Sunday, May 20, 2012

Last Day on Mykonos and a brief trip to Delos

After a lovely breakfast at our hotel, Pat and I walked down to the pier—and I mean down all the way. We found the ticket kiosk and bought tickets to visit the sacred island of Delos—1 nautical mile south of the western tip of Mykonos. It took about 30 minutes for the trip. According to my guide book, Delos was one of the most revered religious centers of the ancient Greek world. The legend is that Apollo, god of light and prophesy, and his twin sister Artemis, goddess of the hunt, were born there. Their mother Leto, impregnated by Zeus, wandered the earth trying to find a place to have her babies, but everyone was afraid of the wrath of Hera if they allowed her to come there. She finally selected Delos, a barren island that is so arid that neither grapes nor grass could grow there. I saw lots of wildflowers—more Queen Anne’s lace than anything else—but it’s still a barren place. I also read in another book here at the hotel that Delos is the sunniest spot on earth. There are lots of ruins and a museum. I had already seen lots of artifacts from Delos at the National Archaeological Museum of Athens where there was a large section on Cycladian artifacts. Both Delos and Mykonos are part of a group of islands known as the Cyclades.

This is our third day on Mykonos, which is not a sacred island. As far as I can see, the economy of Mykons is totally based on tourism. There must be very severe covenants here requiring frequent painting of all buildings. They are all white, and mostly trimmed in blue with occasional red. The streets are narrow, winding, and often one way. Then there are the little pedestrian walkways with lots of shops—jewelry and clothing are the most popular items for sale. Then there are the restaurants, mostly open air. Today after our trip to Delos, Pat and I shared a Greek salad—tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, peppers, and feta cheese served with balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Pat ordered grilled sardines, and I ordered fried anchovies, Neither fish was anything like what we have come to expect of anchovies or sardines at home. We shared both dishes, but my fried anchovies were the best. Unlike our hotel, which is very reasonable by most standards, the restaurants here are not. Our lunch with a half bottle of wine was 43.20 euros + tip of 5 = $61.25—almost as much as my hotel room. Yikes! I may be ready to come home.

One thing I haven’t blogged about are the feral cats that have been everywhere but Paris. We first noticed them in Istanbul, then in Athens, then on Mykonos, and even on Delos. We never saw evidence that people were giving them much thought in Istanbul, but I often saw little dishes of water in Athens, also on Mykonos. I read on-line that there is a particular Aegean cat, native to the Cyclades, which is always partially white with patches of one or two other colors. I saw numerous cats that fit this description. In fact, I’ve been taking photos of cats since Istanbul, and I have rather a large number of them. When I get home, I will figure out how to put photos on my blog, and I will include some of the best of the cat photos.

Another subject that I have not written about is the strangers that I have met and had conversations with. The day that Barbara and I went to the Blue Mosque, I happened to make eye contact with a young man holding a baby of a few months old. I smiled at him and his baby. He saw that I had a camera, and he made motions that I should take a photo of his baby, but before I could snap the photo, he pulled his wife into the photo. I was amazed at the time, but eventually, I wondered if he simply wanted me to look at his baby. I think I have mentioned before that I read in a book about Turkish superstitions that blue eyes are considered lucky and that the people believe that a blue-eyed person can bring a baby good look just by looking at the baby. Well, I do have blue eyes, but I’ll never know for sure why that young man seemed so adamant that I take a photo of his little family. If I can figure out how to post photos on the blog, I will post that one.

Later, on Mykonos, I was chatting with the woman who seemed to be running the hotel about the good luck charm, which consists of a blue eye, that one sees everywhere in Turkey and Greece. She assured me that the Greeks also believe that the charm is lucky. She added that they put one on their babies’ backs for good luck.

Another day in Istanbul, Pat, Barbara, and I were going to visit the Topkapi Palace, which required first the Metro to Taksim Square, where we boarded the funicular, which took us up the hill (or down, can’t remember which), then we boarded the Tram to go to the Palace. On the Metro, a Muslim woman sat down beside me, and eventually initiated a conversation. She wanted to know where I was from. She was from Iraq. When I got off, I didn’t suppose I would ever see her again, but when we were nearly finished with our visit to the Palace, I happened to see her and we made eye contact. Her face broke out in a big smile, and she began talking again. She introduced us to her two sisters, one of which she said was a doctor. I introduced the three to Pat and Barbara, and an interesting conversation began, in which we learned that they like Obama, didn’t like Bush or his father, nor do they like their present government. They gave details of the difficulty involved in almost anything they want to do.

 Another memorable conversation with a stranger was with a young Belgian guy who sat next to me on the flight from Istanbul to Athens. He and a friend had attended a wedding in Istanbul and were on their way to attend another wedding in Athens. He had spent a year with a family in North Carolina, so he was fluent in English, with only a slight accent. I was also impressed with the speed with which he spoke English. He works for Coca Cola and would like to visit the U.S. again. As we were landing in Athens, he suggested that we trade contact information, so perhaps I’ll hear from him again.

Still another interesting character that I met was a taxi driver in Athens who took me to the Archaeological Museum. He was born in Montreal to Greek parents. He had also lived in the U.S. Both his French and his English were very good. He also knew an amazing amount of information about U.S. sports and U.S. politics. His political opinions were interesting as well, and, like a lot of Greeks, he is angry at the politicians and the mess they’ve made of the Greek economy. According to him, they will all be thrown out in the upcoming election. He believes that the politicians who have stolen the money should be made to give it back, and that that would solve the monetary problems of the Greeks. The same taxi driver drove us to the pier early Friday morning to board the boat to Mykonos. He said that he was driving to work that morning when he heard the call to pick us up, and he thought it might be me since I had told him that I was going to Mykonos. He was a very interesting cab driver, and he entertained Pat and me all the way to the pier.