Published Thursday November 18th, 2004

*sigh* What a world we have below our feet.. I write these words after two full days in Mykonos, now in a restaurant in the town of Fira on the island of Santorini, or Thira as it is appropriately called. I write with a new, rather unliked pen I purchased on the first day I was in Hora, or the town of the island of Mykonos.

What a beautiful place Mykonos was. I arrived on Sunday evening at around 17.30. As soon as I got off the jet powered catamaran/ferry boat which barely made a land-fall as people disembarked, the ship sped right of again. I was approached by a lady who offered me a room dead centre in the town for EUR 25. She said she would give me a ride into town and I could come and look at it.. I had read about room hawking in my Frommer's guide to Greece and thusly I was not entirely as suspicious as I would have otherwise been. Because the dock and new harbour was a few kilometres out of town, a free ride into town was also appealing.

As we got to the lady's van, there were already two females aged 30 and 27 from New York waiting. We sped along the narrow shore/cliff side road until we entered town from where we walked a bit through "streets" which seemed more like narrow alley-ways, if even.. In no place were the streets or pathways more than 2 metres in width, and rarely at that.

The woman showed me the room, and I was satisfied. I ended up paying EUR 30, 25 for the room, and 5 for breakfast.

As soon as I had dropped of my luggage and paid the lady upfront, I turned around, back outside into the small streets. I ran into daughter and mother (older aged) from Poland. They told me about a small island named Delos. Sounded interesting.

I strolled and wandered through the town occasionally bumping into the two women from New York. The streets were an experience in themselves. It was like walking through a giant maze lined with little shops and restaurants in the relatively small 1 to 2 story while and rounded off buddings with red, blue, yellow, brown, or orange staircases and window shudders.. The floor was paved with giant stones with white paint binding the separations in the crack together making it a seamless-flat surface. It's something one just has to see for themselves.

Never disoriented, but still continuously lost, I navigated the street maze at random. I came across a fast-food type restaurant. A sort o snack-food stand in a building. There I got a really awesome tasting chicken gyro rolled in a fried or grilled pita.. It was the best thing I've had in my mouth in a very, very, very long time. It's taste was incredible. The place was named "Grill house 'Takis" on street... But that really wont help anyone find it.. From the taxi station right on the old harbour in the town take the last street in the back right.. straight, left, right, straight, straight, and just around that corner you'll find it.. Ha ha.. yea..

I retired to my room after strolling around a bit more and purchasing a ring with the Greek symbol of eternity cared in it.. Slept find and dandy and awoke next day at 09.00.

I found breakfast by knocking on the hotel owners house door and was served on the roof with a nice view of the town and the Aegean sea.. On my recognisance the night before I had found the bus station. I went there again, blindly navigating the street-maze to catch a bus for EUR 0.90 to Platis Gialos beach.

From about 11.30 until 16.10 I spent my time at this particularly deserted beach of only about 20 other people around.. Off-season.. so many advantages. Cheap! Cheap! prices, no crowds, quiet, and one gets to see more of the locals living their normal lives.. though, many bars and clubs-if not all-are closed.

It was pleasantly warm on the beach. The Greeks call October the "little summer" because temperatures and other weather conditions are perfect. Though, as November approaches, I have felt the weather become quite a bit cooler. Despite this, it was a lovely (Ha!) 27 degrees Celsius on the beach with only the gentle breeze to cool things a bit down..

I waded in the water (which was still quite warm) for a bit, but didn't really get in. Instead I sat on the sand right on the water. (There really weren't any waves.) I went to go eat some ice cream at around 14.00, then continued sitting around relaxing and enjoying the peaceful freedom and scenery around me.. Ah, how lovely it was! I was so happy and content It was beautiful.. listening to music and starring out into the Aegean Sea..

Nearby was a group of American teens. Through some child splay and joking around, one of the girls' bikini broke or some off and then all of them made a huge deal about it in typical American fashion, whilst in the background a body was laying completely nude, sun-bathing..

I ignored them and continued starring into the sea.. The water was so beautiful and crystal clear with the most beautiful colours of blue and turquoise. It looked like a giant gem one might wear on a ring.

