A Piece of Paradise
At 5:30 in the morning we were up, slowly getting ourselves ready for the Greek Island of Mykonos. Our ship was tendered and a little boat took us to shore. The sun was just starting to peek over the little blue and white town. We weren’t quite sure where to go from where the boat left us, but we overheard a tour guide leading a small group into the village, so we followed them.
The streets and walls were whitewashed, and the shutters and doors were blue. There were beautiful pink flowers overhead throughout the small walkway. It was just as we had seen on Pinterest. The sea was very blue here, and the waves were small. We found our way to Little Venice, where balconies spilled over the sea wall. Restaurants and shops were just starting to open to accommodate the coming of the cruise ship passengers.
There were very large steps leading up the hill to the iconic Mykonos Windmills. The fans were large and wooden and the clay walls were whitewashed, there were little whitewashed clay fences, with blue gates. The windmills were topped with straw hut roofs. Kittens were in abundance, and we saw a pregnant cat. Just like in the Chania market, there were cats everywhere here.
It was nice, for once, not to have any set plans. Wandering is good for a traveler’s soul. For photographic reasons, it was also lovely to be up so early, not missing any of the prime photography hours of the morning light. The streets were absent of crowds; it was so peaceful and quiet. I would urge everyone to get up as early as possible on holidays, and then, if needed, take an afternoon siesta when the sun is hot and the crowds are thick.
Further down the way, we caught a bus from the station to Paradise Beach. The drive to the secluded beach was interesting; the two way road was hardly large enough for the bus, so any cars we met had to back up out of the way. We passed goats, sheep, and donkeys, grazing in the hilly pastures.
We spent the day in the majestic turquoise waters. The surface was smooth and you could see the bottom clear as day. The beach was spared from the wind unlike the other part of the island from which we had come. The sand was pretty rocky, but it didn’t matter when swimming in the sea. We had come to Paradise Beach for its name, and it served its name well.
At the beach we rented three very comfortable blue cushioned lounge beds and a grass covered umbrella. It was warm and sunny. We sipped on Pina Coladas and snacked on a fruit bowl and frozen yogurt throughout the day. There was a make-your-own frozen yogurt place and of course I had to indulge. They say frozen yogurt comes from Greece so it’s a must-have when you are there. When the time came to go, we were quite unwilling to leave and sat silently on the bus ride back into town.
Once we did a bit of shopping, we felt better. I found the most beautiful floor length blue dress that I could where to our next formal night. The colour reminded me of the Aegean Sea. There were so many beautiful sundresses. As we waited in line to be transported back to our ship, I prayed that one day I would be back to this beautiful piece of Paradise.
On the ship, we waited exhausted and impatient for the Windjammer Café (that’s the buffet dining room) to open. This frustrated Baba particularly because apparently the dining room in the Princess cruise ships don’t ever close: at least one side of the dining room is always open. When it finally did, we were ecstatic. After dinner, we spent the chilly and windy evening trying to keep warm by hanging out in the Centrum. I loved listening to the jazz bands play and watch the couples dance and twirl. If you love to people-watch, the Centrum was the place to do it.
We tried not to stay in the hot tub too late afterwards, as we know we had a tour in Turkey to get to first thing in the morning.
