Too pooped to party

Thursday 13th July

Mykonos today. The second most talked about island - the party island. We did a bus tour around parts of the island including a visit to one of the beaches.

A few interesting things to learn about Mykonos - the population is just over 10,000 permanent residents but increases to 50,000 in summer; Mykonos has no real agriculture, apart from some herbs and spices; houses in the city must be painted white and have rounded corners; drinking water is bottled - they have a desal plant but water is still salty; the island attracts plenty of the rich and famous which means accommodation is very expensive; some beautiful beaches, but you can pay anywhere from 70 to 450 euro for a deckchair (there are some free beaches).

We did a walking tour in Mykonos, primarily to see the windmills originally used for milling wheat, but now they are expensive air bnbs, and also to visit the area of Little  Venice. Our walk took us along what they call the main street - definitely only wide enough for one small narrow car and tourists need to step into a shop doorway to allow the cars to get through. The street is two way and when two cars meet, someone's going to select reverse. Little Venice was really lovely but again it was so crowded. Not enjoying the crowds on these islands I commented I'd rather visit in winter, but in winter everything is closed.

Monastery of Panagia Tourliani, founded in 1542.

One of their important religious icons.

Odette wanted to feel the sand in her toes.

And Rob got his boots full of sand. This was one of the free beaches. 

The whole family.

One of the 'rabbit warren' streets in Mykonos.
The white is really beautiful.

One of the famous windmills - there are seven.

This puppy was riding shotgun on the motorbike as they took the rubbish to the bins.

Heard a tour guide telling someone it was 2 euro for a photo with the donkey,
so this is a photo of the donkey and owner. 

Can't remember the details of this church, but it's no longer used as a church, and couples like to get their wedding photos here. It had copious coats of limestone whitewash. 

Rather than walk and then take the shuttle bus to catch the tender boat back to the ship, we decided to pay the 2 euro and take the water bus across the bay to the port. We had a quiet afternoon on the ship and attended the evening show which was only half full as a lot of the passengers were still ashore enjoying the party atmosphere. The boat didn't leave until 1.30am.

Friday 14th July

Today we were at the island of Milos. We spent the day on board after 3 days of excursions, and the increasing heat. Rob went ashore later in the day for a quick walk in the town. It was very warm so a swim on board before dinner was called for.

Saturday 15th July - Sunday 16th July 

It's over. Cruise is finished and so is our European holiday. The boat docked at 7am and we were ashore by 9am. We shared a taxi to the airport with 2 others (mother and daughter) from Melbourne. Our taxi driver very helpfully suggested he drop us off at the Sofitel right opposite the airport, where we could enjoy their free WiFi and air conditioning. Our flight wasn't until 7.40pm so we took our time over a coffee and snack until mid afternoon.

Flight to Doha was only 4.5 hours, but to Melbourne was 13.5 hours. Flight was choc a bloc full, but happily flight was pretty close to on time and we were back in Melbourne midnight Sunday.

So now we are home and this blog will go into hibernation until the next time.