Rolland With The Punches: And then the sun came up...

So Delos was the first of many beautiful civilizations we'd see in the next five weeks. After the long day of fighting the wind, sand and heat, we eventually made it back to the hotel. I'm fairly certain I hit up a lounge chair by the pool and read my book until I dozed off for a bit.
Tonight is when I discover friendship in my new comrades. Oh yes, and the sunrise. WOW!
Cavo Paradiso was a blast, but wow, tonight was incredible.

And so it begins!

Steph, Bri, Nicole and I set out for the town. We started at a small bar called Down Under with some people Steph met earlier in the day. It was a slow start to the night because we are all still lagging from the previous night. We have yet to adjust to long days and nights with little sleep at this point in the trip.
From the first club we head more toward the center of town to Scandinavian Bar, a night club housed above some stores. This place is packed. Practically pitch black with strobe lights flashing everywhere. This is Mykonos! We instantly make our way to the bar and grab drinks! Eventually we head to the dance floor and by the end of the night we are dancing on top of these table/benches/I'm not really sure what to call them, but Bri, Nicole and I are having one helluva time shaking our tail feathers to a room full of complete strangers involved in their own dance parties. It's funny how much being in a foreign place allows you to cut loose and enjoy yourself a little.
We spent the remainder of the night out yelling "Yamas!," (Greek for 'Cheers!') and taking shots of Ouzo (famous Greek liquor).

"I've had the time of my life and I owe it all to you!"

When our quads gave out and the sweat and body heat of hundreds of others became too much with the alcohol we headed back to the hotel. We walked around for roughly two hours. We were quite tipsy at this point yet far too wired to retire to the hotel room. However, it was 4:30 a.m., and I wanted to go back and get my camera because the sun would rise soon and the pictures were going to be epic.
It took Bri and I the next hour and a half to make it to the hotel to grab the camera between drunken distractions and the five mile hike up. (I would take that mile long hike four more times that day; back and forth. Just sayin'.)

5a.m. glamour shots :)

Early morning walk through town.

Sunrise from the top of town...

When Bri and I finally made it to the hotel and grabbed my camera the position of the sun was perfect. I couldn't take my eyes off the beauty around me long enough to take enough photos to attempt to capture the beauty of the island. Every where you turned there was something else to look at.
"Minis!," as Bri would habitually pick up on saying.
Everything there was tiny though. The smallest cars and miniature trucks, mini concrete picnic tables, mini doors and houses and churches. Endless amounts of dwarf-size fun (sorry if that is politically incoorect.)
Once we reached town, Bri took it upon herself to pick up trash along the beach. I have to share this with y'all because it became one of our fondest memories. As I stood back on the shore in slight confusion, fellow passersby continually asked me, "what is she doing?"
"She loves MYKONOSSS!" I drunkenly retort.
It still doesn't make sense, but it was 6 a.m. and hilarious and makes for a good story now. Don't worry I have pictures of this, too. :)
When Bri found enough garbage to dispose of and sea glass to retain we found some breakfast. We stopped at the first place we saw, ordered a strawberry and kiwi waffle and a Nutella and banana crepe to split. If you've never been to Europe, they worship Nutella. Just FYI. It's disgusting really. Anyway our waiter is a riot. And shortly after we order these five Greek guys show up in an equal state as Bri and I, and begin chanting the Greek futbol teams anthem.
We're quite certain they were getting quite the entertainment from us because although many Greeks speak English, these guys were playing dumb.There was much more said at breakfast that, like some things, stay in Mykonos ;)
Eventually we made it to the hotel- again!
Bri crashed on a lounge chair by the pool and I set back to town after a shower and just perused all by myself. It was a wonderful, sleep-lacking morning. I also made it all the way around town and back to the hotel without getting lost.
In every city as soon as I figured out my way around we left. Go figure!
We were due to catch the ferry back to Athens at noon. We were all pretty devastated to see Mykonos go. Day 5 of our lives together and already we were gabbing non stop to each other. This ferry ride was much quicker since I slept the five hours back. The most uncomfortable positions will do when you've been awake and running for 30+ hours.

These pictures portray absolutely no justice to the true beauty that is Mykonos. We saw a hundred cities in the 12 countries we hit over 35 days, and they were all wonderful in their own way, but I can honestly say not a single other city compares to Mykonos.
I could spend hours describing the structure, colors, weather, people and vibe of this city but you will never truly feel it the way we did until you've visited it.
It truly was paradise.
I think Mykonos holds the most special place in all of our hearts because it was the first city we fell in love with on our journey. Mykonos was the first place we all truly bonded with one another. I conquered my fear of heights (mostly). Some of you got tattoos. Some of us ruined our brand new iPhone5 because the life proof case wasn't all that life proof. Half of us spent half of our budget the first night. Regardless what it was about Mykonos, it was the place that taught us we were going to make it through this crazy journey, and we were going to do it together and one city at a time we slowly turned into world travelers.