Day 8 To Mykonos

Today, we took the Hellenic Seaways Fast Ferry 6 to Mykonos, stopping to let passengers off at the islands of Syros and Dinos.  Our ferry was a large ship with assigned seats.  We travelled second class, which was good, but first class was even more luxurious.  The weather was perfect and the sea was absolutely smooth.

We were picked up at Mykonos and taken to our hotel, the Yiannaki, on Ornos Beach.  It is a four star hotel and much more plush than I expected.  Like all the houses and hotels on Mykonos it is painted white with blue windows and doors.  Our room is just lovely with a small balcony from which we can see the Aegean Sea to both our left and our right as we are on a peninsula.  The staff is most hospitable and friendly and cannot do enough for us.  The bathroom is full of top quality olive oil products for bathing and for the skin.  Our balcony also overlooks the large hotel pool, which is lit up at night.  We swam in the pool today and then lay beside the pool in the late afternoon sun.  The local cat adopted us, sitting underneath our lounges after it had drunk the salt water from the pool.  Tonight, we had a Shirley Valentine experience – not the affair with the Greek Apollo type, but the meal on the beach at Ornos, with only the sound of the waves lapping against the shore.  The male waiters were certainly Apollo like.  The four of us had a most wonderful night.  We ate fish that had been caught by the locals today.  We watched the lights come on in the hills that surround the beach on two sides.  The lights made the whole area look like fairy land.  We spent the night laughing about our various traveller’s tales.  One of tonight’s tales revolved around our various attempts to use the safes in our rooms.  Valerie and Tom had the staff come up three times to explain the use of their safe here at the Yiannaki.  Bill and I found that the numbers fell off our safe when we went to lock it.  Mykonos’ Ornos beach is just delightful and so much better than I had ever dreamed.  It is unbelievably beautiful.