A Hop to Pre-season Mykonos

Hello from Mykonos!

I booked a short stop in Mykonos for a few different reasons. One of them was wanting to see exactly how closed down the island gets in the off-season. As I suspected, it’s very! Having said that, Mykonos still feels quite buzzy. Everyone’s getting ready to open back up so there’s building work and cleaning and refurbs going on all around.

A little too close to home, though. I booked a space away from Mykonos town that was supposed to be peaceful. But there’s been painting and drilling and sanding and workmen stationed outside of my spot all week.

So much for the privacy, quiet and unobstructed sea view. Plus it’s been super windy and some of the shutters that I can’t reach don’t seem properly secured. They’ve been banging against the walls with the gales and my stress levels have been somewhat high with all the noise!

Anyway, such is life when you’re always on the move. Sometimes it works out perfectly and sometimes not so much. Speaking of which…

Travelling with Cats…Again

My cats are getting better at the ferries. Every time we do another trip and live in another place they seem to trust me even more. A friend in Paros was a bit taken aback that I don’t keep them in for a week whenever we move.

But they’re used to it by now. They’re intelligent creatures and they know where to come back to. Plus, they know which side their bread’s buttered! Why go back to a life of discomfort and hunger when they can trot back to me and have food and a cosy bed?!

Anyway, they were fairly calm and quiet for the short ferry journey over. For quick hops or longer ferry rides where I can get a pet cabin, I don’t give them any kind of sedative. We just have to get through the on and off process which they hate.

I experimented with a sedative from the vet for a longer 2-leg journey to our winter home from Andros and then again for Jemima Puddleduck on a longer trip when we left Paros. (Little Miss Black, the gentlest kitty ever, looked totally stoned and got quite aggressive when I gave her a tablet, so now she does without.)

It’s partly to keep them calm for their benefit, but also so they don’t scream on the ferry and disrupt other people. To be honest, I think I’m more worried about being noisy than other people are bothered by it. Anyway, I’m still deciding whether to see if the vet here has a more natural alternative or just go without and hope for the best on the next trip.

Hiking on Delos Island

But back to here, and next to hedonistic Mykonos is the small but very sacred island of Delos. It’s been important since Archaic and Classical times as both a commercial port and a religious centre. It’s also the mythical birthplace of Apollo, the god of light. I’ve been before but wanted to visit the parts I didn’t get to on the previous guided tour.

Luckily boats started running there again from 1st April, so I was able to get across this week. I got a bit of sunburn, too, since the weather jumped from sub-zero to 18 degrees! (Plenty hot enough for this Scottish lass!) It’s worse in the summer, so cover up if you go.

Anyway, it was great. I walked up a mahoosive hill with granite steps all the way. Then, I found a secret path across the rocks and saw the Temple of Hercules. On the way, I passed a load of temples and areas that I didn’t get to see before.

At the end, I still had time to visit the stone lions and the house with the mosaic floor and other parts that I had seen before. The whole place is an outdoor museum and UNESCO World Heritage site. I highly recommend visiting if you go to Mykonos.

Mykonos Isn’t Open for Business

I was really hoping that the hair salon here would be open by the time I arrived. But they’re currently refurbing and aren’t opening the doors to customers until 20th. It’s a bummer because they did a total transformation of my hair in the autumn. Put some blond thingys in there so I don’t have to keep dying my greys. Honestly, it’s been great.

Plus they’re the first place I’ve been to in my whole life that got what I was trying to say about having wavy hair. They were like, well duh of course you have curly hair. So, just need to wait a bit longer to get a little colour touch-up. Might pop somewhere else on the island to lob some off the ends in the meantime and then come back in May. Meanwhile, the brilliant Ciel Spa IS open, and I got a fab massage.

New Posts This Week

I’ve not had my most productive week ever, Little Black has started to wake me up around 4am for some unknown reason. But I still have some new Tinos blogs posted for you if you fancy a read (or just a look at the pretty pictures). There’s this one about hiking round the island and this general island guide.

Really do make a stop there if you come to Mykonos, it’s totally worth it.

Ok that’s it for this week, nothing earth-shattering to report. But I’ll see you next week for more tales!

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