We enjoyed our 3rd evening very much. After having an enormous Greek plate at Opa in the main town, we took a taxi back to our hotel which was just a quick 10-min ride through some twisty, uphill, narrow roads at a cost of 6 euros (about $8 US). The island of Mykonos evidently has the best public bus transport which runs appr. every hour, there is a published bus schedule. Tickets are purchased in advanced at a mini mart close to every bus stop for 1.40 euros. If you are walking on any of the roadways, you must listen for oncoming traffic and quickly get out of the way. Sometimes the roads are so narrow you’ve got to climb into a doorway or whatever you can find so you don’t get run over!
We did our travel blog, got a bit of rest, and got showered. Many European hotel rooms don’t have a bath, just a shower. Everything tends to be quite small and one can easily see how nearly everything is supersized in North America. For instance, the shower stall was about 2’ x 2’ with a very clingy shower curtain. I was amused because you’re constantly removing the clingy curtain from your body, not unlike a pant leg sticks when you’ve forgotten the fabric softener – at the same time you’re trying to get the shampoo out of your eyes with one hand while holding the curtain at a distance, while the bottles, razor, etc. are falling out of the really small cubby, and hoping they don’t land on your foot. Of course the water ends up all over the tiled bathroom floor and you hope to God you don’t trip and chip a tooth on the WC or sink that are squeezed into your teeny bathroom space. The bed pillows are about the size of a cereal box and about the thickness of a paperback…lol!
We loved the location of our hotel off the beaten path and the beauty and tranquility of the hotel was superb. We loved sitting on the softly lit outdoor veranda in the evenings – it had a ceiling but no walls where you could order Greek food and drinks from the bar. They always gave you a shot of Mystique with the check – this was a special liquor made from the drippings of a particular tree leaf with a tasty, unique flavor. Bob found Mystique-flavored candies.
Several people mentioned to us that a half-day excursion to the uninhabited island of Delos was worthwhile as there are quite a few ruins to see, something to look forward to the next time we visit.
The ferries in Greece can be very confusing. There is the old port and the new port which is still under major construction. There are numerous ferry companies and a lot of different sailings headed to the various islands. One has to take great care in acquiring a ferry ticket ahead of time either from your travel agency or at the ticketing booth at the port. It is recommended you arrive a good hour prior to your scheduled departure. Sometimes strikes or bad weather can disrupt ferry service. It turned out a high speed (50 mph!) ferry did not run on the day we were scheduled to sail from Athens to Mykonos so we were provided tickets on the Blue Line slower ferry instead. We arrived at our destination so were happy with the arrangement.
Today’s sailing is on the Hellenic Seaways ferry service on a ship called the Flying Cat 4, at an impressive 50 mph. It’s also a good idea to travel with snacks and drinks although these are available on the ferry. The seating on this vessel is also very plush, like an airline, but with ample leg room and overhead bins for luggage. Preassigned seating is also printed on your ferry ticket, business class is available.
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