2011 Med Cruise Day 7 – Mykonos
We spent the morning catching up on stuff. I also tried to contact the guy who I had been corresponding with about our excursion to Ephesus on Thursday. The excursion we wanted had indicated that we had to be a group of at least 4 – and Andy and I are only 2. Holland America said we had to sign up at least 4 together, so I had gone out to the Holland America facebook page and queried the group for people who would like to join us, and this one guy did respond. We had gone back and forth with email, and it sounded like a done deal – he had purchased his tickets, and we had purchased ours, and he sent me his room number to contact him once we came on board. So here I was, trying to contact him, but could only leave a voice mail. Hmmmmm…
When we went to lunch, we hadn’t bothered to read the daily program. We just showed up at our usual dining room, to discover some kind of special brunch. It was very confusing, but we figured out that attending required a special invitation, which we did not have. We told the servers that we didn’t belong, but they didn’t care. They told us to go on in anyway. It turns out it was a special brunch for people who come from “commonwealth” countries – Canada, Australia, New Zealand, etc. So all the food was familiar to them – cucumber sandwiches, etc. It was just really awkward, so we ate quickly and left.
For the afternoon’s excursions, Andy and I were headed in different directions – he was going to the beach and I was going to Delos, the island where Greek mythology says Apollo was born. However, we wanted to meet up afterwards and go to dinner in Mykonos, and we couldn’t figure out from the material we were given what to do or how to do it. We decided to visit with Tom The Travel Guy. While we were waiting for him to show up, we also got back our passports (the whole passport thing is very mysterious – no one will give us an explanation as to why they need to be collected in the first place, or why they are suddenly returned in the middle of the cruise).
We chatted with Tom for about 10 minutes – he had been on the Homelines Oceanic 30 years ago, the same time frame we were. Anyway, he told us that everything on Mykonos is very close together, so it would be easy enough for me to just wait at the tender port for Andy to show up.
My excursion left first. As soon as I stepped off the tender onto Mykonos, the tour guide gathered us up and escorted us to the ferry boat that would take us to Delos. The ferry ride gave us a great view of Mykonos and nearby islands – all barren and brown.
There were 4 tour groups from Holland America that afternoon. No crowds and everything was wide open. For once, it was super easy to follow the guide, since I could always see her no matter where she was.
One interesting thing we learned is that there is no “D” sound in Greek – what we call the “delta” is actually “thelta”. And the name of the island is Thelos (pronounced THEE-los”) and not “DEE-los”.
The second thing the guide mentioned is that the wind blows all year round, which is a good thing, because without the wind, the heat would be scorching. It was particularly windy that day. The guide said that it was a humid wind, because it was raining in northern Greece. I didn’t notice the humidity at all.
Delos was the center of commerce for the Roman/Greek empire for almost 1000 years – from 400 BCE to 300 CE. It was a trade center – things were bought and sold, not manufactured. Only wealthy merchants lived on the island. All the houses we saw were in an upscale neighborhood in ancient Greek times.
The tour guide told us the myth of Apollo’s birth like this:
Zeus, even though married, liked to chase after girls. One girl kept changing shape to escape him, eventually changing into a rock in the middle of the Aegean sea. Zeus created 4 diamond pillars to hold the rock stationery in the sea. Then Zeus chased after the girl’s sister, Litho. They had an affair and Litho became pregnant. Hera, Zeus’ wife, had decreed that any land that helped Litho would be destroyed. Litho, in desperation, went to the rock in the middle of the sea and begged her sister to help her, so she did. When Litho went into labor, it was cloudy and raining out, and the midwives to the gods did not hear her cry out. She clung to a palm tree on the rock for 9 days and 9 nights, till the weather cleared, the midwife came and delivered her twins Artemis (the hunter) and Apollo (sunlight and civilization). Apollo’s birth instantly triggered brilliant green growth all over the rock, and therefore the name of the rock became “Delos”, which means – “obvious island”. Ever since then, people who lived on Delos built temples to Artemis and Apollo.
One side of the island had upscale houses (two or more stories with inner courtyards) and several open air markets (“agora”). The other side of the island had temples to Artemis, Apollo and Zeus. Apparently only 7% of the island has been excavated – the Greek government has run out of money. However, there are still French and Greek archeologists on the island studying what has already been restored.
The most famous ruin was the “sacred lake” – the place where tradition holds that Apollo was born. The French archeologists drained the lake 50 years ago to eliminate malaria mosquitoes. In that spot is a grove of trees (the only one on Delos). In the middle of the trees is a palm tree to represent the palm tree that Litho clung to while she was in labor. Guarding the sacred lake were 16 lions – there are only 6 left; the originals are in the museum (which we didn’t get to see because it was closed after 3:00 p.m.).
The sacred lake was the last stop on our tour. We had the opportunity to take a break at the one and only café on the island before heading back to the ferry. The ferry ride back was even rockier than the one out, but the scenery was still beautiful.
When I got back to Mykonos, I waited about 15 minutes before finally asking a Holland America person about Andy’s excursion. She said it would arrive at about 5:45, so I started wandering around and of course, found the public bathroom. Any town that provides public bathrooms gets a gold star in my book – and it was free! Andy didn’t return till 6:00; while I waited, I sat in the shade and had some lemonade from the Holland America “welcome” crew at the tender port.
Once we were back together, we went to a restaurant for dinner. Then we wandered the winding streets of Mykonos – and finally found some interesting shopping. We did buy a few things, including an original watercolor from an artist. Eventually we just pooped out and headed back to the ship. We had to fight gale force head winds just to get back to the tender.
By the time we got back, it was too late to see the “show”. We did go to the Lido deck to hear Rachel and HALcats, since it had been advertised as a “pool party” with special desserts. Well, there were no “special desserts”, so we gave up by about 10:00 and went to bed – we had an early start the next morning.
Still hadn’t heard back from that guy for the Ephesus excursion. I called again – no answer, left another message. Andy went up to the cabin and left a note on the door. We sure hoped this arrangement was going to work.
Tomorrow – Kusedasi and Ephesus!
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