What with the time change and the travel fatigue, we dropped off to sleep pretty quickly in our hotel room. It became quite stuffy at one point until we relieved the heat with the AC. Then the time difference kicked in and we were all awake at different times from 3 to 7 AM.Finally at the lazy time of 8:30 local, 1:30 AM Montreal, we awoke to the bright sunshine streaming in through the glass patio doors. We gathered ourselves together and descended three levels to the restaurant at poolside for breakfast outdoors. Good coffee, cereals, buttery croissant and my favorite Hero jams (made for heroes maybe?). Eggs, fruits and cheese and we were filled to adequate levels for the morning. After a quick pit stop in the room, we took the beach towels down the 5 minute walk from the hillside hotel to the beach here at Ornos. It's not large but the entire beachfront has little hotels and their restaurants. The beach is organised with comfortable sun platform chairs under umbrellas. We just claimed a spot and then we were the captives of that restaurant for the day. (6 Euros per chair, with bottles of water on ice). The water was not hot but very refreshing. Covered in SPF 30-60 - for the more prudent among us- we lay basting in the Mediterranean sun, looking at the yachts, sailboats and occasional cruis ship passing our sheltered bay. The internationanl crowd descended on the beach and soon all the spots were filled. It is very civilised and a waiter comes at your wave to take orders for iced coffee, or lemon sorbet or our light lunch California roll sushi- served correctly with soya, chopsticks fresh wasabi and ginger and a cold draught beer to wash it down. Intermittent dips in the blue Aegean kept us cool and so we lasted through til close to 5PM. Of course, this is an international beach so all languages are spoken. And all merchandise is available. There is a large contingent (mostly African and Senegalese) who work the beach trying to sell you massage, henna tattos, purses, bathing suits, sunglasses, CDs and DVDs, coverups, hats and earrings in imaginative and somewhat humourous ways. No sales pressure.At the end of the afternoon, back to the Deliades for a refreshing little dip in the salt water pool. After showering the salt and sunscreen away, we took the comfortable bus over the hills to Mykonos town.
There are miles of narrow streets of white-washed buildings twisting around the waterfront and hills. Interspersed with the obligatory incense filled Greek Orthodox chapels are thousands of stores selling everything a tourist could want (shoes, souvenirs, clothes- local and name brands- art galleries, restaurants and tavernas as well as the famous bars, dance halls that Mykonos is known for). Most noticeable, much to our chagrin, are the thousands of jewelry stores from junk to luxurious. As we passed one store, we heard the owner talking to a friend/client and saying he was Jewish. So we started talking but saying hello in Greek , then Hebrew and soon we were in the store sitting down wit this man originally from Thessaloniki, now living in Haifa, Mykonos and Boca Raton, trying to sell us a little 3.2 carat diamond mounted in platinum for a few (ok 18) thoousand dollars.It was interesting to hear him in English and French describe names such as the Dobrins of Montreal, Lou Goldberg and other jewelers such as Birks. He pointed at Guittel's little diamond as a "tchoschke" that has been copied in many places. He told me it's time to invest in a new item! Well luckily for us it was a little pricey and a little late so... We had a nice dinner in a streetside taverna aptly named Nikos Taverna, very pleasant, good food, the sun setting and thousands of tourists wandering through these alleways, right by our table. A large cruise ship from Costa Cruise lines was in the harbour so we had several walking tour groups parading by at times. We also saw the famous Mykonos windmills on the hillside overlooking town. We wandered through the maze until we finally found the bus terminal to go back to Ornos, a 10-minute drive. Once back in the room, Skype lit up and we were able to have a chat with the senior Haichins also courtesy of the internet and wireless networking. All in all a very satisfying day cooled by the strong Aegean meltemi winds under a warm Mediterranean blue sky. Every turn bring something picturesque and the only thing missing for me was a run up and down the hills. Maybe tomorrow.
There are miles of narrow streets of white-washed buildings twisting around the waterfront and hills. Interspersed with the obligatory incense filled Greek Orthodox chapels are thousands of stores selling everything a tourist could want (shoes, souvenirs, clothes- local and name brands- art galleries, restaurants and tavernas as well as the famous bars, dance halls that Mykonos is known for). Most noticeable, much to our chagrin, are the thousands of jewelry stores from junk to luxurious. As we passed one store, we heard the owner talking to a friend/client and saying he was Jewish. So we started talking but saying hello in Greek , then Hebrew and soon we were in the store sitting down wit this man originally from Thessaloniki, now living in Haifa, Mykonos and Boca Raton, trying to sell us a little 3.2 carat diamond mounted in platinum for a few (ok 18) thoousand dollars.It was interesting to hear him in English and French describe names such as the Dobrins of Montreal, Lou Goldberg and other jewelers such as Birks. He pointed at Guittel's little diamond as a "tchoschke" that has been copied in many places. He told me it's time to invest in a new item! Well luckily for us it was a little pricey and a little late so... We had a nice dinner in a streetside taverna aptly named Nikos Taverna, very pleasant, good food, the sun setting and thousands of tourists wandering through these alleways, right by our table. A large cruise ship from Costa Cruise lines was in the harbour so we had several walking tour groups parading by at times. We also saw the famous Mykonos windmills on the hillside overlooking town. We wandered through the maze until we finally found the bus terminal to go back to Ornos, a 10-minute drive. Once back in the room, Skype lit up and we were able to have a chat with the senior Haichins also courtesy of the internet and wireless networking. All in all a very satisfying day cooled by the strong Aegean meltemi winds under a warm Mediterranean blue sky. Every turn bring something picturesque and the only thing missing for me was a run up and down the hills. Maybe tomorrow.
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