Friday, September 30, 2011
Mykonos, Greece then sailing toward Athens, Greece
A charming little place, and we are only one of three cruise ships in the harbor today so it shouldn't be too crowded. But it was hot already in the early morning, and there were only two busses provided to get us passengers from our ship to the terminal building where the Greek passport control officers waited for us, so there were some delays. But it was all handled with good grace by passengers and crew alike, and all went very smoothly.
We hopped on the tour bus, and off we went to our first stop in our island visit. This was an island beach resort, site of the filming of the movie Shirley Valentine. The whole place was beautiful, a curving bay of soft sand and a charming beach bar, with little islands just off shore. But the highlight for me was the first look at the architecture of the island, the sort of thing we expect to see on Santorini and 'the look' of the Greek Islands. You know what I mean, the low rectangular or cubic whitewashed buildings set on a hillside with the blue blue sky above and the turquoise blue sea below. Yes it really is here and it really looks just as good as in the pictures, a true case of nature imitating art.
Our guide pointed out that all buildings on the island look this way because it is mandated by law, and strictly enforced. Here on Mykonos, as is the case EVERYWHERE ELSE, the tourist dollar is the economic mainstay of the city and the country. But here in Greece they admit it, and our guide said that this place would be a deserted rock in the sea, as so many Greek Islands are, if not for tourism. So are they going to cater to us, with over 80% of the local jobs in the tourist industry? Oh yes, they are, and that includes making every vista a Kodak moment. No matter, it is all very pretty. Jan and I want a picture by a local artist, of just this scene but we couldn't find one we liked. There's still time, Santorini lies ahead.
Next stop was a little town called Panagia Tourliani, where there exists a Monastary with a miracle-inducing icon. This icon was brought to the island by some sailors, having been found floating on the sea or washed up on the beach, I'm not clear about that. In any case, it generated some remarkable miracles for the locals and found its way to a local chapel, of which there are almost as many as the houses. In fact, many families have their own chapel and sometimes a couple of families will get together and build their own that they share. No priests, just a place to pray. Sounds fine to me. Anyway, this icon kept winding up at the monastary. No, the monks claimed, they didn't swipe it the icon just got there to the monastary on its own, in the dark of night. So the locals would bring it back to the chapel, it would stay for a while, but then mysteriously move on back to the monastary. This went on for a while until eventually it stayed put at the monastary as everyone grew fatigued with the to-ing and fro-ing. Now it is on the tourist agenda, and the bus stopped for us to pile out and see the monastary, which is now down to an abbot and one monk from over two hundred monks at the height of its career. I chose not to go to see it but wandered the small community instead, seeing how the people live around here. It is a lovely peaceful place, brilliant sunshine and strong, constant winds on this island about 300 days a year. Curiously though, only one wind turbine to be seen but it was turning furiously. How many kilowatts I don't know, but electrical power on the island should not be a problem. And another problem they won't have here is mice, as there are A LOT of cats. Everywhere. All over the place. I like cats, but even I couldn't believe the number of them. Jan and I bought a charming mug, some post cards, and then were herded back on the bus and down the hill to the next and final destination, the town of Mykanos.
The town and the island share the same name, and the town is home to almost 90% of the island's population. It is a seaport with a lovely calm harbor, just beyond the mouth you can see the 'white horses' running, the whitecaps of the wind whipped sea. We toured through the town, the streets winding and impossibly narrow for any transport except the donkeys of the old days or the ever-present scooters of the modern era. Shopping opportunities were everywhere, as plentiful as the cats, with the shops small, bright, and very artfully decorated. The Greeks everywhere are excellent merchants, it seems. I popped into a wine shop as the tour wandered along and bought some wine for Dick's birthday tonight, and when I came out I had lost both Jan and the rest of the tour. Merde. There were three choices of alleyway they could have gone down, I went right as it headed to the beach. Got there, no Jan, no tour. Rats. I quickly doubled back to my decision point, and went left. This route wandered, like my mind, a twisted path that had no apparent direction covering every compass point. Shops everywhere, selling everything, now I was completely lost having misplaced Jan and the tour and any sense of my own position. I hope this is a small place. It must be small. But is it small enough? I wandered faster, frantic in the maze, truly lost and expecting to find myself in a circle route, but eventually emerging in a sort of plaza near a restaurant and there was Jan with her camera in hand and the tour just behind her. I rushed up to her, but I don't know if she was even aware of the near disaster I had almost caused. She said 'hi', and took another picture of the amazingly beautiful scenery. We were in an area called 'Little Venice', with the houses built on the harbour in the Venician style. If you don't have your boat parked out front, your first step will get you very wet. Very scenic, see Jan's pictures. The term 'little Venice' stretches it a bit, but all is fair in love, war, and tourism.
This was the termination of the tour, at some now-unused windmills that must have been a century old, no longer used for grinding grain or anything else, but camera friendly and therefore on the tour route. Jan and I went to the restaurant, thought we would have some Homous and Pita, traditional Greek fare. But no, none on the menu, closest was Tzatziki and bread. Not pita, just oven bread. And no Homous, mention of that drew a blank stare and a shake of the head by our waited, like the mention of pita. Ok, Tzatziki, bread, wine, and beer it is, we can live on that. And we did, surrounded by bright sunshine outside the shade over our table, cats at our feet, and our ship-mates all around. Later, a hike back to the harbor walk where we ran into Dick. Shiela was on her scooter, shopping in the town, so Dick and Jan and I had a birthday beer (his birthday) and a wine and a chat. Later, pleasantly buzzed, we wandered off with Jan and I headed to the ship and Dick for the higher ground of the shopping area, looking not for bargains but for his wife.
Along the way to the boat we ran into Shiela, trying to find Dick. As agreed, we told her Dick's wish was for her to stay put, he would find her on the way to the boat. I had no idea how to find him, last I saw he was heading into the maze and I doubted my ability to extricate myself on time, let alone find him. Eventually they met up, and we were all aboard ship on time.
Later, wine and drinks in their cabin, brandy we bought in Dubrovnik as a gift and a tequila card that Jan found, then dinner in the dining room. Against Dick's expressed wishes of a couple of days before, I arranged for the Happy Birthday song from the table staff, and Dick was a good sport about it as he cut the ship's birthday cake provided to him. A great day, and night.
