Delos- Mykonos

July 31, 2010

We awoke to the alarm at 7:30 AM. The weather forecast was the same, sunny, warm increasing to hot, with afternoon breezes.  We greased up and covered our heads for the boat ride to Delos. First breakfast as usual, filling and quiet at poolside. Then we took a taxi into town and were deposited dockside. Driving through Mykonos town in the daytime is quite a different feeling, the cafes just opening, the streets being washed, the sailors in the marina getting things ship shape etc. Fortunately for Guittel we had a few minutes before boarding the boat to Delos and that meant browsing a few jewelry stores. We bought our tickets for Delos and boarded  the boat with about a hundred other solid citizens. Leaving the harbour, we sailed by the relatively small Azamara Quest (only 694 passengers) and towards Delos, 40 minutes away.

A little history- Delos is an island dedicated to and sid to be the birthplace of Apollo and Artemis. It is a barren rock island in the centre of the Cyclades ( how they got their name). For a few centuries it was the center of the Ionian culture and trade with a city of 25000 inhabitants at that time (200BC). The ruins of the city are the only things on the island aside from a museum and the island closes daily at 3PM. When we landed, we were organised by language (colour coded stickers) and assigend a guide. The anglo group had a dynamic guide named Irene. She supplied enough colour and commentary to make us imagine the city that once stood there. Much of the study has not been excavated yet but we did see a typical house, the theatre, the shops, the site of the Temple of Apollo and the Delos Lions, symbols of the city. Like Pompeii and other ruins you can only imagine the life at the time. The island is barren and apparently was so at the time so everything was shipped in and Delos was therefore a major trading port.
Well, we wandered around the ruins for close to two hours and then joined the second to last ship to leave for the day.The seas back were a little rough and choppy. On landing back in Mykonos Town, we wandered some of the little maze of streets, looking at shops and colours as the town awoke at 1 PM. We ended up finding our way back to the bus without a problem and getting tickets. Since there was a wait for the bus back to Ornos, we sat down at a nearby cafe and had salads and soup while admiring the architecture and colours. Despite the crowds the town is quite cute and at night it is nearly a human traffic jam.in narrow alleyways.

For the afternoon we camped out like many of the travelling Greeks and strangers under the umbrella and in the hot sun on Ornos beach. That was a worthwhile activity for the afternoon. At 6 we returned to the Deliades and shared a few glasses of ouzo on our deck before getting ready for supper. That meant taking the bus back into town accompanied by the UN of travellers and hundreds of young girls in obligatory short dresses, sunglasses and cell phones in hand. The three of us found a little Italian place in a courtyard and ha da nice late dinner finishing at 10:30PM. I had a delicious risotto with Porcini mushrooms. After further meandering through town- all the stores are open well into the night- we reached the bus centre, a small square where large buses performed small miracles to turn around without injuring or damaging anything! Finally back to the rooms to pack up, get some rest and then onto Naxos in the morning.