This morning we headed to the island of Delos where we anchored offshore. The Captain took Carol, Chris and I ashore by dingy where he had arranged for us to meet a guide for a tour of Delos. The rest headed to Mykonos where we would meet up with them later.
I had actually been to Delos and Mykonos in June 1980 (also Kea and Tinos) where I enjoyed a similar adventure by chartered sailboat with my Mom and Dad, Uncle Libby and Uncle Dick, my brother Bill and daughter Kim (age 2). Aunt Libby kept a detailed journal and predicted none of us would return to Delos... Well my visit to Delos was 43 years ago...so Libby's prediction must have expired and my return trip overdue.
As always, I have been fascinated by ancient history and Delos was a sacred place in ancient times...it is the mythical birthplace of Artemis and Apollo, twins resulting from Zeus's affair with Leto. No one lives on the island and no one is allowed there after dark. The island has extensive ruins but only about 1/3 of the island has been excavated. Not only does it cost money to excavate, but the preservation of excavated ruins is also expensive...so they do little bits at a time.
Our guide was excellent. We strolled along the Sacred Way (leading to the temple of Apollo) and passed by the Avenue of Lions (only replicas as the originals are in the museum). They were constructed of Naxos marble in the 7th century BC and were symbolic guardians of the Holy Lake where Apollo was born. There were originally 16 lions; some may be in the British museum (which hasn't responded to requests for return of Greek artifacts).
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| Avenue of the Lions |
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Sacred Way
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We passed an ancient restaurant with the tables still visible and the base of the Colossus of the Naxians.
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| Base of the Colossus |
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| Ancient restaurant tables |
The Greeks like their phallic symbols. There were many in Delos (as well as the penis bottle openers for sale in the tourist shops). Below shows an outside wall of the House of the Lake - the phallic symbols were supposed to guard the house.
We climbed to the Temple of Isis and then followed a path that took us by the ruins of ancient houses, the bank and the theatre. |
| Temple of Isis |
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| Mosaic in the House of The Dolphins |
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Theatre in Delos
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You can read more about Delos HERE
MYKONOS
After 2 hours and the conclusion of our tour, we took a shuttle tour boat to Mykonos and headed for the Little Venice area for lunch before trying to find our boat and shipmates. We have been spoiled by Dimitris and our lunch didn't compare to what we have quickly become accustomed to.
After lunch we strolled through the picturesque streets, window shopping and trying to avoid the crowds of tourists. And the Captain told us that this is the very end of the season and in the summer, thousands of tourists off multiple cruise ships flood the streets.
See pictures below of Mykonos.
A local pink pelican - the official mascot of Mykonos
After enjoying the sites, we took a taxi to the "new" port to re-board our yacht. We enjoyed another fantastic dinner before which Rita and I enjoyed what had become our nightly margaritas (skillfully prepared by Sara...add bartender to her list of jobs). And we enjoyed the beautiful sunset.
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