Today was the first morning that I actually felt like we were really on a cruise - waking up and looking out from our balcony, all you could see was water. Sounds silly I know, but each morning we've been in port or almost in port when we got up - you feel very small in a way being this little spec surrounded by nothing but ocean. We went up early to the top deck to walk. On one part of the deck the view was of the setting moon, on another was the rising sun with the Mykonos coming into view. As we waked the track around the ship we saw dolphins swimming along with the ship a bit in the distance. No jumping out the the water like flipper or anything, they were just swimming gently next to us guiding us in. Yep - a very tough way to start the day.
We tendered into Mykonos (look how I just fall into that nautical speak!). I wasnt sure if Mykonos was going to be like Santorini. In actuality, they are quite distinctive from each other. Santorini was round roofs and more affluent in feel. Mykonos is a small fishng village and definitely has that small feel. Much more compact and most of the major parts of the city are all in walking distance of one another. We walked the streets browsing the shops but what is very noticeable is that there are 365 churches here on this little island - one for each day of the year. Each one quaint, beautiful and peaceful. What caught my eye were all the balconies of the houses in various colors and the flowers in bloom everywhere. We toured through the streets and walked up to windmills that are the big architectural landmark here. The power generated from these windmills used to grind the islands grain. Next we went through a section called Little Venice, originally this was a section of town where early ship's captains built their homes on the water with their balconies - but today its shops and clubs. This is a much simpler island, the colors and the life seems a bit quieter, but like everywhere we've been so far the people are really lovely, all very willing to help us figure out where we were on our map and find our way back to where we started.
Time for our last official Greek Lunch - so we opted for a little cafe looking on the water. As we sat eating our greek salads I look up and there is a huge pelican walking by - I mean huge, like the size of a small child. Just strolling down the sidewalk and stopping at a fountain to get some water and clean himself. The story goes that in the 50's a group of migrating pelicans passed over Mykonos, leaving behind a single exhauseted bird. A fisherman, nursed it back to health, and now the locals will tel you that this is still the original Petros the Pelican - we checked and were told that there were actually more, but come on - how often do you get to hang with a pelican. He was a real crowd pleaser - too bad we didnt order fish for lunch!
A few more shops after lunch then back to the ship for some time by the pool - everyone seems to be in relax mode gearing up for Istanbul and all its wonders tomorrow. They really do plan this cruise itinerary perfectly to balance busy and quiet days. Another great dinner this evening with Paula and Arlene. Mom is off to see the show featuring Cole Porter songs and I'm doing my blogging now so I can spend time researching where to go on my great yarn hunt - oh the pressure - people are actually coming up to me and asking if I've found yarn yet! I did sit with one of the tour guides this morning and give him a list of stores I found - but I may be more on my own as he didnt even know the term knitting!
Its sad to think that we're approaching our last cruise day...this week has totally flown by...but lets face it...I'm about as excited as anyone could be to say
Tomorrow ISTANBUL!!!! Look out yarn stores here I come!
