Seabourn day 3, Mykonos evening ctd.

There was one older Greek fellow with many missing teeth and a typical Greek hat who was playing the Greek version of bagpipes. He had a goat’s stomach with a flute attached to one side and a straw-like mouthpiece attached to the other. He filled the bladder with air and played the flute as the bladder deflated, but all the while keeping the bladder close to full. The sound was unmistakably Greek. I gave him $1e and took a photo or two.

While we were at the windmills, we walked the area. Two of the windmills have been converted into private homes. At one point my Tesla hat blew off my head and over a cliff. “Oh no you don’t” I practically shouted and went down the cliff to recover my hat. It had not dropped very far. It was a relatively easy scramble over ice plant and rocks to retrieve my hat. Ellen and I got separated, each searching for that perfect perspective for a photo. I waited at the “entrance” and waited and after a long while Ellen appeared. She was worried we might not find each other. This area was crowded, but not insanely so.

The streets of Mykonos are very narrow. The main streets are maybe ten feet wide and go down from there. Some of the streets we walked were maybe three feet wide. Still there is the occasional car or small truck going through making deliveries for restaurants or for sheet rock for renovation (which we saw). By the four windmills there is no waterfront walk. The houses are build right up to the water. There are restaurants and a walkway through the restaurants and behind the waterfront homes, that leads back to the main esplanade along the shore, now west of us.f

We made our way back to the water taxi dock, were we were dropped off and continued along until we actually found the Raya restaurant. Ellen had the chicken kabob special, I ordered two appetizers: tzatzikki and a cheese filled pastry with pine nuts and honey. Ellen’s chicken was very good, the tzatzikki was some of the best I’ve had, but the cheese pastry was out of this world. I had to asks our waitress if tipping was common in Greece. She said, not really. It is very unusual for a Greek to tip. Often Europeans do, but it is up to us. It’s not like in America where a tip is expected. We left a good tip for her. I enjoyed her honesty.

Getting back to the tender and back to the Odyssey was effortless. The seas were more choppy now, but the tender was driven slowly. We had to make it back aboard ship for my scheduled hair cut. Simone had cut Ellen’s hair the day before for the formal captain’s dinner. Ellen scheduled my for a haircut with Simone this afternoon. Simone is fun. After her scalp massage after the haircut, I had visions of taking her home with us.

We did not miss the champagne and caviar afternoon show which featured a classically trained vocalist who sang a brief operatic repertoire. This actually brought tears to my eyes, he was that good. This is the same fellow whom I thought had performed so mediocrely the evening before. Clearly opera is his forte. The champagne and caviar was good too… The Odyssey weighed anchor mid-way through the show, headed for Kusadasi, Turkey.

After a brief rest in our suite, we opted for an informal dinner tonight at the pool side bar and grill. Tonight was surf and turf: filet and jumbo shrimp. It was cold, but blankets were provided pool side and Ellen was reasonably warm. We opted to take the blueberry cheese cake back to our suite.

Tomorrow we take an excursion to Ephesus and the terrace houses. We’ll see the Celsus Library facade, the Grand Amphitheatre that held more than 25,000 people, the Temple of Hadrian, and pass the site of the Temple of Artemis, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Tomorrow evening Seabourn hosts an evening classical music performance at sunset in Ephesus.

We will try the colonnade restaurant sometime this week, but formal dining is far superior to pool side dining in the evening.

Ron

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