When you think of the Greek Isles with their whitewashed sculptural houses punctuated by deep blue shutters and doors, you are thinking of the Cyclades. It is a group of islands whose history goes back literally to the dawn of civilization. We headed from Athens to Siros, the capital of the Cyclades. It is a busy port with shipyards, and a quaint town. The whitewashed town starts at the waters edge and climbs like sugar cubes stacked up the side of the hill with a beautiful church crowned in light blue domes.
This group of islands get their name because they all circle around the island Delos, the birthplace of Apollo. Delos was considered a holy island to the ancient Greeks where no one was allowed to live or be born on. Still to this day, no one lives on the island and boats are not allowed to stay past 3 pm.
Perhaps the most famous of all the Cyclades is Mykonos. It is clearly the most popular tourist destination. While we were there 3 or 4 cruise ships would be anchored in the bay even during this time of year which is considered the off season. I can’t imagine the crowds that must pulse through the very narrow streets of this small village port during the summer. The first night we anchored out in one of the serene bays and enjoyed swimming off the boat the next day. But strong winds were predicted so we headed to the new port that has been under construction for the past 7 or so years. It is almost completed, but still has not had the power or water turned on yet. Since we haven’t been in a port with electricity for almost 2 weeks, we were starting wring out the very last of the power stored in our batteries. The winds did come and though the new port is a little more protected than the old port, it was difficult for most boats to dock safely. We watched the harbor theater as boat after boat got blown into other boats by the strong gusts as they tried to reach the safety of the berth. Every available hand would scramble to the decks of the nearby boats and help with sliding fenders or pushing off until finally the boats settled into their slips. It was hard to watch, but a real lesson on what not to do in strong winds when coming into a berth.
We rented a scooter for 10 euro a day to explore the island and visit the famous beaches of Mykonos. While on the beach, we started talking to a couple of Aussies, a Brit and a guy from Philadelphia. We ended up hanging out together for most of the week, going to dinner together and a couple of the disco clubs in the evening. One afternoon our international gang all came over to the boat and we sailed to a secluded bay on the north part of the island where we had lunch at a really great restaurant. Stuffed with traditional Greek cusine, we went back to the boat and hung out toasting in the afternoon sun.
Towards the end of the week, the winds and sea finally calmed down enough to head out to Paros. We stayed there for a couple of days and then headed to Naxos.
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