Week 602 · Mykonos, Greece
Mykonos,
In 1994 we booked a flight to Mykonos on a whim from Athens in March when it was cold and overcast and rented a jeep and drove around wondering why we spent all that money. This visit was much better. Probably 50 degrees warmer.
We planned ahead this time and booked our only unofficial shore excursion of the cruise — not through the ship, which makes it a little riskier on missing departures on both ends — as a sailing trip to Delos island followed by some snorkelling. About a 30-minute sail from Mykonos. Delos was one of the few Greek ports that the Romans allowed to continue trading, so it was pretty wealthy in its time, and the ruins were much more extensive than we expected. Delos is also famous for its cats — brought in originally to deal with a snake problem — and a lot of them are still there.
Delos was considered the most sacred island in ancient Greece — the mythological birthplace of Apollo and Artemis. At its peak it was one of the most important religious and commercial centres in the Mediterranean, with a population estimated at 30,000. The Romans sacked it in 88 BC and 69 BC, and it was never reoccupied. It is now entirely an archaeological site — no one lives there.
We then sailed to Rineia — and the wind had picked up, making it a more exciting trip over than advertised. The water was very clear and the area has light-coloured rocks, which means turquoise blue water in the shallows. The snorkelling was OK — the reef was essentially a pile of rocks and the fish were all under about four inches. However, when the crew threw the uneaten lunch overboard, a large swarm of carp-like fish materialised from nowhere. Glad we were already back on the boat. Terry was hanging on for dear life on the return crossing. There was also a party boat anchored nearby that appeared to be having a significantly better time than we were, though we were doing fine.
Terry hanging on for dear life on the crossing to Rineia after the wind picked up. The trip over was described in the brochure as a leisurely sailing excursion. It was not that by the return leg.
We headed back to Mykonos with a couple of hours to spare before returning to the ship and wandered the streets of the old town. Mykonos is essentially a shopping destination during the day and — apparently — a significant party destination at night. We left back to the ship before the party started, which was probably the right call given the early departure the next morning. The architecture is the famous whitewashed Cycladic style — narrow winding streets, blue-domed churches, bougainvillea everywhere. It photographs extremely well. In person it is also very full of other people with cameras, which is the tax you pay for going somewhere this photogenic in August.
"Mykonos and Santorini are spectacular — but the highlights are the historic white towns. They are very stark, no greenery, dark brown coasts, very few sand beaches. The Adriatic was much more scenic. Imagine the pictures without the buildings."
