It's the Little Things That Matter: Mykonos

The next morning we made our way into Mykonos for brunch.

During the day, more so than when we were crushed by the throngs of partying masses at night, I loved the small, densely packed town. Its streets reminded me of the Amalfi Coast and Capri, but with a distinctly Cycladean flair.

The whitewash was meticulously maintained, which I marveled at, given the constant foot traffic through these alleys. With the warm temperatures even at this early hour, it felt like it was a very purposeful effort, designed to ward off the heat. (or maybe it was just the crunchie in me, steeped in the tenets of solar design?) ;)

The town opened and closed around us at various points, allowing for a varied experience that was sometimes my only source of navigation as we made our way through its winding streets.

At times it was very lush with bougainvillas and all sorts of viney plants.

At times it was very stark in its whitewashed purity.

At times it was the paving that was so striking. (I know, who else would take so many pictures of pavement?) :P

The whitewash of the walls carried right down to the street. They maintained the clean white here, too, and even used it to delineate the boundaries of the main thoroughfares and the more "private" pieces of pavement!

There's a real artform to it; the whitewash creates idealized paving stones that may or may not correspond to the actual stones below.

It reminded me of a similar approach in Victorian-era American homes, such as the Susan B. Anthony House: it was not uncommon to stain brick houses an even red, then paint on the mortar joints to look like an idealized, continuous running bond, despite the fact that walls of that height have bond courses in them!

For that matter, women who pluck their entire eyebrows then paint them back on do the same thing, too!

But what really captured my heart were the colors! The bright, emphatic colors, so carefully chosen, or as a palette developed collectively over the years, were so beautiful against the clean, sun-streaked white and the magnificently blue skies!