10/12/2015 Mykonos (Cruise to Mediterranean & Israel)

After leaving Kusadasi in the early evening, we arrived at the Greek island of Mykonos the next day on 10/12/2015.

Mykonos is one of several Greek islands that attract tourists from all over the world.  It is a small island with a fishing village near the port.  There are white sandy beaches and houses slathered with white stucco.  The island is not for sightseeing, but rather for relaxing, wandering, and basically doing nothing. 

There were three cruise ships that arrived at Mykonos on the same day.  The Mykonos harbor is only large enough for one cruise ship to dock; other cruise ships need to be tendered.  Luckily our ship was the one docked at the port.  After walking off the ship, we got on a free shuttle for a short ride to a bus depot near the town center. 

From there it was a pleasant walk along the harbor-front promenade to the town center.

On the way, we passed some quaint and lovely residential areas...

and colorful fishing boats

The town square is small with shops around.  Most buildings have white walls and blue trims.  The statue at the square is for a Mykonos woman who spent her rich inheritance supporting the Greek War of Independence against Turkey.   

The once humble fishing village is actually a bustling commercial district with fancy shops….

and oceanfront outdoor cafés.




The small town center consists of narrow alleys with no clear directions. In this maze, tourists just walk around to get lost as that is part of the fun visiting Mykonos.

You will encounter postcard-like Greek buildings

And if you are lucky, you will run into a pelican, the town’s mascot.


Wandering around we saw something at a distance that caught our attention: five windmills on a small hill.         

Because most Greek islands are windy, they usually have windmills to harvest this natural power and use it to grind grain.  These five windmills on Mykonos are still functional.    

On the day of our visit, Mykonos was packed with throngs of mainland Chinese tourists.  They came off the Holland America cruise ship, which is the black ship on the left in the picture.  The ship might have been chartered by a Chinese company.  

There were not much to do after walking around the small village for about 2 hours, so we retrieved back to our ship.  Of all the ports of call for our cruise, this is the only place where I got the feeling of going through the motion, been there, done that.

-Joe