At 16.10 I took a bus back into the main town of Mykonos. I strolled around, took panoramic photographs, and enjoyed the scenes. In the evening I wandered through the streets, memorising the layout of the giant town-maze. How to get from shop A to restaurant B and so forth. I now know the place so well, I could wander around blind-folded.. I think..

I had a chicken gyro-rolled pita again from the same place I did the night before and enjoyed it again, just as much. I continued wandering, through the tight streets and up and down the "old"-harbour. I went and bought a second ring for my index/pointer finger from the same shop I had bought a ring from the night before. The shop was cool because they made their jewelry right there in front of you. I had it custom fit, and thusly I had to wait while they made it for me. During this time I went and visited a free museum, the Lena house, which was a small exhibit of how the local houses use to look like on the inside and how they were furnished. At one point I ran into the Australians who were in my tour group of mainland Greece as I walked through the town..

At around 21.14 I returned to the shop where they had made my ring. I paid 22 euro's for a silver ring made on the island of Mykonos by a local jeweller.. now that is an excellent souvenir!

I continued wandering, stumbled into the 2 from New York again (gives you an idea of the size of the place) and eventually returned to my room. Tuesday, October 26th started of for me at around 09.00. Had breakfast and walked to the "old"-harbour perfectly in time to catch the 09.50 boat to the island of Delos. For EUR 6.50 I got a ticket for the trip to and from the uninhabited island of Delos.

The New York two were on the boat as well and we chatted a bit as we made the 30 minute ride to the island.. As we docked in the ancient harbour one could see a massive archaeological site/dig sprawls out across the isle. I was dumbfounded. I later read that one would probably require 7 days to fully appreciate the site.. This was a quite believable statement.

As I began exploring I made this observation: There are more archaeologist and supporting staff here than visitors/tourists by an overwhelming amount. The island is still an active dig, and the patchy and incomplete museum attests to this. As i wandered, I noticed that pieces of broken pottery and other ceramics lay scattered all over the ground. I successfully fought of great urged to pick up and pocket a piece as a souvenir.

In my opinion, the ruins and reconstructions of the ruins were the best preserved and most magnificent I had seen throughout Greece up to this point.. And I've seen many ruins.. In most ruins all you'd see were scattered rocks, outlines of basic foundations and perhaps a restored column or post and lintel here and there. On Delos the ruins were so complete that in many cases all they were missing were roof, doors, and inhabitants..

In many buildings there were ditches or holes in the ground leading into a pit often filled with water. At the base of the theatre there was a giant, semi-functional aqueduct system built in antiquity. I had never seen anything like it. It was incredible.. Better than the Acropolis, or the ruins in Olympia or Delphi.. If one is ever on Mykonos, I definitely recommend the spending at least one day on Delos.. The island only allows visitors from 08.00 until 15.00 which is when the last boat departs. It is illegal to stay at any other hours, also explaining the 7 day statement I wrote about before..

The island of Delos was location of an Apollo sanctuary and considered a holy and sacred place throughout antiquity. The island was the said birthplace and home of the god Apollo.

I ascended about 100 metres to the top of mount Cynthos from where I had an astounding view of Mykonos and other surrounding islands.. I scowled at myself for not brining my tripod. I stood there at the very top of the island for some time. Found a comfortable niche in the smooth rock, and let a few minutes pass by as I relaxed and enjoyed the calm and peaceful surroundings. Unfortunately it was a bit windy, so I descended back into lower altitudes and wandered through more incredible ruins.

I took the 15.00 boat back to Mykonos. At 15.30 I found some other grill place and had a chicken pita there for a late lunch, but it was not as good as at the place I had had it the two nights before, plus the coke was EUR 0.10 more expensive.

I dropped off my camera in my room and then strolled around a bit. Starring off into the sea, I sat on a brick wall listening to music and enjoying the peace. I was a bit tired. I was annoyed seeing a person just throwing his trash on the floor as I have seen so many others here in Greece do. The trash problem is probably facilitated by the lack of trash receptacles.. The only place in Mykonos town where I saw a trash bin outside my of my room, was down at the harbour where about 5 of them were no more than 2 metres apart.. And the trash was still on the floor.. This holds true throughout Greece.

