Cruise Ship/Mykonos

I went to bed at 7:30, and I woke up around 12 and so when my 6 o'clock wake up call came, I had been up for some time.

To test out my fellow travelers, I sat a big table, but no one joined me. LOL. Sometimes I wouldn't mind the company.

We left the hotel around 7 a.m. to go to our cruise ship.

We finally departed, and I missed the departure from Athens picture because of the lifeboat drill. Their are many excursions, which add up. I had to remember I was on vacation, and I had a budget to keep so I just signed up for the Ephesus one. I felt somewhat pressured, but when I realized that most of them involved getting up at six, I was like, um no. I'm on vacation. I need to rest. I will come back again! Plus with cruising, not enough time at each port. I know, I'm on my soapbox about non-Rick Steve tours and cruising. Pray for me.

I took a three hour nap, and I missed lunch. Just couldn't get up.

I did get up to meet our group, and we did a walking tour of Mykonos together. The city is basically a maze. I enjoyed wandering in it. It started pouring like torrential rain. I was very soaked and wet. I almost went back to the ship several times, but kept pressing my way through.

It's pretty cramped, and they have a gossip square for "constructive observations." Old grandmothers used to sit and watch their neighbors and report what they saw. This is pre KOMO, ABC, and CNN. LOL! You can basically see and hear everything about your neighbors. Hard to imagine whole families living together under one roof but still true today in some parts of the world. Just not my reality. I love and need my privacy. Wow. How could parents be intimate living like that. I am such a prude. LOL

Mykonos was primarily a fishing town and quite poor. During the 50s it became trendy and attracted the jet set so it became popular because people stopped there en route to Delos, which is where Apollo and Artemis are "revered to have been born." Now, it's a hot tourist spot. There are over 400 churches on the island. Mothers and wives used to pledge to God that they would build a church if their loved ones came back from fishing safely. So, they honored their pledge by building a church. After a while, people started building them as a way to show they were well to do.

I read that the population for Mykonos Town is around 6000 but then the cruise ships come. I keep wondering about people's life who actually live there. This now applies to Patmos and Rhodes as well. It's tough having to rely on tourism. I imagine the world recession made their lives miserable!

There is an area called Little Venice, which I don't really see why they call it that, but that's just my opinion. There are windmills that were once used for grinding wheat and barley. They were pretty cool.

I could imagine coming back and having a good time there before going somewhere to actually rest. LOL

The mascot there is a pelican named Petros. He got left behind by a group of migrating pelicans. Poor guy. I think I got a shot of him. Then again, I don't remember if I ever had a clean shot or not. Hmmm. I guess I will find out.

I just enjoyed walking around, despite the rain. I realize that I like to wander aimlessly. Sometimes I come across dark, unbeaten places and I realize I am traveling alone and may want to go back to the familiar path, but I like walking from areas where the tourist are and seeing where the locals live. I got some good shots.

Then I went to bed, and woke up in the middle of night again and was up when my 5:45 wake up call came. Sigh!