"Kalo Taxidi" (Greek for "have a good trip") contains a selection of my writing about Greece since my first visit in 1981.
Excerpt
Mykonos 1981
I first visited Mykonos in 1981. In 1981, Mykonos was not unspoilt, but it was far less spoilt than it is today. Yehudi Menuhin used to have a cottage in what had been a remote bay on Mykonos, and visited the cottage in 1976 after a nine-year absence. He had not wanted to visit Greece during the military dictatorship. He found the beach littered with rubbish and naked Beatniks of all sexes. Yehudi Menuhin wrote to the mayor of the island, and the letter was published in the newspaper Kathimerini demanding urgent action before Mykonos acquired the reputation of an island of infame. What would Sir Yehudi have thought of Mykonos today?
It was during the run up to an election and many of the cafes in Mykonos were doing duty as temporary party headquarters, so much so that I remember finding it difficult to find a cafe functioning as a cafe. How different it all is today with the sea front lined with cafes and many more behind. I stayed at the Hotel Delphines in 1981. I do not remember any tourist shops near the hotel. In 1996, the Hotel Delphines was still there, but I could barely see the front door for all the tourist shop paraphernalia around it. I ate at Spiro’s taverna on the sea front, because the position was good, and I do not remember it being particularly touristy. Spiro’s was still there in 1996 but not open at the time of my visit. Looking back through my old notes – the place at which I ate in 1981 may have been called Petro’s. Then again, was I confusing the name of a pelican (past or present) with the name of a taverna?
In 1981, I wrote, "Mykonos looks too good to be true. Brilliant white buildings under a blue sky. Even the pavements are whitewashed. Explore the town. Many intriguing alleys." That is still true today if you manage to filter out the mass tourism in much of the town.
Then as now I did not manage to venture out of town, apart from a trip to Delos. The town does seem to sprawl much more now; when I see new buildings going up in the Cyclades I think that they will look timeless once coated with white paint. It could be that staying at the centrally situated Hotel Delphines I did not need to wander so often into the further reaches of the town. I do remember walking down the twisting lanes of "Little Venice" to the sea front; one or two shops only then, and the area beyond Little Venice was not then coated with sea side tavernas as well as waves.
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