UK & Europe Trip 2009

I  am (ie: we are, & Liz blogging) sitting relaxing on a lounge chair beside the hotel swimming pool , the barman has learnt how to make “lemon lime & bitters” for us and has now just served us strong filtered coffee (its impossible to get weak coffee in Greece!! – actually this cup is about the best I have had all holidays!). The sun is shinning, the sky is reasonably clear, and there is a light breeze.

We did swim in the pool for a few minutes, though I wish the Greeks would find out about solar heating for their pools – the water is freezing.

Well I think the island has redeemed itself, the main town of Mykonos is so much nicer then Fira on Santorini. It is certainly still made up of shops and restaurants but is located on the sides of two pretty bays with beautiful clear water lapping at the edges. I suppose it is a bit more like the Greece we imagined. 

Last night we found this restaurant with tables right up close to the waters edge overlooking the setting sun. It was nearly a Shirley Valentine experience where she dines with her table and chairs being lapped by the Agaean Sea. Could have sat there all night, it was delightful. It was in a part of the town they call Little Venice because the water of the bay laps the foundations of the buildings. So Ellie is in Venice and we are in Little Venice.

Even though the main town of Mykonos is much smaller the Fira in Santorini we had an interesting experience walking back to our hotel. Instead of following the waters edge we decided to cut through the shops which of course were still all open with hundreds of people around walking up and down the laneways (there was a cruise ship in town, tonight there are 3!!).

We headed off in what we thought was the right direction but whenever we tacked left or right in an attempt to come out the other side of the town we would always come to a dead end or we would find ourselves wandering back up streets we just walked down. This continued for sometime. It was like a giant maze, and because the buildings are two stories high and the laneways narrow and keep changing direction you can’t see far enough ahead to get a sense of where you are heading. We felt rather foolish. We ended up retracing our steps back near to our starting point near the restaurant and then followed the waters edge – that way we knew we couldn’t get lost. By the time we had walked up the steep hill to our hotel we were exhausted and sweaty.

Today is Friday and it is very warm. It is not long now before we head home and it is difficult to not start thinking about jobs and household chores and the normal routine.

We jumped back on another boat to visit the island of Delos with its famous archaeological site with ruins from the 6th century BC – ruins of houses and shops with beautiful Greek columns, including a house where Cleopatra of Greece lived, and a Sanctuary to the god of Apollo (the myth says that he was born here), there are also ruins of other people who lived there including the Romans and the Jews. The museum on the island holds a multitude of statues and vases and ordinary objects that have been carefully excavated from the site and carefully put back together. It was a fascinating place and well worth the visit though tiring with lots of walking in the hot sun.

We have spent the rest of the day having a siesta and then relaxing beside the pool. And now to begin thinking about dinner  – where shall we dine tonight? Not having to cook is just wonderful!

We back tracked thru Mykonos town, looking for a restaurant we saw in the previous nights lost wanderings; could not find it, so we chose a wonderful outside restaurant, under a pergola covered in a bougainvillea in full bloom. With Greek music in the background, and a giant eucalypt free above the bougainvillea, we enjoyed our traditional Greek dishes (food is getting better), and watched the waiters entrap passing tourists to dine in their restaurant .. there is quite an art to it and a obvious strategy or ploy.