MYKONOS

[OMG!  Well, at least I got Mom’s legs.  So, we’re on the “road” to Mykonos, the most famous of the famous Greek islands, playground for Greek oil tycoons, the beautiful people, the yachting class, children of playground age, and great big cruise ships.]

[At the request of various food channel aficionados (and they know who they are), we have been asked to display the buffet.  Well, at a minimum it goes on for at least a city block on both sides of the ship (that would be both port and starboard sides, for you waterlogged types), with various crossing “alleys,” where one might stumble into some more specialty food products.  Here the supervisor is in an “alley” looking for something good to take back to the room.]

[I think she found some fruit!  In an effort to overcome the cruise ship phenomenon known as gluttony, I had Raisin Bran, and Raisin Bran only, for most breakfasts during the trip.  🙂  ]

[The supervisor heads back home, fruit in hand, over the Chasm of Death.]

[Gives me vertigo because of my acrophobia, which as you will recall from your Johnny Carson days means fear of acrobats.]

[There are three banks of elevators on the ship, all about a football field apart.  We all lived on the 9th floor, and partied on 5, 16, and 17.  It’s wonderful that since we’ve been home, PBS has done a program on cruise ships noting that these new ones, like ours, are inherently unstable because they are 200 feet above the water line.  Oy!  But we had great weather on our trip, and only on one evening did we even have the slightest feeling that we were traveling on water.]

[Land ho!  Mykonos. ]

[An end of Mykonos.]

[Here comes the tug to guide us in.]

[The Greek Islands are an international vacation hot spot for sailing vacations.  These folks are likely from Cleveland.]

[The initial plan was to anchor in the harbor and tender people in.  On our Caribbean cruise, we were tendered in by shore-based operations (business for the local economies).  Now I believe the ships prefer to do it with their own lifeboats – for the practice.  However, sorta last minute, we somehow obtained docking rights . . .]

[Probably because we beat this ship?  🙂  ]

[That ship was tendering their people.]

[Our dock.  BTW, our dock that used to host the Moby Obie on beautiful Lake Darling, was taken out for the season last week.  I believe I may have ventured out on it twice this summer, probably while installing the lake pump.]

[Look like tenders flitting around?]

[Mykonos, the land of all white houses.  They all have to be white by law.  How ’bout them zoning restrictions?  😉  ]

[Mykonos has about 10,000 inhabitants.  Up to 7 cruise ships a day visit here.  With ferries, yachts, planes, etc., you can do the math regarding the visitors to locals ratios.  But the entire economy is based on tourism, so if you hear anybody complaining about the crowds there, it’s likely to be from other tourists and not the Mykonosians (Mykonites?).]

[Port side jets, or how you parallel park these monsters.]

[We’re at the dock . . . and there’s a beach.]

[Our group was among the last to disembark, so we had time for a morning walkabout up top. ]

[Some people just stay on board and do their “beaching” at the pool.]

[That beach could be walked to, but they didn’t recommend it absent walking shoulders on the sides of the roads.]

[And we’re off – into the blazing noon day sun.  It would hit 100 degrees on this day.  And there was no wind, which we were told is very rare.  I don’t want to hear anything about “it’s a dry heat!”  So’s an oven!]

[And here’s our tour guide, Christa, in the flowery dress.]

[Well, first the Mykonos bus stop.  Then on the ship – the little jut out on the top floor – that’s the glass walkway.  See two photos up for an idea of the height above the water.]

[A mini ride from the ship to this parking lot where we would begin our walking tour of the town of Mykonos.]

[Always saddle-up in the shade.]

[There’s the walk destination, and beyond.]

[Christa and me.  She must have been at least a power forward in basketball.  She has lived on Mykonos for 28 years – came from the mainland.  I could not live on this island for that long without getting Rock Fever, something akin to claustrophobia.   I am the proto-typical American tourist.  With apologies again to The Nanner, the hat helps prevent my scalp from bubbling like pancake batter on a hot griddle.]

[The Shankar sisters and Teri pose for photo ops, our destination in the background.]

[And then so does the supervisor!  And yes, as you can see, she was delighted to be here.  🙂  ]

[Ships and yachts.  You can notice here the attraction would be the crystal clear water.]

[A flower.  Mykonos is very arid, plants were at a premium.]

[We’re on our walk, past another beach.]

[Better use SPF 3 million!]

[We’re in town, in case you couldn’t tell.  Umbrellas provide the best SPF.]

[The supervisor is a master at wending through crowds.]

[We came upon a town square.  That is not our boat.]

[Back in the alleyways where all the excitement is.]

[A pause to collect the group.  The group of 17 was unhappy about the heat and the length of this trek.  😉 ]

[Jessie shoots Teri.]

