We had a whopping 15 hours in Mykonos so we had a bit of a lie in and met at 9 am. Well, I say lie in but really it consisted of me jumping out of bed every 5 minutes from about 6:45 am to check the changing light as the sun rose above the hills.
Another feather in the cap for HAL’s hall of fame of bad communication came with the on board announcement to say we could go ashore and get to the town either by walking or by taking the shuttle bus provided by the port. At the presentation during the day at sea, the location “expert” said the shuttle was free but it actually cost 14 USD for all day use. We found that a touch annoying but what was even more annoying was that as soon as you got off the ship, you could see a public bus to the old port (1.60 €)and a water taxi (2€) right there at your service. How glad were we that we didn’t buy the shuttle pass onboard to save time?!
But anyway! We headed straight for the ferry to Delos. It was my third time in Mykonos but my first opportunity to see the epic island and its ruins. The ferry left at 10 am and took just over half an hour (17€ return). And man was it wavy! We’ve barely felt the effects of boat movement over the last 9 days but this more than made up for it!
Entrance to the archeological site of Delos is 5 €. We turned left as soon as we walked in to take us past the famed Terrace of the Lions (which are now just replicas but you can see the originals in the onsite museum). This side of the site was pretty unrestored and we were having trouble visualising everything and following along with the history. Javi and Virginia were aiming for the 12:15 ferry back and Carlos and I the one at 14:00 so we split up and this point to be able to pace properly.
The museum had a good little collection of statues and mosaics from the site. The most interesting one was a statue of a man (Apollo? Maybe, I can’t remember!) that is being pieced back together and it was surrounded by bars holding it together. A bit hard to explain – should have taken a photo! Beside the museum is a little cafe with juices, water, etc. We didn’t stop in but we did avail of the museum’s pristine facilities.
Next we started to make our way towards the steps up to the top of Mt Kythnos (113 m). This brought us through the Temple of Isis in the Sanctuaries of the Foreign Gods and started us on our windy ascent. Wow. The wind! When we got to the top, it took all our effort not to blow off! The views were great back towards Mykonos and the surrounding islands. Fabulous!
Our descent brought us to the theatre which dates back to 300 BC! You could also see the remains of a cistern. We then explored the lavish houses of Delos’s wealthy inhabitants. There were several mosaics and interesting statues. We enjoyed this side of the site much more than the first side.
Just like that it was getting close to 2 pm so we made our way back to the harbour for our bumpy ride back to Mykonos!
We met Javi and Virginia at the dock and walked back to the old port together to take the bus back to the ship. The pool and Mexican buffet was beckoning! Our bag of fresh laundry was also waiting for us. We decided to put the “laundry by the bag” service to the test. This involves filling a HAL laundry bag full of laundry and paying just 20 USD to have it done. It’s amazing how much you can squeeze in that bag! 8 shirts, 9 pairs of socks, 3 pairs of shorts, and more! Almost our entire luggage! All the socks and underwear was returned in a basket and everything was hung on hangers. Since it is just the regular wash and not dry cleaning, things weren’t pressed immaculately but it more than served our needs.
A slight misread of the bus schedule had us disembarking half an hour too early for our return to town. Oops! But then a taxi pulled up so we asked how much to the old port. 10 euros was the going rate so we cut our losses and hopped in! Once in town we climbed up to the windmill that sits just above the harbour. This was another first for me so it was cool! But unfortunately lots of wires criss-crossing the views!
Back down we went to the Paraportiani church to swell its ranking as Mykonos’s most photographed church!
And then it was along Little Venice where the waves were crashing over the wall and soaking the people enjoying a sundowner!
Our final stop was the famous row of windmills for the sunset. It was crawling with people and there was actually a round of applause when the sun dipped below the horizon. It was a very pretty sunset in the sense that the sun was a flaming ball of fire, perfectly round, and perfectly red! Not so pretty in the sense that there were no amazing colours in the sky. But still a great experience!
Sunset was around 8 pm so once it went down, we started weaving through the town to make our way back to the public bus at the old port. We happened upon a “frojen” so naturally stopped to have our last Greek frozen yogurt. It actually turned out to be the best since it was very much dense creamy yogurt chilled down to be frozen but without the soft serve icy feel to it. Richness defined! Just before the old port, I miraculously found a shop selling cushion covers – I had been looking in every port so that I could match up the cover we have at home from my trip in 2010. My shopping goal achieved in the last instant!
The 9 pm bus was jam packed! Luckily we made it on – not everyone did! We weren’t particularly hungry when we got back on board but who can resist the lure of pizza?! We met Ian and Fran who had been sea kayaking and heard about their adventure. Next time for sure!!
If you can believe it, we couldn’t even muster up the energy for a night cap! Virginia was the champion and went to the evening show. The rest of us just went to bed! I needed to rest up for the final day at sea!