After the calm beauty of Skopelos, we tender again towards the antithesis that is Mykonos. Last time we took a great walk around part of the island, so this time we’re venturing across the water to Delos.
This small island is about 30 minutes away, and has the amazing claim of once being the biggest trade centre in the world, around 2500 years ago. The city was incredible with the wealthiest people built their homes on the area around the harbour, and temples on higher ground beyond.
Although the city is in ruin, and hugely undiscovered before 1905, a lot is well preserved and even now is continuously being explored by a team of French archaeologist, there’s probably decades of work still to do.
The trip has a three hour window, enough for most, or one could turn it into an eight hour by waiting for the afternoon sailing but that’s for the really serious. By luck rather than judgement I am first in the queue at the ticket desk, fortunate as for 200 passengers they have only two tellers! In our morning we manage to cover a good proportion of the area. Some fabulous lions line a street, the lake is dried up but clearly marked out, the gymnasium is visible, the stadium not so much and the hippodrome is completely left to the imagination. Elsewhere the house of Hermes, presumably one of the wealthiest men, was fabulous and in parts well preserved.
We tottered up to the highest point, where stupid tourists have build stone towers right over the area, yet the view is impossible to spoil. Leaving the theatre to last, we head back to catch the ferry. We stop of at our much coveted Seabourn canopy on the dock-side to get more bottles of water, and apply more sunscreen as we didn’t bother to bring ours with us.
Not having done enough steps yet, we then walk North away from town, and towards the new cruise terminal. This is about two miles, so large ships that cannot practically tender, are moored here - they run shuttles to get people into town, and there’s a water bus too.
We walk right up past an old Turkish ship called Gemini and MSC Lyrica which we’ve seen many times over the years, before returning towards town to get a ride back home, arriving in time to get pizza in the Patio Grill.
Another afternoon on deck five, I have several bits of work to attend to, as well as a swim and cocktail or two. There are some very noisy fellow guests around, but fortunately after a while their shouting and catawailing drifts far into the distance, thankfully.
We dine at the Patio Grill, it’s called American BBQ but really I couldn’t see why the application of a bit of BBQ sauce defines an evening, nevertheless the food is lovely and I have two mains because I couldn’t decice which, so the lovely waiter just brought both!
The evening’s entertainment is a dance party, but we’re insufficiently intoxicated to join in, so stand one deck up (this being insurance against getting dragged into the floor!) and enjoy the band and singers and a post-dinner digestif.
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