Tuesday, June 22--Delos & Mykonos

Two of the most well-known of the Cyclades, Delos is an archaeological site with no permanent residents and must be reached by a chartered launch, usually from Mykonos, although we were picked up from the Galileo, bright and early. There was once a thriving town on this tiny island--estimated at 25,000--where there was a thriving slave market and generally trade made it a wealthy place. The ruins certainly indicate that there was plenty of money here, and many beautiful mosaics remain. It's initial claim to fame was being the birthplace of Apollo and his sister, although the Sacred Lake where they were supposed to have been born was drained in later years and is now just a bright patch of green vegetation in an otherwise sere landscape. Temples were built by those from many of the islands that traded here, in honor of the gods and this is the home of the Naxian lions.
We sailed into Mykonos at about 1:30 for a short 4 hour visit.
 This is certainly a scenic island, if really touristy. The famous windmills are here though they were not in full sail the day we visited.
Little Venice, the area where houses appear to rise right out of and defy the insistent waves, was loaded with picturesque restaurants and shops.
Don't you love the clever enticement to come in and shop for shoes? I looked at an extraordinarily expensive pair of earrings in one of the shops--beautiful to behold but I wouldn't even try them on given that they cost about 4 times my monthly discretionary income! I did find a couple of small watercolor prints on our wanderings and brought those home instead. We motored back to Syros to find safe, wind-sheltered, harbor for the night.