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Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 Thursday, October 5: We were up at 5:45 and Charlie drove us to the airport at 6:30 to catch our 7:45 Olympic Airways flight to Mikonos. They soon announced that we would not board until 8:00. We landed in Mikonos at 8:40. We didn't have reservations, so we went to the hotel desk at the airport. We picked out the Miconian Inn and took a taxi there. It was located near the top of the hill above the town. We got the highest room (#5) with a nice balcony and a beautiful view of the harbor and town. The clerk was an Irish woman!
It took only a few minutes to walk down the many stairs to the waterfront. We strolled the length of the harbor, then down several narrow, little streets. Legend has it that the twisting maze of streets was deliberate to confuse raiding pirates. We saw the whitewashed, blue-domed churches and the windmills that have become the symbols of Mikonos.
We also saw the pelican that's the island's mascot. He followed his master like a well-trained dog, stopping every time the man stopped, walking every time the man walked. Although we were "out-of-season," there still were many tourists. It must be horrible in the summer.
We came across a bakery frequented mostly by residents, rather than tourists. We bought apple strudel, pastries with sausage, and pastries with chocolate inside. They were hot from the oven and just delicious. We were very tired from getting up so early, so we went back to the hotel to rest. We ate a late lunch (souvlaki) at a cafeteria-style place with a view of the harbor. Then we caught a bus to see the beaches at Agios Stefanos, but there wasn't much to see. There was a cool north wind, and only a few people were on the beach. Back in town, I bought a Greek fisherman's hat, primarily to shield my eyes from the sun, but also because of the wind. We walked, or rather climbed, back to our hotel to rest again before dinner. At 7:00 p.m. we went back into town and wound through all the little streets looking for a place with Greek music and some atmosphere. We didn't find it. Either the night life had ended with the season or, more probably, it was too early in the evening. We finally found a little restaurant not far from our hotel. They had Greek music (recorded) and a fixed price menu of Greek salad, mousaka, and red wine. It was very good. Then we called it a night and were in bed by 10:00. Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 |