[Yes, cars drive through these “streets” despite having to deal with these massive walking tour groups.  But as Bill noted, walking through the “neighborhoods” is what you want to do. ]

[Onward.]

[A respite in a lovely garden café.  The supervisor orders a beverage.]

[And it turned out to be a combination art gallery/sculpture garden.]

[Grab a table; order a cool drink.]

[H2O is the beverage of choice here.]

[Yup, an outdoor theatre.  And no, “Zorba the Greek” was not playing.]

[A review of some of the sculptures.]

[THE BIG WHITE GALLERY.  It says so right on the side of the building.]

[We’re marching again.]

[Whoa!  What do we have here?  A little touch of home?  😉 ]

[Well, they almost got the spelling right.  😉 ]

[The windmills of Mykonos.  The ultimate destination of our walk through town.]

[And another photo op for the Shankars.  We were the photographer when dad wanted to join the picture, and vice-versa.]

[The café “Alexandria”?  😉 ]

[Let’s climb to the windmills.]

[Hope I don’t fall!]

[The part of town on water’s edge is known as “Little Venice,” for obvious reasons.]

[Wow, this is neat.]

[The requisite “yes, we were here” tourist photo.]

[Most were built by the Venetians in the 16th century, primarily to mill wheat.  That function ceased about 60 years ago, so now they’re a tourist attraction.]

[We can now say we have had our picture taken by Ravi Shankar.  🙂 ]

[We returned the favor to the Shankars at this same spot.]

[Peek-a-boo!]

[Quite the attractive setting.  And the supervisor was working on her tan!  😉 ]

[The sisters were jumping for joy . . .]

[We’re on the road again.  Some of the group decided to stay back in town or go to the beach.]

[I don’t recall the name of this place we’re heading to, but I think the idea was to see the island of Delos across the bay?]

[I somehow accidentally changed the camera setting for this and following photos taken here.  They have a weird quality that it took several computer adjustments to achieve.]

[Now we’re heading inland to . . . ]

[The little town of Ano Mera in the middle of the island.  Jessie and Teri have a “ghostly” stroll across the plaza.]

[The supervisor really liked this place.  To bad the photographer screwed up the photos!]

[A view inside the Ano Mera monastery.]

[We have arrived at Kalafati Beach on the east side of the island, the far side from whence we came.]

[Looks tropical!]

[Overlooking the beach, and the Smart Car.]

[We didn’t go in but word had it that the water was salty.  😉  ]

[Ahhh, vacation on the Greek Isles.]

[Note the caption 3 photos below.]

[The fishing village across from the restaurant.]

[The restaurant below the houses with a view.]

[This became an instant favorite for me!   I don’t remember its given name, but it’s described as a guy laying on his back napping.  That’s his head on the left, with an open mouth, and his full tummy on the right.  My kinda guy!]

[The fishing village from the restaurant.]

[Bill and Anne lead us back to the bus.  We were all ready to be air conditioned!]

[The fishing village across the bay.]

[Looking back at the restaurant and the buildings on the hill.]

[The “napping guy” island is visible in the distance.]

[I can see Mykonos as a vacation spot for beach lovers.  I’ve just never been a “lay in the sun and bake” kind of a guy?]

[This is Elias Beach (photo borrowed from the internet), just down the road a bit from Kalafati.  So, if you are a beach lover . . .]

[The only non-white building on the island.  It wasn’t clear why.  It’s over a hundred years old but there have got to be others in that age group?  Maybe you have to have an exception to every rule as a talking point?]

[Back to the ship, tour’s over.]

[We dropped some folks off back in town for additional shopping.]

[Almost back to the ship – there really wasn’t a lot of room to walk there.]

[I’ll do my “beaching” on the ship.]

[Bill and Anne descend the spiral staircase into the atrium.]

[Let’s eat! ]

[The dining room had an F. Scott Fitzgerald “feel” to it.  😉  (See it in the background of the photo above.) ]

[We had a ceiling mirror for photo ops.  OK, it’s in the atrium bar.  😉  ]

[That night was the all-cast show in the atrium.  Our usual table (and all others) on the atrium floor were taken.  Nevertheless, we had comfy seats in the bar on the other side of the aisle that still had a view . . . ]

[Until the SRO crowd blocked our view.  😦  ]

[The supervisor went back to the cast staging area for a view.]

[The balconies were packed to the rafters.]

[Ho-hum.]

[Some nights this is how the party goes!  (This was a picture hanging in the ship.)]

Up next:  Naples.  (p.s.  Congrats to the volleyball team, still undefeated and in first place in the conference.  Missed their win Thursday v. Willmar, 3 – 0, due to a scheduling conflict (it happens, too often).  And a shout out to the girls’ soccer team, also undefeated and in first place.  Oh, and take the family to see Willy Wonka at AAAA.)