Mykonos, Greece: Scenes from a visit in April 2023 - Part II

I mention in my first post about visiting Mykonos that I really didn't know much about the island beyond its reputation as a 'party island', or a place for luxury vacations. While our tour did include some of the more typically glamourous aspects of a visit to Mykonos -- the catamaran cruise, visiting 5* hotels with spectaculuar pools and common areas -- we also spent a good 1/2 day seeing some elements of 'the other side' of Mykonos.

One partner we work with operates a multi-faceted business that offers (1) mountain bike tours around parts of the 'inland' areas of the island and (2) organic food and wine experiences. The base is Mykonos Vioma Organic Farm. When you look at its position on the island you can see it is about as far from the town (west coast) and the party beaches (southern coast) as possible.

Our day started with a pick up at the hotel and then a little visit to the farm while they got our bikes ready for the ride. We spent some time saying hello to the animals.

I did not snap any pics during the ride. Our guide, though, was taking pictures every 30 seconds. She did not love my 'no pictures' policy. Hard for her to understand that I could enjoy an experience without taking a selfie every 100m. My colleagues had no issues with her paparazzi mindset. And while dodging her lens I enjoyed the ride through little village back lanes and a stop in Ano Mera for a quick view of a semi-famous monastery. I thought I had some pics from that stop but cannot find them. We had a little snack in Ano Mera before the more challenging leg of the tour, which was to ride up to Fokos Beach in the northeast of the island. Again, we were there in late April, so pre-season. But there was virtually no traffic of any kind. A couple of SUVs maybe passed us in either direction. And another family on bikes, I think. Otherwise we had the landscape to ourselves.

Just a natural, chill little beach still undeveloped. Our guide told us one of the homes up on the hill belongs to a famous Greek singer. I forgot the name. Apparently this part of the island is not as desirable as others because the northerly winds can be fierce. But on a calm day like when we visited it was pretty tranquil. Spent maybe 30-45 minutes resting there and taking it all in before heading back to the farm. We wrapped things up trying some local products and wine ... which I failed to capture very well.

All in all a nice day getting a different, less common view of the Mykonos experience.