Mykonos and Delos, Greece

​Today, we visit Mykonos and Delos. Today, we arrived at the port at Mykonos for our tour of the Delos Archeological site. Once off the ship, we get on a Sea Bus to the town.

Greek towns are so pretty.

From there we get on a large ferry to the island of Delos which they pronounce as Theos.

Delos was the religious site for Apollo god of light and his twin brother the god of music.

This was a huge city in its day.  Massive temples, homes, shops, restaurants, theaters, stadiums for competitions.

​Temples, or what is left of them, were everywhere.  All of the buildings were completed hundreds of years BC.  Over the centuries the island was stripped of much of the stone to use to build homes on ​Mykonos. It was easier to haul walls of temples than to cut new stone. So that pretty town was built from pieces of the temples of Delos.

We actually walked the roads and pathways built over 2500 years ago.
​Between homes, shops, temples, …

The temples were impressive in there day.  Huge structures.  Large statues.  One which was about 30 feet tall.  All are just the base and foundations of the original structures.

Even with all the stripping of stone and carvings there are several impressive remnants.

At one point Betty and Shawna sat on a marble bench that was over 2500 years old. It is amazing that so long ago people built these and every famous Greek and Roman walked these streets. From Aristotle, Socrates, Plato, Alexander the great, Julius Caesar, everyone who was anyone came to Delos to be seen and pray.  It is hard to wrap my head around the thought of knowing we walked on the same streets they walked.

We passed one of the remaining fresh water pools.  Built in around 400BC and still here holding water.

As the tour continued we moved higher on the island.

We were able to tour one the last remaining courtyards of a wealthy family.  The original mosaic is still in place.  This was placed several hundred years before Christ was born.  Amazing!

The walls of the city were covered in marble, plaster, and color. These were a people who enjoyed bright colors.  Over the many years the plaster has fallen. The paint has faded and lost it's color.

More floor mosaics.

The remains of one of the many theaters was part of the tour.  They loved theater and had their own entertainer celebrities. The Delos theater was completed in 230 BC and seated 6500. 

Of course with that many gathered for performances that would last all day, there was a need for water.  The theater had an enormous cistern over 80 feet long, 20 feet deep, and over 10 feet deep.

Back to the ship just in time for All Aboard. We were on the last boat leaving Delos and only just made it on board before the first warning blast of the ships horn.
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​I thought I would throw in some of the menus we have on ship.

A quick shower and then off to the main dining room for a meal. More music. A couple of drinks. The main-stage to hear Julian Gargiulo “The pianist with the hair” Italian-American classical pianist. He was funny while playing. Amazing classical music. He reminded me of Victor Borga. Off to bed, it had been a long day.