Delos and Mykonos, Greece
The first full day of our voyage found us in the heart of the Aegean Sea, and it was a wonderful experience to start the day with a beautiful sunrise over the island of Delos. We were on the sacred island of Apollo, the island where the ancient Greeks believed that their god of sound, music and, above all, of light, was born. Even from a distance, while we were still on the boat, we could feel the island’s calmness and tranquility, despite its very rocky and steep morphology. Eventually, we were able to understand and feel more about the island’s spirituality, importance and wealth through our guided tour that started early in the morning.
We were the first to arrive, and it seemed that we had the place to ourselves, as if we were following our own pilgrimage. First we walked through the major part of the religious center where there originally existed not only temples but also fabulous offerings, impressive buildings and elegant works of art offered by the states of ancient Greece, as well as by individual pilgrims that were coming from all over the known world of their times in order to thank and honor Apollo. It’s true that today only their remains have been left behind, but these are the evidence of the island’s great history, prosperity and importance. Probably an even stronger evidence of the advanced quality of life that the island and people that lived on Delos experienced was when we visited the other part, the residential quarter, where the rich families of seamen, of merchants and of businessmen lived. Beautiful, spacious mansions of two, even of three, floors, many of the chambers of which were originally embellished with floor mosaics and additional wall decorations. We couldn’t possibly believe that so many centuries ago, people did live in a highly advanced and sophisticated environment, they did love so many comforts and elegance and they were able to fulfill their wishes and desires. Our tour to Delos was not only an educational journey back to the past, above all it was an experience to revive their life throughout the centuries and to find ourselves walking along the paths of history that they opened for us.
We returned to the boat and later the same afternoon we were in Mykonos. It was as if we were in a different world. The worldly, famous island of Mykonos, noisy and busy, as if it never sleeps! When we went ashore and we started with our walking tour, everywhere around we could see people strolling along the waterfront – exploring the backstreets – enjoying their coffee and their drinks at the coffee shops and bars of the main town. It was an enjoyable change to find ourselves in the main town’s interior by following the narrow aisles with their whitewashed houses and their colorful bougainvilleas.
We ended at the Little Venice quarter that is located right below where the windmills stand. Along with the numerous churches and chapels, the windmills seem to be an equally popular and recognizable element of the Mykonian, and in general, of the Cycladic architecture and heritage! Popular?? Recognizable?? We believed that we had seen what were the typical and popular elements but … how wrong we were!! An unexpected surprise that we had was when we met with Peter the Pelican!!! The big celebrity, the big star of Mykonos. You should have seen the poses that he was taking so people could take the best photos of him, or when he decided to take his walk along the waterfront how the “crowds” started running after him for… a picture… again!
We left Mykonos later in the afternoon, after having a really full day: full of memories – of experiences – of strong feelings and under the desire of coming back sometime again!
