On to the isles; MYKONOS - Friday October 17

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ELIZABETH!!!  

                         5 YEARS OLD TODAY!

We left our Athens hotel at 9 Friday morning via coach and headed to the port of Piraeus, the largest in Greece.  After arrival, we were walked through the boarding regulations, got our ID pass and got settled in our cabins.  

Then we went exploring and found Kay, Ann, Jane, Louis and Melissa having a cuppa up top by the pool, then participated in the safety exercises with our life preservers, etc.  

The Aquamarine is a smaller, older cruise ship, formerly of the Royal Carribean Line.  Our stateroom is simple, but ample; two porthole windows are a plus!   Lunch with Penny and Bob.

Our group had a session with John in which he helped us get a grasp of a timeline from the neolithic age 5,000 - 3,ooo BC to the Herodian age 90BC.  He meshed Greece's timeline into that of Bible timeline which was very helpful in developing a framework of understanding of what happened when, and the influence of the major characters in this country.

Wayne, Connie and Melissa take notes (l)

          

We disembarked at Mykonos - probably one of the most typical Greek islands - early that evening after sailing from Athens for several hours, where we were met by our guide for a walking tour of Chora, the island's capitol.  The beauty of the island - whitewashed houses (twice yearly) against the blue of the sky and water - attracts thousands of tourists annually.  

Curiously, there were no 2nd story entry from the interior of the house.  Thus each house had stairs up to the entry on the outside of the house - usually colorfully painted.  Riots of colorful bougainvillea vines covered much of the buildings.

As we walked along listening to the story of this island, we began to hear band music and down one alleyway to find a band practice underway.  The sound of middle schoolers tackling band music!

Mid-way in the tour, we stopped at the Marco Polo Greek Taverna for the brave of our group to a taste of the country's noted ( or notorious ) Ouzo!   

Later in the evening, we hiked up a hill to get a photo of the much-photographed windmills of Mykolos.

 Then, as we made our way back down to the Tourlos Bay harbor, and back to the ship, we spied the famous pelican that can often be seen strolling around the area - Petros.  This bird is definitely one of the largest pelicans I have ever seen!

Truly, this is a real bird!