Yep – here we are again!  And it is Sunday.  And no, we are not renting another car!  Today we plan to visit the Maritime Museum that was closed when we tried to visit in November (they close 10/31) as well as Gioras wood bakery – also closed in November.

Fortunately, we have docked at the New Port today – so we don’t have to fight with the tendering process (only one more port for that – Cannes – and we have a strategy all planned out!) – we only have to hop a shuttle to get to the Old Port.  The museum doesn’t open until 10:30, giving us plenty of time for the gym and coffee and just really hanging around a bit.  When we finally do go outside, the shuttle line is really long, but the buses come pretty quickly, and we are in town in a jiffy with a lot of time to waste.

So, we go back to the little café we hid out in when the weather was so awful in November last year.  2 Cappuccinos (Yep, it’s Mykonos!  5 euros each!) and a darling waitress from Serbia who talks to us for a long time.  Tomorrow is her last day of work – winter season begins on November 1, and she is going home. Then she will go to Thailand.  Which of course begins a whole discussion of when and where and we suggest she visit Chiang Mai and tell her we will be there as well as Bangkok which is where she is planning to stay for a while to learn the language.  Would that not be wild if we see her somewhere there?

Besides the conversation, it is so nice to sit here in better weather and enjoy our coffee and people watch.  The walking tours. The individual ship people.  Other island visitors.  The locals doing their best to swerve around the googly eyed tourists. It is quite the entertainment – and this isn’t even what the island is known for – we can’t even imagine it at night.  Crazy town for certain (as this one doll in a shop reflects!).

Time wasted, we slowly walk the little cobblestone streets browsing the shop windows and restaurants.  Still too early for the museum, we find Gioras, open, yes! And walk in through the short doorframe, navigating down the 5 steep stone stairs to ensure they will remain open after we visit the museum, talking to a lovely woman whom we assume is one of the family members who has owned and operated the bakery  for over 200 years.  Gioras (the Mykonos dialect for George, the baker) is one of the last wood bakeries in the Cyclades and has existed since medieval times, dating back to the 15^th century.  The entire building is hand made of stone, hay and wood – and has remained so since the beginning of its existence.  The wood used for the ovens is recycled left over wood from all over the island.  As it turns out, it is a good thing we are here now, as they close November 3 for the season – which is why we missed them last year!  Timing is everything, as we know very well.

Reassured, we head back to the museum which opens right on time.  It is a sweet little museum with 2 rooms and lots and lots of models – mostly of the Venetian ships of old, with the 170 oarsmen situated on 3 levels.  The detail is amazing.  The best part though is a little garden area outback with a lighthouse light and lots of different statuary and nautical items.  It’s such a lovely day, spending time outdoors wandering through the garden is perfect.

Especially perfect as our timing was impeccable.  As we are entering back into the museum, here comes one of the walking tours with 30 people cramming into the little space and milling about heading to the garden. Sweet! We visit the one room we didn’t see, snap a quick shot of a great fishing boat model and we are outta there!

Now it’s back to Gioras for cheese pies. We had a debate about eating them there or bringing them back and opted for take away.  Also indulging in 2 scrumptious looking chocolate nut cookies, we have them wrapped up along with our 2 types of cheese pie and head off into the sunny day, happily stocked up for snacks on the ship.

Since we are close, we walk to the windmills – why not? A visit to Mykonos requires a windmill photograph.  Dodging all the other ship people, who really are not polite in terms of picture taking and then take for-freaking-ever to take the shot, we manage to snap some decent photos of the windmills and Delos across the water.

Then it is back to wandering the streets, taking photos of picturesque little houses and lanes, finally landing back at Souvlaki Story for lunch.

We had passed this place a few times and decided we’d just grab a pita sandwich here.  It’s reasonably priced (except the wine and beer) and we were in the mood for souvlaki.  Yikes – should have checked the size of these things though!  We made the tactical error of ordering 2 – only really needed one, tbh.  Sigh.  At least we didn’t order them with fries inside. We can be thankful of that at least!

Totally and thoroughly stuffed, we begin our walk back to the shuttle, having a discussion along the way whether to walk back to the ship or not. We end up deciding not to chance that narrow windy road – even though we’d really like the exercise.  It gets really tight in some places – where there isn’t room for 2 cars much less people – so we err on the side of caution and decide on the shuttle.

But of course, before we go, we have to stop at Boboulas, “the least gourmet restaurant on the island.”  We love that place.  Right on the edge of the old port, with a lovely outside seating area up on a raised patio, we relax with a glass of wine (after a long conversation about what type of chardonnay the wine actually is, the waiter assuring me it is good, then giving me a “shot of wine” to taste in an adorable miniature beer stein) and beer, watching the masses pass us by heading toward the shuttle.  Just listening to conversations is extra entertainment.  People can be so humorous.

On our way back toward the shuttle, we find some fun sculptures along the old port walkways, then hop on the shuttle, riding back to the ship. Passing the few brave souls who are attempting the walk back to the ship, we congratulate ourselves on a good decision.  I mentioned the wind earlier, and it is wicked – especially out on the road to the New Port.  We would have been blown to smithereens walking back. We salve our walking ego by strolling down the promenade at the new port and through a little marina at the end of the walkway.  At least we can stretch our legs a little more and get the fresh air and breeze, uh, wind!

The rest of the afternoon is spent reading, writing, walking and generally just tootling around the ship.  Another normal evening of gym, dinner, show and balcony.  All’s well here in our Mediterranean world.