’re having fun on the road! ;)
Haha, very funny! My hubby and I had a similar experience in India. We ended up hiring a driver.
Such a gorgeous place and beautifully photographed :)
I’m craving the beach now!
Yeah the Greeks don’t like to hang around when they’re driving. I remember a few hairy moments from childhood holidays to the Greek Islands. After a while my parents stopped renting cars and we went on bus trips instead!
And to think we almost rented a scooter! lol
Ohhh myyyy I’m jealous! What a beautiful place!
Despite some near-death scares, you were so lucky to visit Greece on your honeymoon and took some beautiful photos! It’s my number one dream travel destination. I’ll start practicing my driving in preparation. Thanks for the heads up.
loved your post. Fabulous pictures!
I am so envious! I really hope to visit Greece and Italy someday. Looks like you had an amazing honeymoon, laughter included! :)
Great photos. I went to Greece for the first time last month. Mykonos was so beautiful.
I can’t help but laugh at the driving experiences. When we first arrived in Santorini we had to go up this massive cliffside path and our driver was a lead-foot the whole way up and around wicked curves and such. Our group thought we were going to die a few times.
And anytime we had to go for a walk near a highway it was like a real-life game of Frogger trying not to get hit by people ignoring speed limits and personal space. :P
haha yup. We tried to cross the road a couple times and the locals would speed up to scare us….and turn and laugh at the look on my face!
Great photos..I love seeing all the different cities! :)
Happy Weekend!
What a funny little car! I love the photos.
When I went abroad, I was always amazed by our bus drivers who could maneuver tiny Roman streets (clearly not made for buses). My home-stay mom in France had a little car but she drove all sorts of crazy (ie extremely fast). I still can’t get over it!
Ooh, lovely!
Beautiful pictures, Angie! I’ve always wanted to go to Greece!
Greece looks beautiful ! Glad you’re still alive! Sounds like the drivers are crazy
BEAUTIFUL. Seriously. I can’t even believe how breathtaking it it. This makes me want to go to Greece SO badly!!
The only reason that I like zuchinni now is because of the fried zuchinni in Greece. Santorini’s specialty is fried tomato balls.
Oh and Greece itself has the craziest drivers. I lived there for a while and learned how to successfully cross the street without dying. Quite an accomplishment
Beautiful! You inspired me to up visit Tarpon Springs today. It’s a little Greek village here in Florida with sponge docks and Greek restaurants. An hour away from where I live. Her I come Souvlaki and Baklava!! Have fun and Opa!
Ahhh Greece is beautiful it’s one of my most favourite places in the world.
Hahaha, try driving in Latin countries–it’s crazy stuff! I swear the locals do it on purpose…
I’m wondering how you manage to keep up with your vegan eating whilst traveling abroad. In a perfect world we’d be able to cook every one of our meals but really, we like to try local food too!
You are now aquaited with the way Greeks drive ALL over Greece lol, I love my people but they are horrible driver xD Nice pictures! Next time you go you might like Paros or Andros; not as tourist-y as Mykono.
I remember being on a bus in Crete and gripping for dear life as we careened around every corner.
Greece is on my list of places to go! It looks so gorgeous.
First of all, congratulations on your blog, I really like reading you and all the recipes I have tried thus far are great, my favourite is Holiday soup for the soul.
I am so glad you had a great time in Greece! Did you get to visit Tinos, the nearby island? Ther are some great beaches there too and since it is not as popular as Myconos yet, it has a quiter, calmer vibe. With the current economic rollercoaster my country has to face, I guess that prices will fall and at least this will be good for tourism.
As far as driving is concerned, unfortunately it is true that , stop signs and pedestrian crossings are often ignored. Thankfully traffic lights are respected. I can not explain, why this happens, I am lucky to have travelled in other countries and the easter I got, the more “freestyle” drivers I encountered.When in North America,I remember being happily surprised with Canadians and after being spoiled in Canada, New York was a whole new experience. Love it everywhere though!
Thanks for your comment. :) We were not able to visit Tinos…but would love to visit more Greek islands someday!
Funny how drivers are so different all over the world.
I’m going on vacation in Mykonos on Wednesday! I can’t wait and these pictures are making me even more excited.
Have fun! :)
I love Greece! I went a few times as a child, but I really want to go back with my husband. This post has just confirmed my desire to go, it’s so beautiful.
I drove in Greece once, just once, never again!!! I have never been so scared!
But hey, we both lived to tell the tale!
Great photos, thanks for sharing.
I hear you on the roads! We scootered around Santorini the morning of my wedding. Instead of enjoying the scenery, all I could think of was how bad the road rash would look with my wedding dress if we crashed. There was no crash, but wow, it was one of the “less safe” things I have ever done :)
hahaha the first thing my cousin taught me when I was learning to drive in the city was “red means put the petal to the metal!!”
Such beautiful pictures :)
Oh I am majorly craving Greek food now lol! So glad you made it out of there alive :).
Ah… my homeland! I’ve actually been to one of the beach bars you posted up there many times! Yes, we Greeks drive like maniacs. What’s funny is that there are much fewer car accidents in Greece then America! Weird! Hope you enjoyed a Xoriatiki salad :)
that’s awesome, lucky lady! :) I cant wait to go back some day.
A lot of my family is Greek – I’ve always wanted to go! You’re very lucky!
x
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I just got back from a tour of Italy & Greece. Our tour guide joked that street signs were just for decoration & that people don’t park their cars they abandon them (because people park anywhere- on sidewalks, behind each other)
aha yup we saw that a lot too :)
Oh my goodness Angela – you have no idea how comforting it was to stumble across this post! I’ve been a long time lover of OhSheGlows but I guess not this far back.
I’ll explain myself… I guess that would help!
I’m going to Mykonos next month for a long weekend with my sisters for one of my sisters’ bachelorette party – pretty awesome right? Well I’ve been slightly panicking about how I am going to travel veganstyle. Traveling hasn’t been all that bad for me in the past – although it’s mostly been domestic with the furtherest being from PA –> CA and back. Actually no… I did go to london & back a few years ago. That was okay too.
Anyways… I know it’s manageable but Greece is throwing me a little bit. All I know of them is seafood & feta! And all things olive.
Is there any advice you can give me? Traveling… restaurants… food to have on hand or make sure I take? We’ll be staying in a private house with a kitchen so that’s a plus. But markets? Anything you can remember of Mykonos?
Anything would be fabulous!! Thank you Angela!!!
I went to Mykonos for my honeymoon too. Pics look just how I remember!