We sailed (slowly) into port this morning, giving us a good view of a very familiar looking scatter of white houses.
The Hunts were off on their own this morning – Jen had found the perfect ‘family-style’ beach for them to spend the day sunning, swimming, and snorkeling.
We joined our excursion group for a bus tour of the island with a stop at a monastery and a sampling of ouzo.
We’ve learned not to expect too much from these types of excursions and this one didn’t disappoint.
We drove across the island to the south end (where the best beaches are) while our guide talked about Mykonos, it’s history, and culture.
The island is formed of granite, (not volcanic activity like Santorini). 
Because of the wind (and the plentiful rock) islanders use rock walls rather than fences to mark property. 
Newer walls tend to have white plastered tops. 
You still see private churches with blue domes but note the red color of the barrel shaped roofs.
The predominant archaeological style is block construction with rounded corners and flat roofs.
This style is driven by the constant wind blowing across the island. The flat roofs catch occasional rain that is typically drained down to an underground sistern. The rounded corners tend to reduce wind noise.
We also noted many half-finished buildings. Our guide suggested that these were constructions started pre-COVID but never completed.
The island was a sleepy little place with its only claim to fame being it’s close proximity to Delos (the birthplace of Zeus). Archaeologists and students working on digs would work on Delos but stay in Mykonos for its facilities and nightlife.
The most important events in the history of the island began with the arrival of Jackie Kennedy who liked to visit with friends (including the Onassis family) away from the spotlight following her husband’s assassination. She started bringing jet-set friends who started bringing their A-list friends and by the 60’s the conditions were rife for an influx of hippies who brought the island its current popularity as the premier party island in the Cyclades Islands.
Our first stop was a beach noted for water sports (and not much else).
We stopped for 10 minutes for photos. (Cheryl and I didn’t even bother to get off the bus.)
Next we drove to the Island resort of Elia.
Elia was a more developed beach resort and we spent 40 minutes there.
So we got off the bus.
We spent most of our time chatting with our guide.
She’s an archaeologist who became disenchanted with the process of dealing with the how the government was controlling her work and turned to guiding tours. She splits her time between Mykonos and her native Macedonia.
Cheryl was curious about roof structures on Mykonos (flat) as opposed to the barrel shaped roofs common to Santorini. She also asked about the color on churches with the blue of Santorini replaced by red on Mykonos.
Our guide was very informative and shared much information about these and other topics.
Eventually it was time to reboard the bus and head to our last stop, the Panagia Tourliani Monastery.
This monastery, named after the patron saint of the island, was founded in 1542.
It resembles a fort, presumably to protect it in case of a pirate attack.
There are currently 2 monks living there.
Within the grounds we visited the church, a highly decorated Orthodox church.
The Icon of the Virgin and baby has historical significance and purported healing powers. People have brought gifts of symbols of body parts that need healing and there are stories of that healing having occurred.
Following some time in the church we retired to a neighboring taverna to sample Ouzo along with a plate of typical Greek gnosh. They recommended that ouzo be watered down a bit. I’m not sure that improved it. The anise flavor is strong but the drink is not unpleasant.
After that we returned to the ship for lunch and an afternoon of reading on the veranda.
The Hunts returned shortly before cast-off time and we all went to dinner.
Last night included dinner entertainment. The waitstaff lined the restaurant and danced for us.
Brian missed the dancing as he was registering for the second electronic trivia competition.
We joined him just before it started and had fun throwing out answers in attempt to call them out before he selected them.
Sadly he came in just off the podium in 4th place. But we had fun anyway.
We then returned to the room to do a little blogging before retiring.
Overnight we gain an hour moving back from Greek time to Italian time.
But tomorrow is a sea day so there’s nothing much on the agenda (if you believe that).
Till then,
R