MYKANOS, GREECE

Last week was “take the kids to work day” (well, sort of…haha)! Since my mom doesn’t exactly work in an office, my brother Evan (and his friend Ryan) and I (with my friend Pearl) decided to fly with her to Greece where she was booked to sing a private show on MYKANOS. I had visited this beautiful and fun Greek island 2 years ago with my friend Kim and MYKANOS is FABULOUS.

The flight was LOOONG, but we were seated in business class, which definitely made it a bit more bearable! We flew 10 hours to Paris and luckily I slept for a good chunk of the time, wrote for a bit and watched a movie (Made of Honor, which was the perfect, light chick flick for the flight). After a short layover, we boarded the 3 hour flight to Athens. I slept some more (one of my many talents is sleeping on planes) and read my book. As if 13 hours of travel wasn’t enough, next we boarded a private plane, which whisked us over the Greek Islands and we finally arrived in MYKANOS!

Since nothing in MYKANOS starts till really late, we had time for a nap before dinner at the hotel restaurant (traveling can wear a girl out). Mom went to bed after dinner and the rest of us headed into town. It was way too early by MYKANOS standards, but we were all excited to get the party started. MYKANOS is a party town! People don’t go to dinner till around 11:00pm, the bars and clubs don’t get bumping until 1:00am. Most MYKANOS partygoers stay out until sunrise. WILD!

I was excited to show everyone around since I was the only one who had been there before (and last time was soooo much fun)! We started with some cocktails at a small bar called Galleraki right by the ocean. We were the only people there, but the bartenders where fun and it was the perfect place to start off our evening’s festivities. Next we went to MYKANOS bar, which plays American music (top 40 stuff) then to Space Club, a big dance club in the middle of town. We were probably the first people to arrive, but as we danced the place filled. By 4:30am, we were so tired that we had no choice, but to head home. No partying till sunrise for us!

The next morning (LATE morning), we dragged our asses out of bed to enjoy the day. We swam in the pool, ate lunch at the beach (gyros of course) then napped as the sun went down. I woke refreshed (I think naps are FABULOUS) and excited about another night on the town. We went to a restaurant right on the water’s edge called Sea Satin. It’s a must visit if you ever make it to MYKANOS. The water crashed on the windows as we dined on Greek favorites (feta, tomatoes, eggplant, babaganosh and fresh seafood)! I ate here last time and it was one of the most FABULOUS evenings, but this time our waiter sucked pretty bad, so we ate quickly and moved on.

We had such a nice time at Galleraki the night before that we decided to start the fun there again. After a couple of cocktails, we went for a walk through the tiny, white cobblestone walk streets to check out the shops (open till the wee hours of the morning). The streets began to fill with happy people having tons of fun (I even spotted two partying drag queens). We stopped at an outdoor club called El Pecado for a drink and then somehow ended up back at Space Club. We hung out for while, dancing and making new friends, but I can’t do a club two nights in a row (I’m getting way to old)! Pearl and I left the boys to flirt with Italian girls. After getting lost on the winding walk streets, we ended up at a crepe spot where we gorged ourselves on nutella crepes and ham and cheese crepes. DELICIOUS! We returned to the hotel at 4:00am (WAY early by Greece standards).

Mom woke us up Tuesday morning and we shuffled our weary bodies to the breakfast buffet. I ate eggs and bacon and sausage and bacon (I love bacon)! We sunned by the pool and then decided to head to Paradise beach, the wildest party beach of the island (like Spring Break in Cancun)! It was way mellower than I remember, but Pearl and I swam and sunned while the boys played paddleball.

In MYKANOS it’s not abnormal for ladies to be topless at the beach (I tend to see a lot more saggy, old boobs then perky ones which is AWESOME! Haha!) But here at Paradise Beach we got to view the full monty! I have never in my life seen fully naked (and wrinkly) men and women casually sunning on a very crowded beach where everyone else was at least wearing bottoms. I mean, I understand that you don’t like tan lines, but seriously! I would not want sand all in my bits. No way!

Once we felt good and tanned, we retuned to the hotel for a nap. I woke well rested, showered, checked my email on the super slow Internet and got ready for dinner. We decided to go to Nobu at the Belvedere Hotel, which is the sexiest of all the Nobu restaurants worldwide (I think). It sits around a pool, under the stars and over looks the ocean. GORGEOUS! We dined on fresh sushi (and chicken) and enjoyed the evening under the clear sky.

After dinner, we returned to Garreraki (our “Cheers” in MYKANOS) then we danced up a storm at MYKANOS Bar and checked out another spot on the main street called Astra. I was getting tired and I refused to return for another night to Space Club so I talked the gang into hitting up Jimmy’s for the most delicious gyros in all of MYKANOS (and maybe the world)!! Once everyone was stuffed and happy, we returned to the hotel for an evening swim and headed to bed (before the sun came up)!

I woke before everyone else at 10am and couldn’t fall back asleep. I went to breakfast by myself and sat overlooking the ocean in awe of the beauty of MYKANOS. I laid by the pool and read my book till finally everyone woke up. We walked to a restaurant nearby on the beach where I ate a fresh, yummy Greek salad (unlike an America Greek salad, this one has no lettuce, just fresh, crisp tomatoes, onions, peppers and a huge chunk of feta). Pearl and I walked down a dirt, windy path to the Panormas beach, which is known for being the fancy beach (where the celebrities and socialites go) while mom and the boys lazed by the pool.

We returned to the hotel to nap and rest up for mom’s show. Pearl and I ate a quick dinner at the hotel then showered and prepared for the night ahead. Mom was performing at a private party at Cavo Paradiso, which is usually a wild late-night club, but it had been turned into an elegant, black-tie birthday party for a (very) wealthy Greek man. Everyone danced under the stars while mom sang her hits. It was beautiful! Since our fight was early the next morning, we all returned to the hotel right after the show to hit the hay.

I drifted off to sleep (at a decent hour) not too excited about the multiple LONG flights ahead BUT feeling so fortunate that my mother’s career has given me the opportunity to see and experience the world! MYKANOS is absolutely beautiful, unique and FABULOUS!

MYKANOS!!