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Mykonos,
a tourist island dedicated to the care and feeding of the hoards that
descend by air and by ship.
We enjoyed being docked at the new quay, port side to, instead of
being stern to as you are usually docked in the Mediterranean.
Because the island is so tourist oriented we had laundry done, visited
the internet cafes and I had a haircut.
If you had never had the opportunity to visit other Greek islands
you would be enthralled by Mykonos. The traffic was the worst we have
encountered. Remember you have people from all over the world
driving and riding motor scooters. The cabs are always rushing
and then there is the commercial traffic. All this is poured
onto roads over difficult terrain that were designed originally for
donkeys and carts and have been expanded, where possible, into somewhat
modern highways. We went back to exchange the scooter for one
with a rear view mirror but found none of his rentals had mirrors.
Charlie said that was because seeing what was behind you would scare
you too much.
We did have fun poking through the town, picking up vegetables and fruit and watching the
other tourists and talking with them and the locals. Everywhere we have been in Greece we have found friendly people. Mykonos does have its share of the gay population or as the
scooter rental man pointed out to me, the "travesties" meaning the cross-dressers we had parading up and down the streets. I think he meant transvestite, but a philosophical
discussion is not possible with very limited use of the language. Besides, some things are better left unsaid.
We found a bargain and good food at Alexi's,
who served the best Gyro sandwich we have ever eaten. We found we could go there
and buy gyros, have them packaged "to go" and hot foot it back to
where the scooter was parked, jump on, ride back to the boat, and
they would still be warm and delicious when we arrived.  We
could then relax and watch a movie. These sandwiches were 400 drachmas
each, a little over a dollar, an excellent bargain and one
we took advantage of many times.
Mykonos has a very nice nautical museum with commemoration
of the female heroine who helped win the battle of independence
for the island. Also a section of the town is called "Venice" because
the houses and buildings are built directly over the water.
This was so the old time ship's captains  would
always be within close range of their vessels.
There are paintings by the hundreds available for the tourists and on
occasion we have seen some that really appeal to us and capture the light and feeling of the Greek Islands. Unfortunately, apparently we have good taste in art, so what we have seen so far has stayed in
Greece. Until later . . . |
