Every day we watched the ferry boats leave our beach for the others along the south shore. While I still didn't really need to sit alone on another beach somewhere, I really wanted to see some more of the island. And I wanted a boat ride!
So I concocted my plan for the next day. I bought a ticket for the last boat to leave Ornos, and for the first to return. I was going to ride all the way to the last stop, so I could get as much of a ride out of it as possible!
The ad hoc ticket booth was run by the two men who drove the boats. Both were probably in their 60s or so. One told me it was a "cat-a-STROPH" that I didn't have a boyfriend. He then proceeded to tell me how he spends half the year in Greece and the other half in Thailand, and demonstrated his command of the Thai language, while telling me I should go to Thailand with him. Ew. Creepy.
The other boat owner was a much more grandfatherly man in a blue Gilligan-type hat. He looked like he had been doing this for years: his skin had the leathery tan of decades of harsh sun, his eyes squinted from too many years of bright sun and no sunglasses. He just shook his head at the first guy.
I went back to our spot on the beach and pulled out my watercolors.
I had a few hours before my boat was going to leave. The boats just looked so cool, and we had our usual front row seats to watch!
This one was definitely my favorite.
The creepy guy loaded up his boat to go first. One thing I do have to say to his credit: he was very meticulous about making sure everyone took their shoes off before climbing aboard his boat! Bryant would approve. :)
Then the old sailor in the blue hat made his way to his boat. He looked over at my sketchpad, and got the biggest grin on his face: I was painting his boat! He looked so proud!
We all boarded, and I got to see what the rest of the boat looked like...so cute!
TONS of people crowded on the boat- I was amazed at how many fit! I had a conversation with a couple from, can you believe it, Brooklyn! We stopped at a number of beaches: Paragka, Paradise, Super Paradise (yes, you can see how touristy these places are, just by the names!), Agrari, and finally, Elia. The bays that they were in weren't filled with anchored boats like Ornos, but really, the view wasn't all that different. Thatched roofed bars were more prominent, and Paradise and Super Paradise already had dance music thumping early in the afternoon. Some ridiculously expensive-looking houses were under construction. (hm. Prior to our week at Spannocchia I might have called them villas!)
When we arrived at Elia, I walked the full length of the beach, just to see it.
A few jetskis circled around, and a parasailing boat zoomed back and forth.
Already in the early afternoon I was feeling like I'd had too much sun. The accumulative effect of the entire week was making me quite lobster-like. So rather than finish up my watercolor, I set everything down and stayed in the water. When I swam along the rocky coast that projected out to the west, it felt nicer, less beach-developed.
I didn't have a watch, so just paid attention at a certain point to any indication of a shuttle boat that may be heading back. They all were anchored just a bit off shore, where the drivers must have just relaxed in the shade of their little cubbies.
At one point one of the drivers started up his engine and coasted into shore. I swam back, and climbed aboard, and asked if the boat was going back to Ornos. The driver said no, so I thanked him, and went back on to the beach. A few minutes later the driver called out to me (it took me a minute to realize he was talking to me!) and started motioning. I thought he needed me to get out of the way, that I was too close to the boat or something. So I started to move away, and then realized he was motioning for me to get on the boat!
OK, now I was a bit confused. So I asked again, Ornos? Then he backed up, and pulled up next to another boat, the one I was painting earlier! The old man in the blue hat helped me onto his boat, which wasn't leaving for another half hour or so!
His English wasn't much better than my Greek, so conversation was a bit stilted. He offered me some water from his thermos cooler, and I thanked him, but motioned to my own water bottle. So he nodded, then pulled out a little box with little white powder-sugar-coated cubes, about the size of the boxed chocolates that grandparents keep around the house. He offered me one, and I said no, thank you, but he offered again. I realized that I didn't know what customs were in Greece and didn't want to offend him, so I took one. It had a soft, gelatinous but crumbly texture, and little pieces of...strawberry?...in it, and was ridiculously sweet! I didn't realize so much sugar could be condensed into such a little space!
I think I must have looked like I felt- that I'd taken in far too much sun, and was probably dehydrated as well. But I felt much better after a little water, sugar and shade! (thank you!)
Soon it was time to start picking everyone up at all the beaches to return back to Ornos. I claimed a prime seat up in the front so I could see everything.
The water here really is incredible.
And so close to shore it still had that aquamarine color to it- not the deep blue of the deeper water.
Sigh. These were some of my last glimpses of the shoreline of Mykonos.
Our flight left first thing the next morning, so this is it for daylight hours in the Greek islands for us!
So I concocted my plan for the next day. I bought a ticket for the last boat to leave Ornos, and for the first to return. I was going to ride all the way to the last stop, so I could get as much of a ride out of it as possible!
