Magical Mykonos

 

After a few really busy days, I am running a bit late with the blog, but I will try to catch up on the next sea days.

We had a relatively short stopover in Mykonos today – 7.00am – 1.30pm. The ship was docked about 3.5 kms from the Old Mykonos Town, and a shuttle was offered for $10AUD return trip. We lined up for the shuttle tickets and were on the first bus into town again - we never want to waste a moment.

We have been to Mykonos three times before but have usually stayed in the old town, so today we decided to go swimming from a local beach – Rick Steves recommends Platis Gialos because it is sheltered from the winds and is sandy – many of the beaches here are pebbly-  it is only about 5kms. from the main square in town, so we decided to take a taxi to the beach – Joanne negotiated with one driver for 10 euros, which seemed to be the going rate.

We were almost the first to arrive at the beach before 8.00am, a vast expanse of coloured body to body sunbeds in different colours depending on whichever hotel they were in front of. We settled our things on a couple at the water’s edge and went in search of coffee – the cappuccinos are never hot and with very little coffee – just a lot of foam – so I will be glad to have a coffee from my little Nespresso when we get back home again!!

We were just enjoying our coffee in the café, and the beach was quiet and tranquil when suddenly the peace was shattered - we heard a noise coming down the hill behind us, and saw a troupe of about 30 from the ship – on a paid tour, coming in full force towards the beach – including one man on a mobility scooter – who then complained cause the beach had sand and he couldn’t get his scooter down – I may have missed something here, but I thought that you may have considered the sand, BEFORE you booked a tour to the beach, especially if you needed a scooter to get around – just saying!!!

I was speaking to a couple who lay down beside us on a couple of sunbeds, and she said that they paid $45 (90 per couple) for the bus, so they were quite shocked when someone came along and charged then 10 euros each to use the sun bed until midday, when the bus was returning to pick them up.

While we were sitting on the beach, there was a constant stream of hawkers trying to sell stuff – most from Senegal - Arnold succumbed to a 30 minute leg and foot massage which he really enjoyed, while Jo and I ordered a cold glass of white wine, laid on our sunbeds and the shopping came to us – the dress sellers, the CD and DVD sellers, the watch sellers, the sunglass sellers and, of course, the handbag sellers – all came along and tried to tempt us with their wares.

When we arrived, we saw a sign 50 metres up the road, with the times for the local bus, so we packed up and got on the 11.10am bus back to the old town – 1.60 euros per person. The bus runs every half hour and took about 10 minutes. Mykonos town is the next stop, so it was very easy and we were dropped in the centre of town.

Mykonos is a wonderful picturesque place – postcard perfect – and so we strolled along taking photos and sat down in Little Venice for lunch – a great Greek salad and grilled octopus, while the waves crashed against the wall beside us.

After lunch, we suddenly looked at our watches and had half an hour to get back to the shuttle meeting point, so we walked along the waterfront – checked out the souvenirs and shared an ice cream.

A lot of people we have spoken to are afraid of doing their own thing in the ports – getting lost or missing the ship and always book tours from the ship. Mykonos is definitely one port where you can do your own thing – it is a wonderful maze of narrow streets lined with whitewashed walls and lots of little cafes, bars, restaurants, shops and galleries.

While we were eating lunch, we were passed by a group from the ship on a walking tour - $85 for a two hour walk through the old town – however, in our opinion, if you are physically capable, it is so much more fun to just wander where the whim takes you.

Captain, pull in those lines and let us head to Istanbul – the Grand Bazaar is calling my name…..