Greece Trip: Delos and Mykonos (5.2.24)

We visited two islands--Delos and Mykonos--on May 2, 2024.  Delos was a sacred island to the Greeks, because it was the birthplace of the twins Apollo and Artemis, children of Zeus. 

It became a wealthy trading city, as time passed, with merchants from Asia Minor and Egypt.  During the 5th century, when the Greeks faced war with Persia, more than a hundred Greek islands provided gold and resources to finance the Greek defense, led by the Athenians.  Delos was chosen as the place to gather and hold the contributions.  

Delos is known for its Terrace of the Lions, housing statues contributed by residents of Naxos, a neighboring island, to guard Delos' Sacred Lake.

As on Ephesus, another wealthy city, floors of homes and important buildings were covered with mosaics.  The House of Dionysus, on Delos, had one of the most intricate and well-preserved floors in the Mediterranean.

Our guide was knowledgeable but eccentric.  She carried a bag of kibbles and scooped out servings for the stray cats as she walked from monument to monument. We soon had a contingent of kitties following us.

When the guide put down her bag, the cats pulled it open and put their heads right into the kibble sack!  It was hard to concentrate on archeological ruins as that drama went on!

Delos had no hotels, restaurants, or other infrastructure.  It was available to tourists only as a day trip from neighboring Mykonos.  

By contrast to Delos, Mykonos was a party place, filled with churches, shops, and restaurants.  May 2 was the week before Orthodox Greek Easter, and the churches were decorated for the celebration. 

We entered one church in Mykonos and admired its elaborate art.

One of the tourist sites on Mykonos is a row of windmills facing out to sea.  We traipsed with our unabashed guide through several ocean-front restaurants to get a better view of those windmills.

We then wandered through the back alleys of Mykonos, passing shops, lounging residents, gorgeous bouganvillea, and cats.

As the sun went down, our guide took us away from the city of Mykonos to a tavern in a small town for dinner.  The moussaka, national dish of Greece, was delicious.

Greek dancers performed for us after dinner.

During dinner, small boys played in the town square, and as we prepared to leave, we could see fathers give their children one last ride on the kiddie rides.

Our ship was lit up in the darkness when we returned from a memorable afternoon and evening.