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Which part of Mykonos Town is the Drawer Shop you mentioned? |
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It’s a little past that super famous restaurant in the middle of town, Niko’s. I’d switch off between the two every night like clockwork. “Yesterday was Niko’s, so today it’s the Drawer’s turn.” |
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With all the countless other places in town, you must have really loved those two, to frequent them exclusively like that. |
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Yeah. The shopkeepers all recognized me, too. Speaking of Niko’s, there’s a pelican always hanging around there, and it would always attack my husband.
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Attacked by a pelican? Is that true? |
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I’m not lying! |
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I wonder if it liked your husband...? |
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Liked? No, I think it hated him. I said, “Oh, a pelican!” and it just kinda snubbed me, but once my husband got near it, it went nuts. It’s like some switch inside it just flipped, and it would come charging at him with its sharp beak. It was terrifying! |
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I’ve never seen a pelican like that before. |
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Me neither. It’s only scary when my husband’s around. |
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So you mean... there’s a pelican just walking around? |
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Yeah, it walks around flopping its big webbed feet. |
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It lives on the island and just walks around town like it’s no big deal. It’s kind of like the mascot of Mykonos.
▲A wild pelican living on Mykonos. |
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It’s a peaceful bird, but it’s an absolute monster toward my husband. (laughs) |
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And you’ll see it sleeping on the road sometimes.
▲Pelicans sleep by turning their head backwards and tucking their beaks into their wings. |
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I saw that! But it’ll even wake up from that weird pose. My husband started taking pictures of it, and the thing suddenly wakes up and screams at him. (laughs) I wonder what vibe he’s giving off to make it hate him. He got bit one time really bad, and he had blood coming out of his hand. |
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No way! |
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Really. |
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In your novel Kingdom, the main character gets her hand bitten by a pelican in Shaboten Park in Izu City, Japan, and falls in love with the man who takes care of her. I don’t suppose that story was based on that? |
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Oh, it was, it was. In the book it turns into a love story, but in our case, it was a bit more serious, and we were trying to figure out if he should be getting a tetanus shot. (laughs) |
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You never know what germs there are. |
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Birds sure are scary. |
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They sure are. There was a lot of blood. |
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Does it attack your son? |
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No, he’s fine. He can watch it and go right up to it and it won’t do anything. It’s only my husband. |
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That’s so weird! |
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Do you always go to Mykonos as a family? |
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Yes, my son loves Mykonos, too. There are a lot of kids on the island, but there aren’t many kids who come as tourists. I even wondered if my son was the only one. But that just means the adults there really dote on him like crazy, and the lady at the bar will say, “Oh, it’s a kid!” and have him sit over at the counter so she can give him lots of drinks. Juice, that is. (laughs) |
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Wow. How old is your son? |
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He’s eleven now. The last time he went to Mykonos, he was eight. He asked the lady what her name was. |
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Wow. |
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He was really popular, and would get presents like balloons and drinks. And he seemed really excited about staying up late at night. Although, he’s up late at night anyway. |
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That’s true. Mykonos is really lively at night. |
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Yeah. The bars and restaurants are open all night long, so it’s like paradise for night owls. |
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The night life. |
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Yup. Dinner doesn’t start until around nine at night, so if you ask to meet at six, people will think you’re nuts. “What is that, lunch?” they’ll say. Although, you can say Europeans are late-nighters, anyway.
▲People enjoying meals at the restaurants lined around the harbor. Restaurants are open until late at night. |
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Are you a night person in Japan? |
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I am, to be honest. |
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So your natural rhythm fits in well in Mykonos. |
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Yeah. I have a great time in Mykonos when everyone there is a night person. I don’t feel rushed in the morning. When I’m on trips, I usually have to eat breakfast at the place by nine or ten in the morning, or else breakfast is over. But Mykonos doesn’t rush breakfast, so I can relax. And when I go back to my lodge late at night, other places lock everything up so I have to go through an entrance somewhere around the front door, and it’s a bit awkward, but if I come back at two in the morning in Mykonos, there’s nothing to worry about. |
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That’s true. Everyone comes and goes as they please.
▲Mykonos also has a beautiful night view. |
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It seems like there would be a lot of places like that, but there’s not. Even when I went to Hateruma Island in Okinawa, every single shop in town closed at six at night, and that was hard. I got frustrated when I realized I was always too late. |
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That awful feeling of not being able to buy anything. |
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Yeah. So there’s no fretting about not having milk in the morning in Mykonos. |
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Can you buy whatever you want at night in Mykonos? |
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For the most part. |
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There are little kiosks called períptero that are always open. |
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Where they sell water. Right. You know, the best places to visit are usually the ones that are further away and kinda hard to get to, but even though Mykonos is hard to get to, it’s like there isn’t any inflation. I get the feeling the island has developed into a really ideal tourist spot. |
