Mykonos, Greece (October 2018)

Greek Islands
Greece is also famous for its beautiful islands. Greece has the Aegean Sea to the east of the mainland and the Ionian Sea to the west with the Cretan Sea and the Mediterranean Sea to the south. Greece has the longest coastline on the Mediterranean Basin and the 11th longest coastline in the world at 13,676 km (8,498 miles) in length. 

Greece has approximately 6,000 islands of which 227 are inhabited. The islands or the Aegean Islands, as called administratively, are broken down further to the Dodecanese, Cyclades, Thrace, Crete and the Ionian Islands. Crete is the largest one.

Cyclades include several famous islands, including Santorini and Mykonos. During this trip, we visited two of these islands. 

We took a local ferry from Athens to Mykonos.

The hotel we stayed was a pleasant surprise. But the water was pretty bad. It was so hard that we could not use the soap effectively.

Mykonos was named after the grand son of Apollo, Mykono. It is well known for its beach life. It is a party island.

The windmills on a hill close to Chora Mykonos, downtown, are called Windmills of Kato Mili, and indicate the island's nickname: "Windy Island." It is windy over there.

Petros are pelicans and the mascot of Mykonos. The original one got killed by a taxi but now there are three Petros donated from other places.

We rented an ATV or a quad as is called and drove around the island. The price was 40 euro plus 4 euro for gasoline. We wanted to visit all the places mentioned for the optional day trip.

First, we drove to Kalafatis Beach. The beach was a bit long, but it was so quiet and there was nothing much.

Ano Mera is the second largest town, but a tiny town. There is a small square where people hang out at one of a few restaurants. Nearby is a monastery called Panagia Tourliani built in the 16th century.

We then drove to Paradise Beach where bars and discotheques were the norm. It was a party beach. We had a drink and left when the music was becoming too loud for us. We saw another beach name, called Super Paradise Beach, but had no interest to explore.

We had dinner by the beach close to Chora or Downtown. The area was called Little Venice. The maze-like alleys and close proximity to the water probably earned them the name. The alleys were indeed mazes, but the combination of blue doors and white walls on the buildings in the alleys were stunningly beautiful.

One of the highlights of our ATV tour was at an unknown beach. The panoramic view of the beach and the town was stunning.

The restaurant we had our dinner was Nice N Easy. The foods were excellent (seafood pasta and chicken quesadilla), but quite crowded with a French group of 210 people.

We took the Ancient Delos Tour. Delos is an island located 45 minutes ride away from Mykonos. We embarked on the ship, close to Fisherman's Chapel near the Old Port. Delos was a small uninhabited island, but became the trading center for merchandise and slaves in the Cyclades. 

In Greek Mythology, Zeus had a wife who gave birth to Artemis and Apollo in Delos. That is how it became the center of Cyclades and probably Aegean Sea. Reportedly, Delos has the greatest number of sunny days among all islands and the best quality of the sun. 

The Delos Island was established as the center in 10 c BC. In 7c BC, the Naxons offered the famous Terrace of Lions offered to Apollo. 

Most of the houses were built in 2 c BC with local granites and imported marbles. The houses were pretty well built and still stand very elegantly.

The island has no water from the ground. So people had to collect the rain water into public and private cisterns or tanks for use. 

The ruins of a theater, which can accommodate up to 6,000 people, demonstrated the power and prosperity that Delos enjoyed at that time. The tour guide explained that Greek theater is different from Roman amphitheaters that are normally round. Okay. Got it.

There was a central boulevard, a wide street with collades, which lead to the Sanctuary of Apollo. Before the Sanctuary was the market place where people bought their offerings for Apollo.

There was a museum that exhibits the artifacts excavated from the archaeological sites. 

We visited Rarity Gallery, but no photo was allowed only after I took some. The paintings were made of toothpicks, tiny miniature statues and other stuff. Indeed, they look quite rate.

We stopped over at Paraportiani Orthodox Church. This white-walled church was built on top of four other churches. But it was closed. It was an outstanding postcard building.

·       Mykonos Brewing Company is making Donkey Beer, but we did not have the chance to visit. - Jeffrey