As I sat there a few random dogs walked by me, then a cat or two ran by followed by some more dogs.. There are an incredible amount of stray dogs and cats in Greece.. Perhaps they're not even astray, but free to roam as they see fit by their owners. In Athens and even on the relatively small islands of the Cyclades, the dogs are well behaved. They're some of the friendliest and kindest I've seen.. Overwhelmingly playful and .. happy, it seems.

Casandra, the guide on the 5 day tour I was on, had said that they had removed the dogs from the streets of Athens for the Olympics, but they slowly started to appear again afterwards..

Sitting there on the wall, I made another observation. The coke that I was drinking (as I am drinking again at this moment, though different bottle.) lost it's carbonation rather quickly relative to coke in Switzerland or the U.S.A.. I've been drinking a lot of coke out of 500 millilitre bottles because the coke here is really good, but it always seems that it looses its carbonation really quickly.. I wonder why?

In other news, I'm running out of pages in this notebook. Only 7 pages left!

After sitting on that brick wall for around 2-3 hours, I went and had yet another delicious chicken gyro rolled pita from the excellent grill house I had gotten it from for dinner the first 2 nights on Mykonos. Ran into the two from new York one last time while wandering. I strolled up and down the harbour and along "little Venice" enjoying the beautiful sights.

Standing in the "old"-harbour at night, looking out into the pitch black Aegean sea, a little kitten walked up next to me, stands a few centimetres to the right of me and stares out a far as I do. We exchange inquisitive and ponderous glances and return to viewing the sea. As I leave, the kitten leaves as well, walking a complete opposite direction that i was after we had both enjoyed an interesting moment of serenity. It was a really strange experience shared with a little kitten..

I continued strolling and walking about on the beautiful shore line in the darkness of the night. I walked out a ramp on one of the docks for smaller boats and had a nice view of the shops and houses which lines the harbour. Tears rolled from my eyes and I began to quietly cry out of pure happiness. In that moment it was just myself and the serenity and beauty of the scene around me. The town front on the harbour, myself standing on that small dock made of rock, lines with boats and giant pink storks/pelican like birds nearby on a little sand-landing. It was beautiful, and I didn't have a camera, but I didn't care. I didn't want one. This was my moment in time, my memories. A thing for my own eyes and myself, only! Oh if one knew only how greedy this makes me. I'll recall this memory to myself in the future, and if one might see me zoned-out, or dozed off, this is where I'll be, visiting this piece of bliss I've fathered to cherish forever.

As I stared at the shops and houses lining the old harbour with great resemblance to those Hollywood-esque pirate villages one might have come to expect in movies depicting nighttime scenes, the water before me clear and a beautiful crystal blue and turquoise like by a nearby lamp, I came to a conclusion: I couldn't travel with a camera in the future. I love to travel and to see new places, explore new lands and cultures, as well as histories, and I love taking photographs. However, doing both together in full-time seems to make both less enjoyable. It's somewhat of a burden carrying and watching over $5,000 of equipment in a bag while travelling around with the desires to capture the perfect shot. This leaves me much less time to enjoy my surroundings on a different level.. In order to get that perfect shot, I'd have to stay in the same location for much longer to find the best location and have the best weather conditions, much more time than I've spent in any one place on this trip. Staying in any one place for too long would burden the travelling experience. An ideal solution would be to travel to some place and then work there a bit, and in spare time take photographs, and then after a few week or months move on.. heh.

As I continued walking around, I observed a few men fishing with a sort of fishing "rod" I've only seen here in Greece, thus far. Some thread with hooks and fake, white plastic fish at the end, the thread wrapped or rolled around a circular disc on which one might roll up a garden hose. Thus far I have yet to see anyone catch anything with it.

I sat for a while on a wall among the harbour's walls and meditated a bit. This just added to the overall extremely happy and content mood I was in. A mood so great it'll be hard to ever top it, or to be able to describe it correctly.

I got back to my room at around 22.30, took a shower, and went to bed. I got up at 08.30 today, dropped of my room key and then walked down to the harbour. I found some store where I bought a chocolate filled croissant and coke. I didn't bother with milk because for some reason milk here is always a funky, white-brown colour and tastes very questionable. I think it might be goats milk. I proceeded to walk to the part of the harbour where I was told my ship would be a few days before in response to an enquiry. There I met 3 others waiting for the same boat. They were also heading to Thira (Santorini). Two of them were females from Kansas and Kentucky, U.S.A. studying abroad. They were on a 10 day break in between studying in Paris and Venice. The third was Jack, 27, an Australian citizen who had moved to Australia at the age of 14 from Poland. He had been working in Lybia the past two ears doing contract drilling work, analysing the geology of the rocks where new wells (mostly water wells he told me) were being drilled. (I'm a giant data-retaining sponge as long as it's not names and dates.)

