Grecian Holiday – Part XI – Mykonos, Greece – June 1, 2010

We arrived at Mykonos under crystal blue skies shortly before 8:00 a.m. The sea had been smooth as glass and we enjoyed a lovely breakfast at our usual spot on the port side of Deck 6, near the TOY. Sean took care of us in his usual splendid fashion. Today we took the Mykonos Contrasts – Monasteries &Beaches that was offered by Sea Dream. We met at the gangway at 9:30 so we had some time early this morning to enjoy the ship. It was nice as a lot of people had gone to Delos and they left before we did.

We met our guide ashore our guide Amaryllis was excellent. Her story is straight out of Mama Mia, except as she told us - her mama knew who her father was from day 1. Her mother is English, came over in the 70s, married a handsome dark Greek man, and you know the rest of the story. We walked around the harbor to our bus. Amazingly the walk was longer than expected, but it was good to get a nice walk in. This gave us another opportunity to enjoy the small church, the fish market, and the farmers market.

Our first stop after leaving port was Agios Yannis Beach on the west side of the island and facing Delos. The relatively small and picturesque beach offers white sands and a collection of small coves catering to the general public. Famous as the location for the award winning motion picture "Shirley Valentine", many appreciate this setting for its calm and relaxed atmosphere.

After a short stop for pictures we reboarded the bus and headed for Kalafatis Beach. One of the earliest established beaches, this beautiful bay and long sweeping beach has become famous to wind surfers who enjoy a good offshore breeze. FT found this one to be beautiful, and was disappointed that it was too rough to get into the water. After a short stop at the local café we got back on the bus and head up in the hills to the village of Ano Mera near the center of Mykonos Island.

The village has the most traditional atmosphere on the island, with a fresh-produce market on the main square selling excellent local cheeses, and it's the island's place of choice for Sunday brunch.

Located on the edge of town the Monastery of Panagia Tourliani dates from the 18th century. The architecture of the monastery is rather impressive, with a whitewashed exterior and a colored dome. A beautiful marble fountain is found in the yard outside the church. It has a marble bell tower with intricate folk carvings. Originally founded in 1580, the monastery is dedicated to the protectoress of Mykonos. Inside the church there is an iconostasis (altar screen), with icons of apostles and saints on the iconostasis as well as scenes from the New Testament. The screen is decorated with green, red and golden flowers. At the top are carved figures of the apostles and large icons depicting New Testament scenes.

The hanging incense holders with silver molded dragons holding red eggs in their mouths show an Eastern influence. In the hall of the monastery, an interesting museum displays embroideries, liturgical vestments, and wood carvings. The church was the most ornate we've seen on this whole trip. One of the monks in residence came out and said a few words to me, which would have not in the US and then gave me his blessing.

After visiting the monastery we walked across the street to a lovely tavern where we enjoyed ouzo and mezas, to you Americans that is hors d’oeuvres. It was a very nice light snack. We then headed back to town and the yacht.

When we got back to town I went looking for icons, because I had found an artist last week hand painting some. I ended up finding the shop and buying two lovely icons. We also got to see teh famous Mykonos pelican Petros. FT and I spent the afternoon resting on the yacht and went ashore for dinner. The crew had the water sports platform down and lots of people enjoyed the water toys.

Around 6:00 we went ashore for a different dinner. We found a lovely little restaurant, up the hill from the taxi square. We sat outside under a lattice trellis' covered with pink bougainvillea. We were surrounded by white tables and chairs, with pink cushions. According to FT one waitress was a young blond Julia Roberts look alike. For dinner we enjoyed fresh grilled calamari, octopus, mussels, huge shrimp, and a whole grilled fish that the waitress beheaded and filleted tableside. The sides included cold marinated vegetables, rice and bread with a creamy yogurt spread. It was peaceful until the tenders from the large ships started disgorging the hordes. Then it felt like we were eating in a fishbowl. We had to escape the chaos that Mykonos town turned into with the thousands of cruise ship visitors. Four ships had joined us this afternoon creating chaos. By time we got back to the yacht Little Venice looked like it had been invaded by little bugs. After dinner we got the tender back in time for the end of cocktail hour.

