Mykonos,our last Greek island

One of the first items of business for me when we arrive anywhere is to figure out how we are going to leave, so off we go to the ferry office to see when the ferry to Mykonos was leaving. Well there was no ferry to Mykonos from Naxos this time of year, the only way to get there was an overnight at Syros so we got to see another island.

We docked in the capital city, Ermoupoli, which is also the capital of the Cyclades region. It was a big town and very vibrant. We wished we could have stayed longer as it wasn't a tourist destination and not shut down for the winter. 

The town is built up from the water to the top of the hill and is very picturesque 

It had great buildings lit up at night...

We found a small restaurant owned by a woman named Agnes and had some great home cooked food...moussaka 

Found the place I had booked a room for the night just up from the ferry but when we got there the place was dark! The man next door in the flower shop heard us calling out and came to our rescue by calling the owner who showed up sometime later. We did however have a good night's sleep and were off to Mykonos in the morning. 

Lunch was hard boiled eggs! Times are tough!

This portion of the trip was proving to be a little challenging as the place we booked in Mykonos was not opened for the season, but there was a positive side in that they booked us into an upgrade and we stayed in one of the nicest hotels on the island. 

The sunset every evening from our room window...

The first evening we were there the colours of the sunset on the island were spectacular...

And over the sea...

The island of Mykonos is known for being a party island with many nightclubs, discos and fancy restaurants. It is also the most expensive island we visited and since we didn't have kitchen facilities it was a challenge to first find a place to eat and then being able to afford to eat there! As an example a salad costs 20 CAD, a fish dinner would be 60 CAD, and a small bottle of beer would be 9 CAD!  

Since most places were closed we wondered if the ones that were open were charging more or if this was the norm for the place. We were told through high season the prices actually increase as there are tens of thousands of tourists coming to the island at that time. Certainly not a budget destination! 

Don with his " worry beads "

As we have been travelling through Greece we would see men in particular with a circle of beads in their hands which we thought were religious like rosary beads. However when we asked about them we were told they are " worry beads ". The men flick them through their hands when they worry and it helps them deal with whatever was on their mind. Since it is so expensive  here and we are on a budget Don decided to buy a pair and see if it would help him deal with the budget! It didn't!!!!  

Mykonos town is not very big so we were able to explore over the few days we were there....

Lots of small streets, in fact it was very easy to get lost once we were inside the old town...

 

The town is one of the most white washed we have seen...

On one side of the town is an area called Little Venice which is the area we were supposed to stay, but none of the buildings were opened there as earlier in the week there had been wave damage...

 

This is a collection of buildings, primarily bars and restaurants built at the water’s edge, looking similar to Venice in Italy, hence the name.

The Venetian connection can be traced back to the roots of Mykonos. Whilst Greece and Mykonos can be connected with the Roman Empire, the island was under direct rule of the Venetians from 1390. The final Venetians left the area in 1718 once it was conquered by the Ottomans.

Little Venice (Alefkandra) is a collection of two and three storey medieval houses built right on the waterfront at the most westerly point of Chora.

As can be seen in the picture once you leave the town by the water the rest of the island is very hilly. We were hoping to take a bus to visit the rest of the island, but at this time of year there wasn't even a bus running.

Another distinctive feature of Mykonos are the windmills which stand on a hill overlooking one side of the harbour...

Windmills operated on most Cycladic islands, from the 16th until late 19th century, making the most of the gusty winds blowing in the area – especially the northern 'meltemi' – to grind local agricultural yields, mostly wheat and barley. The flour produced by the windmills was then sold to local bakeries, given back to the farmers for their own family use or transportated with ships to other areas around the country or abroad. The person who owned the windmill would take 10% of the product as payment for using their windmill. 

There are many sandy beaches on Mykonos with one being right in the Center of town...

Most days we were there we saw very few people but on a sunny weekend there were lots of locals enjoying the beaches 

As can be seen by the pictures the water here was such beautiful shades of blue and green...

 

There are many small churches on Mykonos and on the Sunday we were there a special celebration was held at this one. We heard the bells ringing and came across the small decorated church...

Ringing the  bells...

We asked a local man standing nearby about the celebration and he told us it was the ending of a pilgrimage from the villages on the island and the honouring of the Saint of the church. He also insisted we have our picture taken in front of the Church...

 

We then came across the Bishop holding a service down by the water and the crowd carrying the icon back to the Church...

A few random shots...

Wash day...

As everywhere else in Greece, cats are everywhere...

All the businesses were sprucing up for the tourist season, this lady was painting her tables and had them out to dry...

Blue and yellow...

White and red...

So many colours on white...

We enjoyed our stay on the quiet island of Mykonos but it is now time to move on to another country so a flight back to Athens and then on to Cyprus, our fifth country this trip.