We woke up in Mykonos! Ok, that’s it! Post over!
Just kidding. We got up about the same time as yesterday, but today was more exciting. The views of Mykonos from the ship were much different than what I had expected.. the island from this distance looked like brown dirt dotted with white adobe looking houses. Very pretty yes, but not bustling and exciting as I had imagined. We put on our bathing suits and dresses, then went to breakfast.
From there we hung out at the pool in the sunshine. Our tour wasn’t until 1:15 and we had to have a time slot to be able to get off the boat for the water bus shuttles since the ship is too big to get close to the harbor. So, instead of trying to get off early and get back to the meeting spot on time, we swam and got some sun at the pool. Unlike yesterday, we decided to eat something right before leaving.
We took the shuttle boat to the pier, and man oh man-I was starting to see the beauty of Mykonos up close! Beautiful little shops and restaurants lined the street along the waterfront, the walls were all white washed with gorgeous flowering vines draped from one building to the next and up around windows.. the churches with their blue domes and a cross on top. Wow. I was just stunned!
We walked around for about 15 minutes until it was time to meet our excursion group. We got onto a small boat that looked a bit rugged. There was maybe 25-30 people total in our group. For the first 45 minutes, we sat and stared into the Aegean Sea and at the islands popping out of the water all over the place. Eventually our captain stopped and our guide Mara, told us that we could jump in and swim here if we wanted-but if no one wanted to we’d just take pictures and go to the next beach where we would dock the boat and go ashore to swim from the beach.
I always want to jump in. But-I wasn’t going to hold up the whole boat by myself.. so I waited, and a guy close to my age, probably a little younger jumped in.. I was about to go until I realized the ENTIRE boat of people was just staring at him floating in the water! Sheesh! I started to contemplate. Another man my age-ish jumped in, and then a woman.. the woman popped up and came right back out.. she said it was cold but worth saying she did it. I got up to the ladder to jump, but waited for mom to come back from the restroom on board, so she could take my dress and sunglasses for me.
I jumped in and immediately the shock of the water took my breath away. Once I came up for air though, I was fine! Yes it was chilly, but I was floating in the Aegean Sea! How can you be HERE and not jump in? And the water just seemed to hold you up, I hardly had to swim at all to keep afloat (probably that bread-but hey-I’m blaming the salt content in the water 😳). Once I was in, several more men joined.. but no more women. Before I knew it, it was just the first 2 guys and me out there, chatting about Utah, Lake Tahoe, and the Appalachian Trail. I tried to talk Mara into tossing us some beers from the boat, but she wasn’t having any of our shenanigans.
After 30 ish minutes of pure floating bliss, we were told to get on board. Dangit. I could have floated all day. So, we climbed the ladder and I got a glass of white wine for what I assumed was a decent boat ride to the next beach destination. It was less than 10 minutes.. like, I had to really drink that wine! We got off the boat on a rock they called a pier and then walked down to the beachy area where people had their towels laid out. Mom and I claimed our spot and all but ran for the water.
This shallow water felt much warmer than the cold deep water from a few minutes ago.. but it was all still way too cold for mom to get in. Actually no one from our group that was near me would get in.. my one new friend from Salt Lake City was down at the bar drinking margaritas. Dammit. So, I swam around a bit, got bored, and laid out on my towel next to mom to soak in some rays. Which I enjoy almost as much as swimming anyway.
A good 30 minutes later, Mom thought she worked up her nerve to get all the way in. We went back into the water, she got in up to her knee caps! Hahaha-I swam again, went out to what I hoped was a sandbar-to find out it was a huge piece of rock with moss on it and very scrape-y, so I swam back and laid out again until it was time to board our boat.
On the ride back the captain took us by “little venice” and some windmills along the shoreline. So so pretty! Then they let us off with about 2 hours to explore Mykonos before we had to get back on our cruise ship. We shopped and explored and ate dinner at a cute waterfront restaurant. Then explored some more! Of course in the last 15 minutes we found all the really cute squares and had to quickly navigate back before missing the last ferry boat back to the ship! I HAVE to come back to Mykonos. It’s a requirement now.
Once back on board, we sat out on “our” back deck for awhile, watched the sun set, and then close to 9:30 I went to change into running clothes. I ran my 2 miles on the upper deck and finished just as the band was starting at the pool stage area for the “moonlight dance party.” I stuck around for a little while, danced a minute or two to a song I liked, then headed “home” to shower. I originally thought I’d go back to the party, but once I got out of the shower, I all but collapsed on the bed.
I was asleep pretty quick (I assume because I can’t remember-I’m writing this from the bus I’m on in Athens hahahaha). So, I guess that’s that. I’ll tell you all about Athens on the next post 😉