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November13,2007"the wrath of Poseidon"
i know i haven't finished blogging about my Turkey and Rhodes trip, but i wanted to snip this past weekend in before i completely fall behind. plus, fall break was a unique circumstance since i didn't have my laptop or camera cord, so please bear with me.
this last weekend, despite ominous forecasts, stephanie and i took a dumb risk and took a ferry down to Mykonos in order to see Delos. our ferry tickets only cost us 10€ each way because we bought the SuperEconomy tickets from Blue Star Ferries right when the new off-season schedule came out. we left Piraeus on Friday morning just barely making it onto the boat. the boat was literally drifting away from the dock as we jumped onto the lowered platform. after six hours, we arrived at Mykonos safe and sound, and even found a hotel for only 25€ a night, as opposed to the high-season prices of 50-100€. talk about good fortune!
except that good fortune ended saturday morning when we both woke up to the sound of pounding rain and howling wind. the storm hit Mykonos extremely fast, literally overnight. thus, the boats weren't running, and we couldn't go to Delos as planned. it was dreadfully boring on Mykonos, and very cold. not even the archaeological museum was interesting enough to keep us occupied for long. in the late afternoon, we hung out at a small cafe/bar called Rhapsody, which was located in a building right next to the water, such that the waves were crashing against the back wall. looking outside the window, it seemed like we were on a boat drifting in the turbulence. the wind was indeed so treacherous that at one point, i was almost blown over as i stood by church looking out toward the sea. after wandering through the quiet town, we ended up back at the same cafe that we went to the night before. it's called Suisse, and owned by a nice couple, a Greek man and a Swiss-French(?) woman. they host fondue parties there, and serve crepes, sandwiches, coffees, and delicious all natural, Swiss ice cream, Mövenpick.
the one thing that was great about Mykonos was that we were there during low-season, avoiding the crowds and drunken hoards of young adults. the streets were too quiet at times, and admittedly, it was kind of nice to see tourists from some cruise ships wandering about the souvenir shops and little streets on the first night we were there. Mykonos has a bad reputation for being just a party island with horrible winds coming from the north and south, depending on the season. because the streets are all pedestrianized, we had to walk everywhere. what's amazing is how tiny and labyrinthine the streets are, and how white all the houses are with their brightly painted window frames and doors. it was nice to be able to wander through the maze of streets without having to fight through crowds, and have the time to admire the pretty town and beautiful surrounding seascape. from the old port, we could see Tinos next to us, and Delos a little ways in the distance. all the shops are housed in the small white buildings, and even some kiosks are opened under the stairwell of some houses. the town is very small, but it has its charms, especially when the streets are quiet without noisy tourists.
on sunday, the clouds cleared up, and we were blessed with beautiful sunshine and light wind. we woke up ready and excited for our trip to Delos, and made our way down to the port a half hour early to secure tickets for the boat. however, when we got down there, the boat came back from Delos claiming that it was too windy, and port authorities had placed a ban on sailing for the day because of the high winds. we weren't the only ones disappointed, so our Aussie friend, whom we had met at our hotel, spoke Greek to the boatmen and persuaded them to take us all to Delos! the timing was perfect too, because we wanted to make it back to Mykonos in time to grab a gyro and catch our ferry back to Piraeus at 2:15pm. thus, we only had about 2.5 hours on Delos, and unfortunately, that was definitely not enough time to see the entire site. but we made the best of it and saw most of the site while rushing through some parts. the island is incredibly well-preserved because it has been uninhabited for over 2000 years now. perhaps the best examples of this are the mosaics, most of which are still on site, complete in picture and unbroken. of all the sites that i've been lucky to see in Greece, Delos definitely ranks in the top 3.
Ephesus-Pergamon-Rhodes next. i swear.