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Tuesday May 14th, 2013. Mykonos, Greece
The island of Mykonos lies between Tinos, Paros, Naxos and Syros in the Souther Ageean Sea and they all form part of the Cyclades Island Group. It is recently become a very popular tourist destination and the island is served by low cost airlines including Easy Jet from the UK. The island boasts many beautiful beaches with white sand and clear blue waters. Mykonos is a fairly small island - just 33 square kilometres, with only 10,000 year round residents. Settlement on this island dates back to the early part of the 11th century. In the early 20th century the island relied upon fishing as its primary industry but now it is tourism.
We had another posh breakfast and then caught the $5 shuttle from the New Port (where the Noordam had docked) to the Old Port near the Chora (main town) of Mykonos which was about 2 miles away. It was a fairly fresh windy day and the temperature was only about 18 degrees. We were prepared though, with our fleeces and rain macs. We headed straight for the ferry port where we purchased two tickets to the island of Delos which
is where the main archaeological sites are located. The ferry did not leave for another hour so we strolled into the Chora. It was a pleasant (though touristy) place with quality artisan goods and nice little tavernas. The houses were all painted white (in the traditional Greek style) and you could have any colour shutters you wanted - so long as they were blue!
We entered a large square behind a red roofed church where we caught site of the most enormous pink bird we have ever seen. D called to M "come and see this huge flamingo". We took some photos of the bird and as M studied it more closely she had to inform D that it wasn't a flamingo at all as it had webbed feet and no bulbous black nodule on its beak which was also completely the wrong shape. It was in fact a pelican - but the biggest one either of us had ever seen. Its pink colour was probably caused by its food - which we suspect was probably shrimp based. We were to find out later that, along with windmills, these pelicans are one of the symbols of the island of
Mykonos.
We continued down to the area known as 'Little Venice' which is the coastal area where the buildings have been built on the edge of the sea and have balconies hanging over the water. These have now mostly been converted into eateries offering (it seemed) everything except Greek food. We walked along the coast into the astro neighbourhood and took some photos of the Church of Panagia Paraportiani which comprises 5 separate churches and took some 200 years to complete. We then climbed the hill and took some pictures of the famous Mykonos windmills before going back to the harbour to catch the boat to Delos. The boat trip took about 45 minutes and we enjoyed the wind in our hair and the scenery as we went. As we exited the harbour we passed a small island with nothing on it at all except for a tiny church and a cross. We continued across the sea until we hit the coast of Delos where we could immediately see the archaeological remains.
The archaeological site of Delos is unique in that it is located on a small, barren island 5 km long and only 1300 metres wide. The
island is almost devoid of vegetation but the rock formations shine in the sunlight above the clear blue sea. The highest point on the island is 112 metres and is called Kynthos. Beneath this spreads the sanctuary which is dedicated to Apollo and his sister Artemis with a Hellenistic city surrounding it. This was what we had come to see.
We purchased our entrance tickets with D gleefully handing over his driving licence and receiving his OAP discount. We were each given a plan of the site with the items numbered. We decided to start on the left-hand side. Our first stop was the Agora (market place/public space) of the Delians. We strolled along until we reached the Sanctuary in which there had been a cult since the Mycenean period (1400 BC). The Odyssey written abot 700 BC refers to Delos as a religious centre for the Ionians.
The dominant power in the region at that time (7th century BC) was the neighbouring island of Naxos who erected many of the buildings on Delos including the House of the Naxians, the Statue of Apollo, the Terrace of the Lions which is opposite the Sacred Lake with the palm
tree where (according to myth) Apollo was born. We strolled past the Agora of the Italians, past the Hypostyle Hall until we reached the Lion Terrace. We couldn't see the water in the Sacred Lake but it was clear where it was because it was the only place on the island with lush green vegetation and palm trees growing. The lions were dedicated by the Naxians to the Sanctuary of Apollo about the end of the 7th century BC. They are located on a natural terrace along the road leading from the north port to the Sanctuary. The lions impressed the Hellenic pilgims (most of which had never seen a lion) with their mouths half open in an eternal roar, their glance riveted on the east. They welcome every morning and evening the gods of light, they are the eternal guardians of the Sacred Lake and the Sanctuary. The original number of lions dedicated by the Naxians to the Sanctuary is unknown but is estimated at between 9 and 19.
We continued on to the museum passing the Sacred Lake and Quarter of the Lake which contained the remains of some ancient Delian Houses. The Delos museum houses one
of the most important collections of the history of Ancient Greek sculpture and a unique collection of objects relating to private life in the Hellenistic period. The pottery and other objects relating to everyday life, as well as mosaics and wall paintings, gave us a very good insight into the daily life of the Delians living in this period. We only had half an hour left after the museum to see the right-hand side of this massive site before the next return boat. We dashed over to see the Theatre passing the House of Dyonysos, The House of the Trident and the House of the Dolphins which contain some fantastic original mosaic floors.
We dashed back to the port and made the boat with a few minutes to spare. The trip back was quicker as it was a bigger, faster boat with a good engine. We got chatting to a couple from Chorley who had come on a weeks holiday with EasyJet from Manchester. They recommended a Taverna with Wi-Fi for lunch. We found it with no problem and all was fine until we were invaded by 4 or so tour groups. The food was a bit pricey but
we managed to phone home and post the blogs. We spent the rest of the afternoon wandering the very pretty streets of the town before returning to the shuttle bus about 5 pm. We dined alone as Karen and Alan wanted to see the one off Greek show at 9.00 pm. We have a day at sea tomorrow so we can have another rest.
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