If the title didn't give it away, today we docked in Mykonos. We had originally planned to take the shore excursion to the island of Delos, which was a major trading hub, then religious site in ancient times. But, after our long day in Athens, we decided to save Delos for another trip and to just enjoy a relaxing day on Mykonos. It is super easy to get from the ship to the main town of Mykonos; you just take their shuttle which is 7 euro round trip. I would not recommend walking it to anyone; there are very steep cliffs and there is no walk path.
Immediately, Mykonos is not quite as picturesque as you might imagine. But once you get on the little back alleys, you will find the beautiful white and blue houses of your Greek dreams. The problem is: if there are a lot of tourists in town, it gets overwhelmed and you are constantly competing with people for photo shots. A couple of times we did get off on our own, but the hoards were never far away. This is absolutely one of the worst places I can think of to do a shore excursion.
After we'd had enough wandering, we began to look for a place to eat. Luckily, on our way back toward the ship, we found one of our tablemate couples already dining in a perfect location. They invited us to join them, and we had a wonderful lunch so close to the water that every once in awhile, it would splash up on our ankles. Olive oil, bread, feta and Spanikopita filled our table, and we munched and talked for hours. THIS is my Mykonos memory that I will conjure up when having a bad day.
Other highlights of the day:
1. Pastries for breakfast at the International Cafe: chocolate almond croissants, creme filled beignets and much more.
2. The comedian/singer from Wales, Diane Cousins, whose singing typified a cruise ship performer, but the comedy had us rolling.
3. Chatting with some of the crew about what they did in Mykonos when we docked at 1:00 am the night before.