Here we are late again with another post but we’ve been having a fabulous time and there are so many photos I just couldn’t cull enough to make the blog manageable. To fix this and get at least one post out this one will concentrate on the island of Mykonos.
Mykonos is an island in the Cyclades group in the Aegean Sea. When we arrived at our Studio apartment we knew this was going to be a special stop. Pension Alexandra has a typical Greek island architecture and our room was comfy. We were about 1 km from the ferry wharf but despite 2 bus stops at our door (1 each way) we really needed wheels to get about. There’s not much at the new port. It’s the old traditional port where things happen. We found ourselves drawn there several times wandering the shops and feeding our faces on fantastic feasts.
At the old port the waterfront is crowded with shops of all kinds. You can venture into the labyrinth of lanes and passages that form a maze and make a great place to get lost. There’s even an outdoor cinema. Further around the port there are old windmills which frequent locations all over the Greek islands. The shopping in these parts range from cheapo souvenirs to upmarket brand name boutiques’.
As in all places Greek we lost count of the number of churches about the towns. On the south side of the port is an interesting group of chapels called Paraportiani thought to be up to 500 years old. We entered some of the churches and we were stunned by the ornate fittings and fixtures. While most look ‘churchy’ on the outside the one with the plainest exterior turned out to be one of the most decorated we saw on the island.
On one day I finally convinced Shane that a 4WD dune buggy is what we needed to check out the rest of the island. This led to one of our best days so far. We found a great beach to have a swim and the scenery was awesome. We drove further around Mykonos and found another beach for swimming but only I got wet. Shane thought it was too cold in the water at 19 degrees. In Townsville the water is normally around 24 at least. Eventually we wound up at Paradise Beach. This one and Super Paradise beach are world famous for there beachside bars and non-stop dance parties. These beaches are definitely not the place to go for a quiet day at the beach.
Back ‘home’ again and exhausted we had tea at Maria’s Pension Café. It was next door to our unit so convenience over rode any other consideration. Not that it was second rate. The food was great and the prices better but best of all was Maria herself. She made us feel at home and we had many laughs together. I am also sorry to say that I broke a heart at the old port on our last day. At Mosaic Cafe at the old port we had the best Eggs Benny and kept returning. Here we built up a fun relationship with a fantastic waitress who had us in hysterics. When we left we presented her with one of our Australian Kangaroo pins (thanks Ian for the idea) and she gave me a cuddle and started to get teary. We left heavy hearted.
We had one more look about, took some photos of the windmills and then faded away in the sunset of Mykonos. What a great island! Here’s a You Tube video (not mine) to see more.
The island of Naxos comes next followed by Santorini. I’ll probably have to jam in a million photos for them as well because we had a ball on those islands too. For now just enjoy this post and keep watching for the next which hopefully won’t be too far away.
Garry & Shane