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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 Friday, October 6: We had breakfast at 8:00. This was our first Greek breakfast away from Ore's. It was basically the same as we had been served in Turkey except there were no cucumbers. We had boiled eggs, sliced sausage and cheese, bread with jam, tomatoes, olives, and coffee. We caught the 9:30 boat to Delos. It was a sunny day, but extremely windy. The sea was very rough, and the small boat pitched and rolled something awful. The advertised 20 minute trip took 40 minutes. The island was already occupied before 2,000 B.C. When the Ionians arrived about 1000 B.C., Delos became the center of a religious cult because, in Greek mythology, it was the birthplace of Apollo and Artemis (twins). Its central location in the southern Aegean also made it a major commercial center. Mikonos, by contrast, was just a stopping off point for people going to Delos. Now, of course, Mikonos is the big attraction, and Delos is uninhabited. On our arrival at in the Sacred Harbor, the captain shouted to remind everyone to be sure to be back by 12:30 for the return trip. There were ruins in both directions as far as we could see. We started north down the Sacred Way, lined with temples of Apollo. There had been some restoration, and many of the ancient roads had been uncovered. Most of the structures were barely recognizable, though, even with a guide book. We spotted steps leading up Mt. Kinthos, on the southeast side of the city, and we decided to climb to the top for the view. It was a rigorous climb; the steps were steep and uneven. The fierce wind only made it harder. When we finally got to the top, we had to hold on to rocks to keep from being blown right off the mountain. The view was terrific, though. Not only could we see the entire layout of the ancient city, we had a 360-degree view of the Cyclades ("around Delos"). We could easily see Mikonos, Tinos, and Siros, with Naxos and Paros dim in the distance.
Heading back toward the harbor, we saw well-preserved mosaics in the House of the Trident and House of the Masks. The theater (capacity 5500) was recognizable but in poor condition. It was already close to noon, and we rushed back to the northern part of the ruins.
We particularly wanted to see the famous marble lions guarding the Sacred Lake. Nine of them were carved in the 7th Century B.C. and have been exposed to the elements ever since (over 2,000 years). Nevertheless, the five remaining ones are still impressive. We got back to the Sacred Harbor at 12:20, only to find that our 12:30 boat had left at 11:45. We caught the 2:15 boat which left at 1:00. (Isn't Greece great?) Fortunately it was a larger boat because the seas were even worse than before. We got back to Mikonos at 1:45 and were getting hungry. We decided to find the bakery we'd been to on Thursday. Thanks to my famous "unerring sense of direction," we walked right up to it, even though we approached from a street we had never been on before. We bought some pastries, still good, but not hot from the oven this time. We ate some of them, then stopped at the Piccolo Italian Deli for a tuna salad sandwich. We got back to our room about 3:00 and sat on the balcony for an hour enjoying the view. After resting a while, we watched a beautiful sunset, then went out to eat. It was cool and still very windy. I even wore my Greek fisherman's cap. We tried a garden restaurant where they had put up plastic screens so it was almost indoors. We shared a Greek salad (as usual) and some saganaki (fried) cheese. Jane had roast lamb, and I rotisserie chicken. The food was excellent. We went to an espresso bar nearby for cappuccino. It was very strong, and probably the best cappuccino we've ever had. We were back in our room by 8:00. We read about Santorini and Knossos for a time, then packed and went to bed. Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 |
