Wandering in Mykonos

Tuesday March 28 was WINDY in Mykonos (after all it is known as "island of the winds").  However, there was lots of sun on the white-washed homes.  It was cool-a high of 13C.  We had been contemplating getting up early to try and catch the fishermen selling their fish at the port.  However, we weren't sure the boats would have been out due to the wind, and we didn't really want to cart a fish around for a few hours. It was mid-morning when we headed into the old town to explore.

Alain petting the cat right outside the door of the apartment

Side view of the building with our apartment- we are on the top level

The houses and buildings on Mykonos are all white and are constantly being painted.  There are two houses just around the corner from our apartment that are very lovely.

Nice real estate in Mykonos

Neighbouring houses

View just turning the corner of our street heading downhill

This time we found the correct route, saving ourselves considerable time and effort.  It was a quick walk into the old town.  We passed many nice residences- a lot of blue doors and shutters.  There must be a rule that houses/buildings can only be painted white and shutters/doors either blue or red.

Typical residence in Mykonos

We found a street with two of the three bakeries in Mykonos.  The third, which is in a different direction was the one we went to on Monday.  The first bakery was an traditional bakery with delicious Greek breads and sweets.  We bought some bread and two small spinach pies as part of our dinner at the apartment.  We have decided to have dinner out on Wednesday.

Traditional bakery

We then checked in at the second bakery called Il Forno di Gerasimo.  It had coffee as well as both Italian and Greek pastries.  Apparently, they also make pizzas, but they were not going to be available for a few more weeks.

Coffee bar at Il Forno di Gerasimo

View into bakery from front coffee bar

The coffee was fine and less expensive than at the port.  We got a few treats as well.

Alain spotted a pair of twin cats sunning themselves.  They were very healthy.

Twins- looking good!

We had decided to walk to the part of Mykonos known as Little Venice, so named as the houses are perched right over the water.  We walked along the seawall to get there.  

Yes, it is windy and the sea is rough

White-washed churches

View from Little Venice

We walked all the way to the famous windmills of Mykonos.  A few of the windmills have been turned into private homes.

A close up

Little Venice area and windmills

Homes right on the water 

One windmill had clearly been turned into a private residence.  It had a private property sign on its entrance and an extension (to the right in the picture).  It was freshly painted white.  Would love to see the inside!!

This sign says private property.

There was a man taking a picture of a woman, who had taken off her jacket.  They asked me to take their picture together.  They were visiting from India.

Taking picture near the windmills

Another view of the windmills

We headed into the centre part of town by another route.  Passed lovely squares and homes.  It is very quiet in Mykonos in the off-season.  We had been hoping to run into Petros (Peter) the Pelican, the mascot of Mykonos.  The original Petros was a great white pelican who had been injured in 1958 and nursed back to health by a local fisherman.  It remained on the island supported by locals. Unfortunately, Petros was hit by a car in December 1985.  Apparently, the whole of Mykonos went into mourning.  Jackie Kennedy-Onassis donated another pelican to the island, named Irini (Irene).  It is said that the Hamburg Zoo also donated a pelican who became known as Petros II.  Apparently, there are now three pelicans who hang out in the port area.  We haven't seen any of them.  No doubt the wind and relatively cool weather plus the lack of tourists might have something to do with their disappearance from view.

Interesting square

More white and blue

The sky got bluer as the day wore on

Small church

We were hungry by mid afternoon, so ended up at Madoupas, a traditional Greek tavern on the water's edge.  It had wonderful old photos of Mykonos and a number of locals were eating there.  The food was very good and reasonably priced compared to the other restaurants on the waterfront.  Alain and I shared a very large bowl of chicken soup flavoured with lemon, and a plate of Mykonian sausage (an island specialty) and frites.  Very good.

At Madoupas

Local sausage and frites

Chicken soup

Lovely old chandelier

We walked back to the apartment, noticing lots of people painting their stores for the season.  Most are still closed or in the process of being fixed up and stocked with merchandise.  The store owners of the few stores that were open said most would be open just before Easter.  A lot of folks are employed painting or doing construction right now.

Painting the outside of a shop

Just a few minutes from our apartment is the site of a summer theatre.

The whole world's a stage

View of the summer theatre

We rested up and had a dinner of leek and spinach pies; a tomato and cucumber salad with potatoes and beer.   It has turned out that what is a party town in the summer is a place to chill in the early spring.