Tonight was the past guest party which we elected to skip. Form what I heard around the ship we were not the only ones to skip it this week. The food ashore was so nice a lot of people at dinner in town.

Tonight’s menu on the ship included:

Starters

Spicy Thai Beef Salad with Fresh Mango
Salad of Shrimp, Tomato and Avacado
Vol au Vent

Soups

Veloute of Broccoli
Chilled Peach

Salads

Iceberg Wedges with Thousand Island Dressing
Deep Fried Goat Cheese

Chef’s Main Dishes

Grilled Fillet of Halibut on Vegetables Julienne with White Asparagus
Herbs de Provence Marinated Pork Tenderloin on Boulangere Potato
Turkey Breast Roulade wrapped in Prosciutto Ham

Desserts

Sea Dream Noir
Queen’s of Pudding with Pistachio Ice Cream
Malakoff Cake with Raspberry Sauce

After dinner we headed back to the cabin. Our “treat” tonight was white chocolate dipped strawberries, which I enjoyed immensely, since FT could not partake of due to her strawberry allergy. After dinner a DVD was shown in the main salon – Elaine Page Celebrating 40 Years on Stage.

Sailing tonight was a bit testy as winds whipped up to over 50kts, and we remained at anchor until almost sunrise before we began the short journey to our next port, Noussa, Paros, Greece, a distance of 21 nautical miles.

More pictures are available on my flickr page by clicking HERE

The author of this blog is not compensated by Sea Dream Yacht Club in any manner.

Grecian Holiday – Part V – Mykonos – May 26, 2010

We arrived at Mykonos under crystal blue skies shortly before 8:00 a.m. The sea had been smooth as glass and we enjoyed a lovely breakfast at our usual spot on the port side of Deck 6, near the TOY. Sean took care of us in his usual splendid fashion, and FT enjoyed the wonderful chocolate croissants, and her cappuccino.

Mykonos is one of those much talked about and idyllic spots that come to mind when one thinks of the Greek isles. Town is a charming place with a labyrinth of lanes and streets that lead to exciting and quaint squares. It is a place to get lost and revel in the culture. The town was designed this way to make it difficult for pirates who were prevalent in the Mediterranean in times past. The strange thing about the island is that it is very dry, windy, and barren.

We did not have an excursion planned, but had decided to visit Delos, one of the most important archeological sites in all of Greece. We grabbed a tender shortly after the ship’s excursions had departed and went ashore. There are three ferries to Delos daily and we had about an hour to wait before our ferry. This gave us an opportunity to explore some of town. We walked around the harbor and of course, I had to venture into the church that sits on the water front. Like a lot of churches on the islands this is dedicated to St. Nicholas, the patron saint of fishermen.

After stopping in the church we continued around the water front and came upon the local fish market where today’s catch was proudly displayed and was being sold. Next to his was the local farmers market with fresh vegetables, fruits, herbs, and flowers. In case you get the idea that this is a large area it is not, the total length of the water front is no more than 250 – 300 yards, which makes it easily walkable. It is lined with numerous restaurants and souvenir shops. The real Mykonos is just behind this in the maze.

When the time arrived we boarded our ferry and went to the top deck to enjoy the view. Great plan, but lousy execution. The following that was written by FT is such a good description that I cannot improve on it. “We encountered a extended family on our first one – brothers and wives and children and the grandmother. They surrounded us, proceeded to take food out of their bags – homemade and then body lotion and groom themselves, and the grandmother said a prayer as the ferry took off. Then they starting trading places and crowding in – I wondered if there wasn’t a hidden camera somewhere. We moved downstairs and I’ll be darned – if they didn’t follow five minutes later. Lost them when started heading up the hills.”

