Driving around Mykonos.... AKA...Yikes... where did the road go?
After the Oxi parade, David and I went down to our little Smart car to start touring the island.... David insisted on driving straight up above Mykonos Town on the narrow, cliff lined streets just to see where they went.... what a surprize.... they dead ended.. I sort of thought they might when I saw the concern on the faces of the locals as we went by.... We found actually several dead ends... the only way back was past the same people... at least they knew we got turned around OK.... LOL.... several times it was exciting to turn around... David had to use the hand break as the car rolled when he was switching gears... I offered to get out to supervise but he only took me up on it one time...
Once we got off the mountain.
We got to one area and went to a little place to have a cup of coffee. It was so cute. Outside there was a nice little harbor and a bunch of goats ... Inside the place was charming... but the lady who waited on us was impatient and totally grumpy. Surely she wasn't Greek! but she was... and was apparently embroiled in an arguement with her son and we got the brunt of it with her impatience and rudeness.. We got a cup of Greek coffee and sat looking out the window as we drank it. It had the makings of being a perfect place except for the lady. We drank as quickly as we could. She didn't bring us water with the coffee so it was a little harder to drink. We didn't tip her.... I am certain she didn't care. She just wanted us out.
Most of the Mykonos roads were either up hills or down. All of the houses were charming with their gleaming white wash and bright windows and doors. We found one sign that said ancient castle.. We think we found it... (mostly walls ...) but we were unable to find any signage that said anything about the castle.... but I took pictures anyway. Next to the castle site was a great old church... The view from the area was stunning.
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Oxi Day! Mykonos Town
Mykonos is a friendly and fun place. We wanted to make sure we got to see the Oxi Parade on the old dock waterfront. We went down early to check on the area the parade would be. The place was humming.... school age children were dressed in their colors (grey skirt or slacks with a white shirt and a scarf... for example) ... all of the ages and groups had a different type of uniform. There were a group of teenagers in traditional clothes. They were so colorful and proud. Then, of course there were the tiny guys in their little outfits... Heartbreakers of the future! All of this was at 9 AM and the parade was not supposed to start until Noon.
We ate breakfast at one of the cafes.
We strolled to the end of the docks and were surprized to see a huge pelican walking around. It seemed quite tame. Apparently it has learned that people don't hurt it and it can get a hand out occasionally.
We walked the back streets of the town looking at shops.... It was surprizing that many were closed. It is so late in the season and most of the cruise ships were stopping their tours.
Everyone seemed to be emotionally involved with the American election and the stock market problems. We quickly found it was good to be simply neutral about the election as it was a "hot" and emotional topic and there were quite a few people who thought they knew a great deal about US politics and did not.
We got back to the dock area and were shocked at the crowds...... the manager of the restaurant was true to his word and held the table.
Oxi day (pronounced O-hee ...) (it means "no") is a national holiday because it is the day that the government of Greece (at 6:30 AM) told Italy it could not occupy Greece during world war II. The denial was said in one word "Oxi". At 8:30, Greece was invaded. Greece suffered a great deal and was gripped in a deadly war.... they really helped the allies....The resistance had many heroes and martyrs... In Greece there are many statues and memorials regarding the resistance.
At 9 PM we went back to the "Twins" restaurant. The outside table was available and we were happy to take it.... (we try not to mind cigarette smoke but as non-smokers we do notice it.... ) Our waitress from the night before came out although she was not the person who seated us. She told us that she had lived in Athens until she was 26. One day she looked up at the sky between the buildings and could not see blue...she could only see smog. She decided then and there it wasn't a healthy place to live. She moved to Mikonos. She has a 7 year old son and loves living on the island.
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