Mykonos, Greece

Mykonos wasn't even on the original cruise itinerary - Istanbul and Ephesus were replaced with Mykonos and Sarandë a few weeks before the cruise set sail because of all the bad and sad things going on in Turkey right now. We were super bummed about not being able to go to Istanbul, it's one of the two cities why we went on this particular cruise in the first place, the other was Santorini. Anyway, hopefully someday in the future we can visit Istanbul! And I am soooo glad we got to go to Mykonos! It's what I picture in my mind's eye when someone says "Greece". It was the first city on our cruise that I simply couldn't turn off my camera - 360° views every which way!

Our cruise ship docked at the New Port so we took a quick water taxi ride across the bay to the Old Town. Jane put on her shades and enjoyed the trip.

Cats in the sun.

Mykonos really is the very picture of the perfect Greek island town: a humble seafront village crouched behind a sandy harbor, thickly layered with blinding-white stucco, bright blue trim, and bursting purple bougainvilleas. Mykonos' main town is called Chora and is the main port of entry for the island.

Our first stop was the nearby Church of Panagia Paraportiani.

The church sits at the tip of land between the Little Venice section of Chora and the harbor. It's a striking architectural oddity which is actually a hodgepodge of five small chapels that gradually merged together and were all draped in a thick layer of white-washed stucco. As Chris' mom said, someone is making a killing off of white paint!

Darling Greek-islandy clothes.

This door color is epic.

The old town seems made for exploring. Each lane is picture-perfect and slathered with bright white stucco and accented with pops of color. This place is right up my alley. Get it?
Give me all the colors!

Shades of white.

The twisting streets of Chora are lined with touristy restaurants.

Along the bay at the western edge of town is where wealthy local shipping merchants built a row of fine mansions with brightly painted wooden balconies, the area is called "Little Venice."

Mykonos has some museums, but the real attraction here is poking around the Old Town. We popped out of the maze of Chora for a second to hike up to the famous windmills.

While none of the mills were spinning, it sure was windy enough for them!

The island is actually known for how windy it is - locals even have special names for different winds. These old-fashioned windmills harnessed this ever-present gale to grind grain to supply the ships they used. Five of these mills stand along the Kato Myloi ridge at the top of town.

While we were looking at the mills, the kids spied a playground. Since our boat was so adult-oriented it didn't have any sort of playground on board for the kids and so we let them get their kicks and giggles out for a few minutes.

But then I was dying to dive back into the gorgeous town so off we went! So heavenly!

I couldn't get enough of the flowers!

The core of town is literally a maze, designed by the Mykonians centuries ago to discourage would-be invaders from finding their way. But, I can't think of many places I'd rather get lost.

The island is one of Greece's driest and without the pops of color the locals have added it would be a dry-brown.

But, they sure know how to liven up their little island!

Doggy sleeping in the shade.

Yep. I love it.

These kids.

We walked down close to the bay to enjoy the views of the town and the ocean. The water was such a gorgeous color.

Fox and Jane in Mykonos! ♥♥♥

We walked on to a little beach right in the heart of the old town to let the kids splash around in the water a bit.

After attempting to dry the kids off and clean off all the sand, we dove back in to the maze of white and blue.

While the kids were perusing in the most crazy, hob-nob, bursting at the seams toy store ever (see a few pics below below), I hiked up and found some incredible views.  And I found these flowers. You know I had to grab Chris and the kids to get a picture of me and them in front of it.

Here is that "toy" shop. Room of Requirement anyone?! But suuuuriously???

Little church with a little square and a little cafe. 

It was a wonderful day poking around in all the nooks and crannies of this charming island.

Our family in Mykonos, Greece on Saturday August 27th 2016. 

The next stop was Rhodes, Greece!