By BETH ALTENA
Last November we went on a cruise from the port of Rome to Greece and various other ports for ten days, which Bill and I picked because, except for the first day at sea, there were more places to visit than any other cruise in the area. I wrote about the first day we arrive in Chivitchechia (Rome port), the day at sea and the first excursion to the island ruins of Delos, Europe’s largest excavation site.
After the hours at Delos, we returned to the day’s port of the island of Mykonos, Greece, our first visit to a Greek town. The island is known as a vacation spot for celebrities, beautiful beaches and bright sun and lots of partying. Our trip was in November, certainly off-season, and not the time for most vacationers to see the town, which was fine by us.
The town our ferry brought us to is the island’s namesake, Mykonos, named after Greek ancient Myko, thought to be the son or grandson of Apollo, who was purported to have been born in ancient Delos, far beyond the dawn of Christianity, when people worshiped such personalities.
Mykonos was what you might expect if you’ve seen pictures of any Greek neighborhood, whitewashed walls and walkways, colorful doorways and rails, I imagine if it had been a sundrenched day in midsummer the waters would have been brilliantly sparkling blue and the beaches packed.
We stopped for some food from a stand, as many restaurants appeared closed for the season. We split a gyro and a chicken scouvlaki skewer for just a couple of Euros each. Walking around town, we saw many, many small churches tucked into winding alleyways, tiny or larger shops with merchants displaying colorful items and even some very high-end brand products.
The Internet told me the walkways are curving, narrow and confusing, as well as steep in places, to discourage pirates in olden days when there was plenty of water traffic from nearby Delos. After the demise of Delos and hundreds of years of tough times, the island struggled until it reinvented itself as a prime resort for rich and famous visitors in the 1070s.
Left over from its pre resort reincarnation is historic windmills that are nearly always featured in photographs of Mykonos. They are iconic symbols of the former era when the windmills were vital to the community.
In nearly every lovely view of Mykonos one or two cats are likely to part of the landscape. Online the explanation revolves around a relaxed attitude toward ownership, where cats are considered, or make themselves, neighborhood property. The cats are accepted as part of the Greek experience and are accepted as part of daily life. They all appeared healthy and very friendly.
Next we travel to mainland Athens and the Parthenon.
