The Cyclades

Monday and Tuesday were spent in the Greek islands of the Cyclades – in Mykonos and Santorini respectively. We expected the cool blue Aegean Sea views with the pristine white houses and churches on cliffs, and we certainly got them.

Mykonos was a really fun place. We got off the ship in the morning and took a taxi to the southern side of the island to Paradise beach. It is supposed to be the most popular, best beach on the island, and we spent a few hours basking in the sun – and the beach was nearly deserted for the whole time we were there. I really think that most people on this cruise have done absolutely no research on the places we are visiting, and they get off the boat planning on glancing around their immediate location – and then just getting back on the ship to go to the pool. So, practically no one else from the ship made it to Paradise beach, and the season is just starting up again. Perfect for us, though!

After that, Chris and I spent the rest of our time in Mykonos wandering into an area called Little Venice, and then over to the famous windmills. [At this point, I need my mother or sister to send me a comment with the name of the Haley Mills movie about those windmills. It’s killing me that I can’t remember!]

For dinner, I insisted on finding a chicken pita – all you JMU friends will understand me on this one. We found a great, cheap one, but I still think that Dave’s Taverna is magical when it comes to their pitas. After dinner, we met up with our friends, and just hung out. Oh, and went shopping. I got this fabulous ceramic mosaic tile of a Greek ship – that is a ring. The artist uses a magnifying glass to make the scenes. They are incredible. I originally found one that is of the Lion of Venice (those who have visited me in Italy know of my obsession), but the price was just way too high. Apparently, the Venetians stole this symbol of St. Mark from the Greeks, according to our new friends in this store.


Today, we went to Santorini, and Chris and I agree that it is the more beautiful of the islands. For this destination, the cruise ship cannot dock, so we take smaller boats to the island. The view was just spectacular. The island is in a crescent shape due to an ancient volcanic explosion that sank the middle section, and was the basis for the legend of Atlantis, some believe.

This morning was pretty windy, so the schedule was delayed for letting all million or so of us onto these little boats all at once. When you get to the island, you realize there are three ways up – a cable car, a donkey, or a walk. We were numbers 699 and 700 to get to the island from our ship, so you can imagine the line for the cable cars. There was no way we were walking up the path due to the type of shoes I was wearing (which turned out to be the better decision, since the same path is used by donkeys running people up and down, and all the waste that goes with them). So, we chose the donkey ride.

OH MY GOSH. I guess we made the right decision for the amount of time it took, but I think I can cross that off of my list forever. First of all, the path is steep and windy, and at first it seems fine. But, when the donkeys stampede going in your opposite direction, you really start to fear that you are going to be chucked over the edge of the cliff. Or run into the wall of the cliff. Or just die somehow. Sometimes one of the donkeys behind you starts to run too, and your donkey ends up feeling pressure to go with the flow, so it also might just take off running up the hill. It was not really a pleasant experience, I assure you. Chris did try to warn me though.

Santorini is breathtaking. I’m sure you just understand. We went to a Greek winery, to a volcanic beach, and just wandered. That’s pretty much what we think you should do on these islands.

Well, it’s been a pleasant couple of days. We are getting ready for dinner, and we sail to the island of Crete tonight. We’ll be in Iraklion tomorrow. Ciao!