The tiny island of Delos opposite of Mykonos Island, a center of culture from as early as 2500 BC, well before the Golden Age of Pericles and the Parthenon, is one of Greece’s most important archaeological sites, one that no visitor to the country should miss.
We were having a “lively” discussion about Greece, about this incredibly blessed country of ours, and its ability to turn tourism into a serious industry. At points we agreed, at others butted heads. We spoke in our mother tongue, on high volume as Greeks tend to do, with solid arguments based in cold, hard fact and other, more shaky ones based in wishful thinking. But when the subject of Mykonos came up, spirits calmed. Tones softened. The discussion became a flurry of positive examples. Shining case studies of a different Greece within Greece. One of the first mentioned was Mykonos Grand Luxury Hotel, crowning jewel of the legendary island, one of the world’s top 10 beach hotels according to the CNT 2014 Gold List, renowned for its facilities, services and hospitality, a role model for aesthetics and tourism infrastructure. And from there began a long conversation about the island and its tourism dynamics…
The invitation read:
We only live once.
And since I’ve reached the ripe old age of 40,
I’m celebrating and inviting you to the birthday party of my dreams.
On the island of my childhood,
of my rebellious teenage years,
the place where I found my other half,
the place I return to again and again to find myself,
On my beloved Mykonos
Whenever I look through photos, I travel. When I gaze at them, they stir and bring that particular moment back to life. And then I lose myself in the image. The faces, the figures, the background, the poses, the ambience, the light, the setting; all elements that illuminate the small or great story unravelling around the protagonists, perhaps even something about the location. This is what happened at Mykonos Grand!
I cannot recall my first kiss, the one that irreversibly marked the end of my childhood years. But I can clearly remember the first kiss, elusive and awkward, with the person I married and brought two children into this world with. It seems like such a long time ago… I can’t stop myself from smiling each time the image rises to the surface of my memory, always so fresh and playful. An email I received from the famed Mykonos Grand Hotel on Mykonos –our favorite destination then, now and I daresay evermore –helped dust off the cherished memory of that first kiss and posed a lighthearted challenge with their Mykonos Greatest Kiss contest. Could we do it? After almost twelve years of marriage? With two children? With the burden of our responsibilities weighing down on our conversations and postponing the simple joys of togetherness and companionship for another day?…
