Day 107...Apollo - 11th October
Got up early today and caught the boat to Delos. It was overcast and rainy again today, so a good day for going - definately not a beach day! The sea was grey and choppy and the islands dark. We ate some snacks we had brought with us, before setting off.
Delos is one of the msot important archaological sites in Greece. It is the mythical birthplace of the twins Apollo and Artemis. Its main heyday was around 8BC to 3rd century AD, and was an important religous centre and port. I was really keen on going, as I had always heard about it. After seeing Pompeii though (and even the Roman Forum) the island was a disappointment. Most of it was rubble, and you needed a big imagination to see anything. The only cool things ended up being replicas, with the originals in the museum located on the island. There were big lion statues, and a few headless statues as well. The best original - and the best of the whole island I thought - was a temple with big penises! Yes penis.
We walked up the hill to the top of Mt Kythnos (where it is where APollo first stepped down) and got a view of the whole island. The museum was pretty interesting, as they made a big effort to label and explain things. there were a few original statues, and lots of pottery etc. There was a small cabinet dedicated to penises so I liked that as well.
But apart from that, it was just a lot of scattered rocks, so we caught the first boat back and got back by 2pm. It was overcast and not much to do, so i had a nap while Nathan read and ate.
The streets of Mykonos are really narrow, windy and disorganised. Its quite charming. You get a map, which has the street names using English letters. But the signs are in Greek lettering! So how does the saying go? "I don't know...its all greek to me!" (channel Orgazmo thinking here). There are also lots of little old men wearing jaunty black caps, and cats lying next to pot plants.
Later on we did some more internet, then wandered the town. We found a little beach, the waves wild and the sky wet and glowing orange. The windmills were there (i don't know what they're for, but apparently they are famous here), and we drank right on the edge of the water watching the sun set. Boozew is really pricey here so I had an iced coffee, nathan a 5 dollar orange juice. Christ!
After more wandering, we ate at a little taverna (it was near the taxi square and the Ramrod club. Man I love that name!) with nice food, but cranky waiters Nathan had a baked lamb dish with veges and cheese, while I had a dry tasting souvlaki. Then we went off to bed where I couldn't sleep because of my arvo nap.
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