Patmos – Mikonos

Sailed from Kusadasi to Samos for supper and a stroll, then forged on to Mikonos overnight.  With a wind of 30 – 40 kph and rising it was a lumpy ride, during which half the contents of our cabin seemed to find their way to my bunk.

Chairs and dishes were flying in the morning, so breakfast was delayed until we made port in Mikonos at about 8:20 AM.  This raised a problem for those taking the excursion to the Isle of Delos since they had to run to the other side of the harbour to catch the 9:00 AM ferry.  Still a little fatigued from Ephesus and a disturbed sleep, we opted to visit the Old Town of Mikonos and try for Delos on our third and final cruise.  Meanwhile the ship was obliged to leave port and spend an uneasy 45 minutes loitering outside while the high-speed, inter-island, catamaran ferries arrived and left, so that we could have dock space.

Mikonos was living up to it’s reputation as The Windy Island and the breeze kept picking up all day, reaching 40 – 50 kph in the afternoon with 4-5 meter waves (Force 7 on the Beaufort Scale) and lots of whitecaps visible outside the harbour.  We were secretly happy we hadn't taken the little excursion boat to Delos!  A nice stroll through the tiny streets with 6000 other tourists from three giant cruise ships was just the ticket.  We poked our noses into the Archaeological Museum, the Maritime Museum and an infinity of jewellery and souvenir shops, ate lunch Al Fresco at a taverna and still made it back to the ship by 2PM, wind-burned more than sunburned.  Captain’s Dinner tonight.

High speed ferry arriving at Mikonos

3rd C. BC urn

Hercules from 500 BC

Side street in Mikonos Old Town

Narrow streets.  Don't back your chair away from your table without looking both ways first.

Tiny garbage truck on two-way street