July 11 2014 Mykonos

July 11 2014

Well, it is 6:22 a.m. when I woke up and looked at the clock.  I don’t know what it is about 6:22 a.m., but that is my automatic wake up call for some reason.  We had arrived in Mykonos, Greece.  Another beautiful Mediterranean morning.

We were scheduled for all ashore at 7:15 a.m., but guests were off the ship by 7 a.m.  I headed out at 8 a.m. to walk into town and get breakfast at my favorite place, Gelarte, for my usual strawberry waffle with vanilla gelato this morning.  I needed to be back to the ship by 10 a.m. for my excursion.

After my breakfast I took a leisurely stroll through town and then got back just in time for my 10 a.m. excursion.  I decided I wanted to go to Delos Island so I booked the adult only excursion through DCL.  I met the group on the dock and we walked to the ferry down the pier to catch our ride.  There were actually 4 DCL excursions going over to Delos Island.  We rode on the ferry with families.  So the adult only excursion really started once we arrived to Delos Island.  The ferry ride was 30 minutes to get us over there.  Very beautiful and picturesque.  The wind was blowing slightly and the ocean breeze felt wonderful.

Once we arrived to Delos Island we met up with our tour guide who was very knowledgeable about the ruins.  The island of Delos is one of the most important mythological historical and archaeological sites in Greece. Delos used to be a holy sanctuary for a millennium and according to mythology, was the birthplace of Apollo, god of music, truth and light and his twin sister Artemis, goddess of hunting.  Over 30,000 people lived on the small island.  15,000 were slaves.  Delos was a very rich island.  The island is very rocky.  They had to bring marble from other islands in order to build their statues and homes.

This is the way they had the slaves crush the grapes in order to make wine. They would put the grapes on top, and the slave would stomp on the grapes and the juice would go into the side channels and then enter into the pitcher/pot on the end.

The temple site sits up on the rocky hill

The island ended up being deserted when the pirates came and looted the island and burnt everything they could.   The roofs of the homes were wood and all the furniture was wood except for the tables which were made of granite and then over the hundreds of years, neighboring islands would come and take away the granite for their churches and homes, so supposedly some of the marble from this island can be found in Mykonos. The base is the only piece left of Apollo’s statute in its' original place, the rest was hauled away before the island was preserved.  However, the two big marble pieces in the second photo are two pieces of Apollo's statute that were being hauled away, they made it about half way to the sea.  No one knows why they didn't make it to the ocean but the rest of the statute is gone. 

The Statutes of the Lions were built in approximately 6 BC for the sanctuary of Apollo. The lions were the eternal guardians of the sacred lake.  However, in the 1930’s work was being done to restore the island and malaria was everywhere and the lake created many mosquitos, so they decided to empty the lake to reduce the chance of malaria.  In 1999 the originals of the lions were moved to the Delos Museum and those now outside are replicas of the lions.  The last picture are the originals inside the museum.

There are some original artifacts in the museum.  It is a very small museum compared to others in Greece.  The last picture is one of the marble tables that has had one-half restored to show what the tables looked like that were in the homes.

We were scheduled to return on the 1:30 ferry.  The ferry is a public ferry.  All 4 tours that went over on the ferry (privately) returned on the ferry that was available to everyone on the island.  I got on about 10 minutes early.  Good thing.  The ferry was packed and was standing room only.  As we headed back on we saw many of the hillside homes that are so beautiful in Mykonos and the surrounding islands.  Additionally, on one of the small islands, there is a church on the top.

Went by the windmills of Mykonos as we came to the island.  A great view from a different perspective since I have only visited them by land in the past.

Got back at 2 p.m. so we had 30 minutes to explore the town before getting on the shuttle bus back to the ship.  All aboard time was 2:45 p.m.  The ferry dropped us off right next to Gelarte, so I had to stop and get my gelato for the day.  Today I had the Nutella and Pistachio.  Both excellent.

I got on the ship on time, but there were 8 guests who didn't.  They finally showed up about 10 after 3.  25 minutes late......we left Mykonos about 3:15 p.m. to head back towards Venice.

I had been asked to join Jim (Disney executive) and his wife for drinks before dinner in Keys.  Had a nice visit talking about the ship, the entertainment and upcoming potential plans for the Magic.  (Sorry, can’t share…)  I did give him some feedback when asked and mentioned that it was time to update the Pirates of the Caribbean party.  I think that might be in the works since he just shook his head, smiled and agreed but said he couldn’t say anything.  Also, there will not be fireworks next year for the Norwegian Fjords and Iceland cruises. No fireworks allowed up in the Baltics, so they are working on alternate experiences.  I did mention that many on the Facebook group I am on would like to see some type of Viking night!  I asked that they please communicate any changes so guests could pack accordingly.

Went to dinner late, but it was pirate menu, so not a big deal.  Had the BBQ ribs.  They were excellent.  Melted in my mouth they were so tender.  Had very little for dinner as I wanted a crepe for dessert after the pirate deck party.

Headed up to deck for the Pirate Party.  Got pictures of Chip and Dale shaking their booty.

No fireworks tonight.  We are too close to the islands, so they will again be tomorrow night.

At 10:45 p.m. headed up to do something I have never done on the Disney Magic before.  Went up to the Palo Bar and had a virgin Mojito.  The bar area is really nice on the Magic and I guess there are new chairs that they really like. They were quite comfortable.  Never sat in the old ones, so I don’t have anything to compare to!

Tomorrow is a sea day and I think everyone on board is looking forward to not going to anymore ruins and enjoying a relaxing day at sea.  Port days can be very exhausting, especially with the sun being so hot every day.  We also get to turns our clocks back one hour, so we get to sleep one extra hour tonight.  Yeah!

I was asked about the bugs because people have read that the bugs can be bad and they need bug spray.  To be honest, I haven’t experienced any bugs at all.  I have noticed a few flies, but very few at that, and that is about it.  

Well another day of Magic has ended.  The time just goes by so fast when you are on a Disney ship.

Goodnight from the Disney Magic!