Exploring Mykonos Town

It was surprisingly easy to find L & G, singing the praises of the beauty of the beach and the pleasure of swimming in the Ionian Sea.  So after dropping off our stuff from the morning (wet swimsuits for them and books for me) we congregated for the hike to Mykonos Town, with NO GUIDE to accompany us! Scary.

Mykonos is part of the group of Greek islands known as the Cyclades, first settled by Ionians in the early part of the 11^th century BC (so archaeologists have determined).  According to Greek myths and legends, the name Mykonos was derived from “Mykons” thought to be a son or grandson of Apollo, and the moniker “Island of Light” is for its connection to Apollo, the sun god, as is nearby Delos.  Currently Mykonos has a population of about 11,000 people living on the 33 square miles of granite, with little rainfall and lots of sunshine.  If you’ve gone to Greek restaurants and seen photographs on the walls of whitewashed houses, blue-domed churches, golden sandy beaches, and windmills with spindly stick arms, odds are those photos are from Mykonos. 

We had a pleasant stroll from the dock past the parking lots and small warehouses to the street leading to the town center, with the sea lapping the concrete docks and rocky shoreline.  We did look for the famous windmills that seemed to have toothpicks for blades, not the familiar fan-blades as in Holland.  The windmills of Mykonos date from the 16^th century and provided power for grinding grains.  There is a grouping of them on the coast southwest of town, but it was too far for us to walk. 

This is a shopper’s paradise, and without the hard-sell tactics we encountered in Athens.  Numerous shops of jewelry, embroidered linens, pottery, hand-painted icons, and the usual souvenirs, with sidewalk cafes aplenty.  With little trouble we parked ourselves at a table by the sea and had a round of ouzo, served with water and ice, along with a bowl of pistachios and almonds.  One round led to another, and so we passed a pleasant time watching the people and the small boats in the water.  After a bit, I decided to wade in the water by the café, and C. joined me so we also could claim to have touched the Ionian Sea.  I remembered the movie “Shirley Valentine” was filmed in part in Mykonos, and thought any one of these cafés could have been the setting in the film.  Mykonos has been used in another recent movie:  some scenes from the 2002 thriller “The Bourne Identity” were filmed here.  Apparently back in the 1960’s Jackie Onassis and Europe’s jet-set discovered Mykonos, and it became an Athenian status symbol to have a holiday home here. 

Reluctantly, our free time on Mykonos was ending, and we headed back with our bags of purchases, feeling giddy from the ouzo.  What a great liquor, the best way to have licorice!  My sandals were still wet from wading in the water, grains of sand clinging to the tread.  We had just enough time to shower before dinner, and get some rest for the next port: Kusadasi in Turkey!