The ad hoc ticket booth was run by the two men who drove the boats. Both were probably in their 60s or so. One told me it was a "cat-a-STROPH" that I didn't have a boyfriend. He then proceeded to tell me how he spends half the year in Greece and the other half in Thailand, and demonstrated his command of the Thai language, while telling me I should go to Thailand with him. Ew. Creepy.
The other boat owner was a much more grandfatherly man in a blue Gilligan-type hat. He looked like he had been doing this for years: his skin had the leathery tan of decades of harsh sun, his eyes squinted from too many years of bright sun and no sunglasses. He just shook his head at the first guy.
I went back to our spot on the beach and pulled out my watercolors.
I had a few hours before my boat was going to leave. The boats just looked so cool, and we had our usual front row seats to watch!
This one was definitely my favorite.
The creepy guy loaded up his boat to go first. One thing I do have to say to his credit: he was very meticulous about making sure everyone took their shoes off before climbing aboard his boat! Bryant would approve. :)
Then the old sailor in the blue hat made his way to his boat. He looked over at my sketchpad, and got the biggest grin on his face: I was painting his boat! He looked so proud!
We all boarded, and I got to see what the rest of the boat looked like...so cute!
TONS of people crowded on the boat- I was amazed at how many fit! I had a conversation with a couple from, can you believe it, Brooklyn! We stopped at a number of beaches: Paragka, Paradise, Super Paradise (yes, you can see how touristy these places are, just by the names!), Agrari, and finally, Elia. The bays that they were in weren't filled with anchored boats like Ornos, but really, the view wasn't all that different. Thatched roofed bars were more prominent, and Paradise and Super Paradise already had dance music thumping early in the afternoon. Some ridiculously expensive-looking houses were under construction. (hm. Prior to our week at Spannocchia I might have called them villas!)
When we arrived at Elia, I walked the full length of the beach, just to see it.
A few jetskis circled around, and a parasailing boat zoomed back and forth.
Already in the early afternoon I was feeling like I'd had too much sun. The accumulative effect of the entire week was making me quite lobster-like. So rather than finish up my watercolor, I set everything down and stayed in the water. When I swam along the rocky coast that projected out to the west, it felt nicer, less beach-developed.
I didn't have a watch, so just paid attention at a certain point to any indication of a shuttle boat that may be heading back. They all were anchored just a bit off shore, where the drivers must have just relaxed in the shade of their little cubbies.
At one point one of the drivers started up his engine and coasted into shore. I swam back, and climbed aboard, and asked if the boat was going back to Ornos. The driver said no, so I thanked him, and went back on to the beach. A few minutes later the driver called out to me (it took me a minute to realize he was talking to me!) and started motioning. I thought he needed me to get out of the way, that I was too close to the boat or something. So I started to move away, and then realized he was motioning for me to get on the boat!
OK, now I was a bit confused. So I asked again, Ornos? Then he backed up, and pulled up next to another boat, the one I was painting earlier! The old man in the blue hat helped me onto his boat, which wasn't leaving for another half hour or so!
His English wasn't much better than my Greek, so conversation was a bit stilted. He offered me some water from his thermos cooler, and I thanked him, but motioned to my own water bottle. So he nodded, then pulled out a little box with little white powder-sugar-coated cubes, about the size of the boxed chocolates that grandparents keep around the house. He offered me one, and I said no, thank you, but he offered again. I realized that I didn't know what customs were in Greece and didn't want to offend him, so I took one. It had a soft, gelatinous but crumbly texture, and little pieces of...strawberry?...in it, and was ridiculously sweet! I didn't realize so much sugar could be condensed into such a little space!
I think I must have looked like I felt- that I'd taken in far too much sun, and was probably dehydrated as well. But I felt much better after a little water, sugar and shade! (thank you!)
Soon it was time to start picking everyone up at all the beaches to return back to Ornos. I claimed a prime seat up in the front so I could see everything.
The water here really is incredible.
And so close to shore it still had that aquamarine color to it- not the deep blue of the deeper water.
Sigh. These were some of my last glimpses of the shoreline of Mykonos.
Our flight left first thing the next morning, so this is it for daylight hours in the Greek islands for us!
That evening we went to the little internet cafe/bar again, and sat out on the roofdeck to play one last round of Wordthief.
*sigh*
The two weeks had really been incredible, and I was so glad to have been able to spend so much time together with my two best friends again. What a way to for us to celebrate so many years of friendship, and create wonderful memories that we'll be able to reminisce about in the future!
Thanks, AM and T! And HAPPY 30th BIRTHDAY!!!
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