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Sunday – Mykanos/Ancient Delos: John was up with the sun, watching as the ship slowly came to anchor off the town of Mykanos at 7:00 AM. The sea was dead calm (according to the guide later this is extremely unusual) and the weather most pleasant. After a nice breakfast outside on the deck we got a briefing from the Shore Director about our tour of Delos and then embarked on a shuttle boat (the emergency boats in fact) to the port to await the ferry that would take us to the island of Delos. We met our island guide, a very well-spoken woman who grew up in England with a Greek father and came back to Mykanos and fell in love with the island and history. She was extremely knowledgeable but more than that she helped build our imagination around the site as it was over 2500 years ago. Very enjoyable.
Delos according to the old Kodak company is one of the three locations in the world with the clearest air, due in part to the weather (windy), the sea (blue blue) and the island itself (small with one central hill). Interesting that it is the place that was identified
in historic Greek myth as the birthplace of Apollo (God of Light) and his sister Artemis (Goddess of Love). The island, only a mile wide and half again as long, was the center of Greek worship of the gods. Originally just a sacred place with few live-ins but many thousands of visitors and exquisite temples … and a 32’ statue of Apollo outside his temple. But with the expansion of the empire under Alexander this island became a center of commerce and ended up with a population of over 250,000. The temple complex is beautiful and vast and only a small portion of the rest of the “city” has been uncovered. What has been exposed is beautiful and shows the sophistication of city dwelling 500 years before Christ. Private and public Cisterns, public theatres, sewage systems, and every conceivable shop and comfort. It was a wonderful four hour tour and we were thankful for such a fine guide.
Back in Mykanos we got a recommendation for a fish restaurant for lunch from the guide and found our way to Taverna Nikos off the waterfront on a little alleyway. Peggy ordered muscles and John ordered risotto with shrimp. Both were
wonderful. Then a walk to find Peggy’s sister Mary’s favorite café. We found it where it had been, under the windmills at the southwest end of town, but it no longer was just a café, it was now an organic restaurant as well. Oh well, times change and the sign looked new!
After a comfortable walk back to the shuttle boat we made our way back to the ship and late afternoon rest. While we were ashore a ship had anchored off our bow, the Ocean Victory, a 451’ luxury yacht, one of the top ten worldwide … and available to charter. We tried to get some interest up among the guests but nobody wanted to join in on a day-long charter for upwards of $50,000. Very disappointing. So Peggy and John went back to the lounge and played backgammon and joined Captain John and Sir Yoshi for dinner and the start of our trip to Santorini.
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