We boarded our connection to Paros as it arrived at 09.55 and we left at 10.00. The Sea Jet 2, the boat was called, and jets at sea it was! The thing was literally a boat mounted on giant jets. Our incredible speed brought u to the island of Paros in under an hour.

In Paros, the 4 of us sat down in a cafe and killed an hour of waiting for our next connection with pleasant conversation. When our connection, the Blue Star Paros to Santorini arrived at 11.50, we boarded the ferry boat and were soon on our 3 hour way to Santorini.

We all sat together during the trip on the top of the ship on the observation deck. Chatted and so forth for the entire trip.. It was good fun, and interesting.

Meeting new people whom you'll likely never see again after you part is kind of like meeting and taking with people online.. On this trip I've told many people about myself, and telling the same stories over and over becomes somewhat boring.. When I know I'll never have any further contact with the people I'm telling my "life-story" to, I tend to .. spice things up a bit, or alter some specifics. Like Greek and Roman statues were often idealise or stylised, I tend to do with myself. If not this, I leave things out to let the listener conclude their own incorrect assumptions, which is fun and entertaining in itself.

Eee! It's midnight! I've spent at least 3 hours on this entry. 3 pages left in this notebook. I'm going to have to buy a new one somewhere.

At around 15.00 we reached Santorini. Passing through over and into the Caldera, one had a beautiful view of the surroundings. This place is truly one-of-a-kind and like-no-other.

It felt almost futuristic, like a sci-fi debarking from a spaceship which had travelled thousands of light-years to drop of passengers on a new, remote water planet. As the giant ferry boat did a 180 degree turn in the caldera waters below the sheer cliffs of the island, the ramp simultaneously began to lower and the scenery of the rocky-volcanic landscape started to appear through the gaps between the heads the people in the crowd gathered at the ramp. Car's found themselves in the back waiting to drive off. I could not help but feel out-of-time, displaced. It felt more like Starship Troopers, getting read to go fight some giant bugs. It was a really unique feeling. A feeling I loved. It was so awesome!

When we had gotten off the large ferry boat which was already preparing to continue its journey I saw my 3 other fellow companions for the last time along the commotion and chaos of those who had disembarked from the ship and the numerous room hawkers. I didn't have to search or find a hotel, it came to me as I was surrounded by men, women, and boys with brochures and pamphlets offering their rooms to me. In a sort of pitched voice among the chaos I said, "25 Euro's in Fira!," and a man came up to me with an offer.

It sounded fine, and the man led me to a van in which he drove me and a few of his colleagues to Fira and his hotel. I paid him for 2 nights up front with cash. As soon as he had left, I left my room again having dropped of my backpack and went to asses my new situation. My hotel isn't on the caldera cliff-sides, so there is no view. However, I'm right by the taxi/bus station.. Besides, I'm only in my room when it's dark outside. Thusly, I am satisfied. I should note that my room was only so cheap (EUR 25/day) because it is off-season pricing.

I explored the picturesque town of Fira and Firostephani. At around 17.00 I stopped for a milkshake at a a snack bar with a view over the caldera. I watched the sunset and sat there until 18.30. At around 19.00 I found a restaurant for dinner where I paid EUR 11.30 for a large vegetable soup, tea, bad, and chicken a la creme. Have I mentioned how great the off-season is?

After dinner I went and bought some food for breakfast and returned to my room where I have been writing this entry for the past 3 hours. It is now 00.22 and this is my last page in this notebook.. which wont really make a difference when I type it all up and post it on the Internet.. But I thought I'd mention it anyways.

Alright, time to go to bed. Everyday feels like an eternity when you're constantly travelling and doing so many things. It's awesome.. Tuesday seems like weeks ago, yet it was only about a day ago.

Note that photos in this entry have not been altered and could possibly use some white-balancing, contrast, brightness, saturation, and hue adjustments among other touch-ups.