Afterwards, we visited the flea market in Monastiraki. At first I wasn’t impressed—it was mostly more souvenir and t-shirt shops. But that gave way to the flea market, where Greeks poured out all their old treasures and sold it for a few Euros.
It seemed everyone had plates, canes, glasses and old drachma to sell. But they also had knives and swords at every stall! Our favorite display was the guy who had so much stuff crammed into a little space you couldn’t even take it all in--except for the dried sting ray right next to an Army sword. Crazy!
It was an exceptionally warm day, and between Mark going low, and us melting, we stopped for lunch. We chose a restaurant that was shady and had huge fans blasting air on us. I didn’t even care what the food was like, I just needed a little cooling down.
Turns out in Athens, you’re never far from famous ruins. Our restaurant was located right next to the Agourra, which looked like a smaller, more intact Parthenon. We walked through a dry, sandy field of statues to get to it, enjoying the views of the Acropolis next door.
There was also a spiffy little museum next door. I can’t tell you one thing they had inside, though, except air conditioning. That was good enough for me.
Figuring we’d seen enough history for the day, Mark and I returned to our beloved hotel pool. Lori did some shopping.
It was Sunday, which meant our other friends Vicki, Edra and Amber were returning to Athens from their week-long Greece tour. They had no idea Lori was with us, and we were so excited to surprise them!
We all met up in front of the Acropolis museum. I hugged all the girls, and then Lori, incognito with her hat pulled down low, stepped in between us and asked me something. I yelled that I didn’t know Greek and jumped away, and suddenly Edra recognized her. The girls were totally surprised and delighted, and couldn’t believe we’d kept the secret from them for two months.
Then it was off to dinner, where the maitre’d lured us in with free shots of ouzo. (Or, as I refer to it---Ewwwww, no!) Dinner was good, but all of us being together for the second part of our island vacation was even better.
Monday morning started early, at 5:30, to be precise. At least, that's what the clock said when Mark started screaming bloody murder and woke up everyone in the hotel. (He's not much of an early riser, and I'd kept him up late the whole vacation.) We hopped on the high-speed ferry and headed for Mykonos.
We arrived to find the entire island had exactly 30 taxis, and watched them all drive away full as we exited the boat. But the air was much cooler than Athens, and the ocean was beautiful, so I didn't mind the wait.
Our hotel was simple but gorgeous, whitewashed buildings with the blue shutters and trim--exactly what you picture Greece to look like. This was the view from my balcony:
Best of all, there was a beach right across the road. We rushed over there in no time, parking our stuff in front of a little taverna. We ordered some food, thus becoming customers, which entitled us to use their palapas and chaise lounges. We decided to stay all afternoon.
The beach itself was rocky and a little rough to walk on. But Mark didn't care. He was in the water for most of the afternoon. The one time he did come out was a little startling-- he noticed the woman in the chaise nearby was...well...topless. He was walking toward us, smiling, then noticed her and immediately dropped his head down to stare at the beach instead. Between the nude statues and European sunbathers, he got quite the anatomy lesson on this trip!
We went into town a little later, strolling down a little path that lead us straight to the famous Mykonos windmills. After about a million pictures, we wandered through the little alleyways that lead us to the hidden shops and restaurants.
We ended up along the water, in an area called Little Venice, where we feasted on the most amazing homemade pasta. The restaurants were all on the edge of the water, and we watched tourists walk past trying not to get splashed as the waves broke.
After dinner, we joined the throngs along the beach wall to watch the sunset. It was so gorgeous, reds, oranges and yellow, sinking into the sea. It was also wonderful to enjoy it with all the people--the whole town stopped and gathered together 20 minutes before the sun went down. It was very peaceful to commune with everyone as we watched the sun disappear all together.
More tomorrow...
No comments:
Post a Comment