Today we visit the island of Mykonos.
We pulled into port about 9 am. Our guide said he would meet us on the pier at about 9:15 am. I had sent a message to him yesterday but the internet was very bad and I wasn’t able to receive his response until this morning. The tour was titled “Sightseeing with a Mykonian”. This was a tour booked through trip advisor.
Matt met us right on time and Tim and Kelley were able to join us on the tour. We drove the short distance to town. Short enough to walk but really no sidewalk to walk on.
We parked the car and began a walking tour of the city. This is usually a very busy tourist area. This morning there were few folks around.
Matt grew up in Mykonos and learned a lot of the history from his grandfather. His parents own a hotel in another city on the island. He didn’t like they way they took advantage of tourists and decided to start a cleaning business instead of working for them. “All you need is a broom and a mop”. He does have a degree in nuclear science. He said Greeks do not appreciate this and to get a job he would have to move to Switzerland to work on the Cern collider. He did not want to leave his family and decided to stay in Mykonos and start a tour business.
Mykonos nickname is “Island of the Winds”. Today was very unusual as it was calm. Calm and very hot. We walked along the narrow streets and then around an area known as “Little Venice”. Here we saw some wind mills that originally ground wheat. Wheat was easy to grow in this area.
Typical tourist shops were interspersed among the churches and other historical buildings we visited. Most of the building were four to five hundred years old. I imagine prior to last year, this island was jam packed with tourists. Matt shared with us that some times as many as five cruise ships will be in port. Today we were it.
Closer to lunch time we headed to the beach for a nice swim in the ocean. The Mediterranean Sea is about 20 times saltier than the Atlantic or Pacific oceans. It did have an effect on our buoyancy. No match for the Dead Sea which is 40 times saltier.
Matt prepared a lunch for us. Typical Greek food. Ham, beef, mykonos cucumber, tomatoes, figs, bread, and greek yogurt. We enjoyed that in a shady spot right on the beach.
We parted ways with Matt after lunch. Tim and Kelley headed back to the ship. Terri and I did some shopping. After browsing several shops we headed in to one jewelry store. The owner offered me a chair and a beer. I’m not sure why all stores don’t do this. Terri had a glass of wine while she tried on some bracelets.
Nothing fit her tiny wrists. We did find one she liked and the owner said he could make it fit. He took it back to the workroom, bent it, cut it, and polished it. By the time I finished my Alpha Beer, he was finished. It looked marvelous!
We decided to find a place to have a cool drink. Shopping is hard work!
We stopped at a place on the water called Velitos. We had a drink and watched a guy throw old food into the water. Pizza, buns, rolls, other baked goods. The fish devoured the scraps in no time.
We finished our drink and then headed down the street to Kastro’s for dinner. Tim and Kelley joined us. Great Greek meal.
We returned to the ship by ferry and met up in the Lido for a competitive game of Farkle. Kelley seems to have the magic wrist in this game. Tim mentioned that Montenegro was no longer on the itinerary. We both had excursions through Trip Advisor and were able to cancel them with no penalty. No word from HAL on this yet.
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