can you believe this is my last US meal before embarking on a Mediterranean get away with my travel buddy Gladys? i got started on 7 Nov 2012 with the ubiquitous shuttle from Ventura to LAX, always a pleasure (...), got through security with a minimum of stress and headed for a food court to prepare for my KLM flight to Amsterdam. i have some tummy issues, so no dairy, no raw stuff, nothing fun or interesting to eat for 24 hrs before and during my flights. hot dog, fries, GLASS OF WINE, and that's brunch. got on the plane, took a benadryl and snoozed off and on until i got to Amsterdam; made it onto my connection and eventually found myself flying over GREECE!!!! airport/ship transfers are never pretty or fun, but after a (ahem) while, i was ON THE SHIP and drinking more wine with Gladys.
no, this isn't a portrait of Gladys, but of our Gracious Queen, Elizabeth II, and WE WERE ON MS QUEEN ELIZABETH!!! words cannot express the ambiance...Cunard is definitely the way to go, altho Queen Mary II passengers in the Caribbean are suffering from a touch of norovirus, i understand.
i'm wearing a fetching @Magellan's top and @Chico's pants and i've decided that they are worth the price...
aside from my tummy issues, i have sleep issues and awake issues and jetlag issues, the list goes on and on. anyway, i found a drug mentioned in one of the travel blogs that was recommended for jetlag and talked my doctor into giving me a prescription for it. Modafinil is the name and it works like a champ. i am usually subhuman for three days after a long plane ride and that really cuts into my enjoyment of a European trip. i took one pill after room service woke us up at zero dark thirty or whatever it was, and i was awake and ready to go.
Mykonos is a wonderful island and is exactly what i expected from a Greek island, for some reason--this cruise took place at the absolute END of the season and there was no one there but us. of course there were lots of US but no other cruise ships. i love architecture, churches, art, animals, flowers, landscape, people, not necessarily in that order, and i love to take photos. i took about 2000 on this two week trip. i'm going to share only my very favs here.
we hiked from the dock into the little town and then hiked all over the little town itself. we had a wonderful guide, Mia, who lives part time in Mykonos and part time in Athens. she, as are all the European guides i've ever had, could teach college level classes in history, geography, sociology, political science, etc. excellent introduction to Cunard's shore excursions and to Greece.
this little chapel, almost at the end of our walking tour, is one typical of those built by Greek fishermen and/or their families honoring a Saint who has blessed them and their pursuits, opened on name days when feasting is done...
after our march through Mykonos, i asked Mia for a restaurant recommendation. she said guides took their lives in their hands when making recommendations, but... we found ourselves at the cafe pictured above and we were the only aliens in the place! our kind and helpful server brought us WINE, brought me fried fresh anchovies and a Greek salad. i fell in love with fried sardines/anchovies on the Amalfi Coast years ago on a trip with another travel buddy, Barbara, and have been on the lookout for them ever since. the entire assemblage was incredibly amused when i arranged the table for my glamour shot. i don't read Greek, but i'm making a wild stab at the name of the place, and i think it is Ivanos. anyway, it was fabulous. wish i was there right now, as a matter of fact.
and that pretty much ended our trip to Mykonos. we strolled back to the ship and i took a million more photos and off we steamed or motored or dieseled or whatever they call it these days.
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