With the land portion of our trip done, it was time to move on to the sea portion, with 7 stops. We flew from Zurich to Rome to board the ship, and started off with 2 days at sea before we arrived at Stop #1 - Mykonos, Greece. Lynnette and Bill joined us on the cruise.
Our first meal onboard - the yummy Guy's Burger!
The famous Carnival melting chocolate hot lava cake
This was our view for 2 full days
Off the coast of Sicily, we passed this active volcano- Stromboli - one of 3 active volcanos in Italy. There is a small village of people - about 500, that live on the island still
This was a learn to dance class. Can you spot Shelley? Or Lynnette?
VIDEO:
This ship was about 99.65% all Americans, and the average age was way higher than a typical Carnival cruise
Lynnette looking into the camera as we wait for our dinner to arrive
We finally arrived in Mykonos, where we took a ferry to the city center and then boarded another larger boat for the 30 ride to Delos - an island off Mykonos. Delos is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Delos is one of the most important mythological, historical, and archaeological sites in Greece. Between the 3rd and 9th century BC, Delos was a bustling city and considered the most sacred of all the surrounding islands and cities. Why? Because Delos is where Apollo, the god of light, and the goddess Artemis, were born. As such, no mortals could be born on the island, and no mortals could die there. So dying people were taken to a neighboring island when they were about to die.
Around 100 BC however, the island became an island of rich businessmen and full of prosperity and soon became the greatest commercial center of the world. This was also the downfall of Delos. Other civilizations such as the Slavs, Saracens, Pontas and other pirates, and Byzantines attacked Delos on several occasions and looted and caused the city to fall into a decline and eventually was abandoned. The temple columns were burned for lime and houses were burned and destroyed.
In 1872, excavations started and found a lot of ruins and still continues today.
At first, Delos doesn't look like much. But it's huge
Pieces of columns are laying around everywhere
The famous Lions of Delos - there were 9-12 lions that guarded the Terrace of Apollo and was dedicated to him in 600 BC. Today, only 7 are left. They face East towards the sacred lake of Delos, where Apollo was "born"
VIDEO:
This was an underground water system
We then headed back to Mykonos and walked around the narrow alleyways and tried to find the famous windmills of Mykonos. The windmills can be seen from all around the city, and were built by the Venetians in the 16th Century and 7 remain, and were used to mill wheat.
We found them!
We then headed back to the ship after a great day and great weather!
