Roam At Dawn

When a local recommends you spend your first evening in Mykonos enjoying a sunset cocktail in Little Venice, you know exactly where you'll be when the sun goes down.

I woke up that morning with an undeniably scratchy throat and by the early afternoon, as the ferry pulled into the port of the stunning cyclades island, I had a full blown cold. Delirious but defiant, I refused to be bed bound for any part of my short, two-day stay in Mykonos.

Mykonos town is beautifully compact, making it entirely possible to see all the main sights very quickly and easily - presuming you don’t get lost. My partner and I set off for the famous Mykonos Windmills and the 17th century Church of Paraportiani.

By pure luck, the maze that is Mykonos town led us to the windmills first. With persistent, strong winds, I took a few quick snaps before heading to the church, just a 10 minute walk away.

Sunset was due at 8.30pm - two hours away still - but is it ever too early for a cocktail on the waterfront? We sat down at one of the many beautiful bars in Little Venice, perused the menu, ordered a €15 cocktail (those Mykonos prices!) and watched as the waters ravaged passersby braving the coastal path.

It was wonderful: the sun, the water, the seriously overpriced Aperol Spritz. But, I had a cold and it was becoming harder and harder to deny. To make matters worse, the temperature was dropping and I was feeling the cold - a biting, shivering cold. It was 7.30pm, just one hour off sunset. We were so close!

We relocated to another bar in Little Venice, one where the wine costs €6 and beers are €7. We watched as the sun dipped lower over the glistening waters.

But the wind was biting my bare arms, my nose was becoming runnier and my sunny disposition was fading with that glowing orb. It was almost 8.00pm. We were so close to witnessing the famously beautiful sunset but I was fast slipping into a state of misery.

I started bargaining. Maybe we could go back to the room quickly? I could grab a sweater and we could come back? It's only a 7 minute walk. Up and down that's just 14 minutes. We began the race against the clock back to the room.

My energy was fading, along with my desire to see the sun set. All I wanted was sweet, sweet sleep and an A/C unit set to hot and cold on rotation.

A 7 minute walk turned into 15 minutes after a few wrong turns. We reached the room, I raced inside, grabbed a sweater and collapsed on the couch in exhaustion. As I looked out the window, I could see the pink and orange hues of the setting sun fading below the terrace walls.

‘We're not going to make it back’, I whimpered. We could never have made it back to the seafront in time. It was impossible.

But then, like a fever-induced vision, it came to me: we couldn’t head back down, but we could go further up.

With renewed energy, I raced out of the house and up the stairs leading further up the hill.

We reached the top and we sat in front of an old, unused windmill and caught it: the most magnificent sunset.