The ride to Delos, which last about 30 – 40 minutes, was breathtaking. The sea was smooth as glass, and the colors incredible. When we arrived we bought our tickets and began exploring the site.

Delos is a small island that is very dry. Its fame comes from the fact that it was considered to be the birth place of Apollo, a major Greek deity. Since this is a cruise review and not a mythology lesson I will not spend a lot of time on the myths, but suggest that an Internet search will reveal numerous sources to aid your understanding. Delos later became a major trading and cultural center. The ruins are on par with those of Ephesus (if not exceeding them in quality), and there is a wonderful museum on the site. We spent about 2 ½ hours exploring the site. FT even managed to climb Mt. Cynthus, the highest point on the island. The height is 112 m (approximately 350 feet), and affords stunning panoramic views. While she climbed I waited in the area of the museum and explored some of the ruins there.

There are three additional things that are not to be missed on Delos, the first is of a very modern vintage, the orange juice that is fresh squeezed and sold at the snack shop/rest area near the museum. The other is the famous lions. Five statues have been located and are housed in the museum. There are replicas, on the road where they were discovered, but the originals are too precious to leave out in the elements any longer. The last thing to notice is the mosaics. They are everywhere and were used as floors, and wall decorations. They are stunning!

FT was talking with some other when we got back to the ship and learned from 3M that the guided tour to Delos was fantastic – guides here have to go to a 3 year college course before deciding what region they want to specialize in. She was also provided with interesting details about the anatomically correct statutes in front of the museum which the Christians destroyed in the name of editorial correctness hundreds of years ago.

When we finished our exploration we took the ferry back to town and set off exploring. The first stop, however was one of the charming cafes, where we had a lunch of freshly caught seafood, grilled octopus, shrimp, mussels, calamari and sardines. These sardines were not like anything available in the US. They were the size of my hand and were freshly grilled. Delicious!

After lunch and a rest, we walked around town, and explored the maze of shops. As an aside it should be noted that cars are forbidden in town. I stumbled upon a woman who was hand painting icons, In addition to painting she used a lot of silver in her work. We eventually found Little Venice, so called because the buildings are right against, and often overhang, the sea. It appears much more romantic from the sea than from the street.

We then wandered over to one of the most famous scenes in all of the islands, the five windmills of Kato Myli. Eventually we reentered the maze and made our way back to the tender dock where we were greeted by June, who had chairs, shade, drinks and cookies from the ship. We were back on board around 3:00 and were able to enjoy water sports that were being offered off the rear of the ship.

Tonight’s menu included:

Starters

Homemade Terrine of Foie Gras
Salad of Shrimp, Tomato and Avocado
Vol au Vent

Soups

Veloute of Summer Vegetables
Chilled Mango and Papaya

Salads

Wedges of Iceberg with Russian Dressing
Deep Fried Goat Cheese

Chef’s Main Dishes

Grilled Fillet of Halibut on Vegetables Julienne with White Asparagus
Herbs de Provence Marinated Pork Tenderloin on Boulangere Potato
Beijing Whole Roasted Duck

Desserts

Sea Dream Noir
Queen’s of Pudding with Pistachio Ice Cream
Pink Peppercorn Spiced Pineapple Salad with Lemon Sorbet

Once again the sunset was incredible!

After dinner we headed back to the cabin as both FT and myself had to work. Our “treat” tonight was white chocolate dipped strawberries, which I enjoyed immensely, since FT could not partake of due to her strawberry allergy. After dinner a DVD was shown in the main salon – Elaine Page Celebrating 40 Years on Stage. We enjoyed another wonderfully smooth sail to our next port of call Kusadasi, Turkey a distance of 103 nautical miles.

More pictures are available on my flickr page by clicking HERE

The author of this blog is not compensated by Sea Dream Yacht Club in any manner.