Following a trend you have probably noticed, we didn't rush off the Pacific Princess as soon as it was docked at 8am. Instead we made it to the Panorama Buffet about that time, and had a leisurely breakfast with lots of coffee as we studied the map of the island and compared it to the view outside the windows. It was 10am before we finally stepped off the ship, and were met with a bone chillingly cold wind. We were wearing everything we had brought with us to stay warm and it was still not doing the job. Though the Patter stated we'd reach 56 degrees today, I know 56 degrees and this was no 56 degrees. When it's 56 at home, we're wondering whether to wear shorts or slacks. Today I was wondering whether I should layer my wool headband over the new wool hat.
We were going to take the SeaBus, a local boat that shuttles passengers from the New Dock where the Pacific Princess and Seabourn Sojourn were docked, to the Old Town of Mykonos, which we could see from the ship but which was 1.5 miles along a narrow, sidewalk-less road away. The cost of the SeaBus was 2€ per person. But the boat was not at the dock right then and another couple showed up and we split the cost of a taxi going the same way for 8€ for four of us.
Once in the Old Town, we wandered along the waterfront and bought and mailed postcards and shivered quite a bit until we entered the more protected area around the oddly picturesque Church of Panagia Paraportiani. This church is actually comprised of five small chapels that look as though they were collectively draped with melting marshmallow cream. It's actually white stucco but it's all rounded edges and soft arches which give it a frosting-like appearance.
Trying to stay warm (I would have stood that way too if I could have)
Fish cleaning area near the port
Church of Pangia Paraportiani, dating from the 15th century
We made our way past the church into the more protected Little Venice neighborhood (so named for some unknown reason, because it looks not a bit like Big Venice). There were lots of photo ops there, blooming bougainvillea bushes lining stuccoed stairs and brightly colored doors and very narrow white alleys with painted wooden handrails and shutters. And everywhere we looked were cats, hundreds of them, and naturally G had to take a moment to pet at least half of them.
Narrow little alleys!
Looking back at the Little Venice neighborhood we'd just walked through.
The Pacific Princess is the smaller ship in the right.
Finally, we arrived at Mykonos' most well known landmarks, the five windmills standing in a row along a ridge called Kato Myloi. These are five of more than a dozen windmills that dot the hillsides around Mykonos, but these five are certainly the most photographed.
We had a decision to make then: escaping the cold by ducking into a local restaurant for lunch or escaping the cold by returning to the Pacific Princess for lunch. That we chose the latter should tell you just how chilled we were. It helped that a SeaBus boat was leaving the harbor in less than five minutes; we paid our 2€ each and gladly climbed aboard. By 1:30pm we were back in the Panorama Buffet drinking hot coffee and sipping hot chili and trying to warm up.
Actually, it was over our lengthy lunch (we spent as much time in the Panorama Buffet as we had on the island) that we met and chatted with two most interesting couples. The first was from western Austria and had driven their car to Venice for the cruise. I don't know why that fact tickled me so much, but it did. And when the second couple asked to join us, the man wearing a Toledo hat, we couldn't say yes fast enough. Mom, you will not believe it, but he lived on Meadowlark and delivered the newspaper down Schneider in the middle 1960s. He may have had our route just before Bobby M. His name is Paul and he graduated from Heatherdowns Elementary and Bowsher. And she went to Whitmer. Such a small world! We talked for the longest time and made plans to get together again. They are on the Pacific Princess for 41 nights, back to Fort Lauderdale on December 20.
G then took a different approach to warming up than I did. He went to a hot tub; I took a froufrou coffee drink back to the cabin and actually crawled under the duvet (something I almost never do during the day). I accompanied G to dinner in the Club Restaurant but just had an appetizer; I was attending a Stammtisch (a social food and wine pairing) at 7pm. Hosted by Bar Manager Andre and the Staff Captain, 13 of us enjoyed wine and food and great conversation until nearly 8:30pm. I made it to the Cabaret Lounge for the last few minutes of production show Do You Wanna Dance? and then G joined me for a hot herbal tea in the Panorama Buffet.
We arrive in Piraeus, the port city for Athens, tomorrow at 7am, and are tucked into bed by 10pm. Athens is one of the port highlights of these cruises, and we are looking forward to seeing at least a few of its many sights.