Mykonos, Greece Part II
The title of this post is not referring to how often I hooked up while in Mykonos (get your mind out of the gutter 😉 ); it is referring to the fact that I rented a 3-wheel all terrain vehicle (ATV) on my second day and hopped a ferry to nearby Delos Island on my third day to explore other areas of Mykonos. The freedom and mobility of bopping about on a motorized vehicle (while wearing a helmet)⎯which I felt from the moment I hit the road⎯were really terrific and greatly enhanced my experience of the island!
It took a while for me to put myself in the seat of that ATV. The gregarious host at my hotel (a bear-ish guy whose sexual orientation I am still trying to figure out) recommended a place for me to rent a scooter 🛵⎯which I originally intended to ride⎯but they said I could not rent a scooter without an “M” (Motorcycle) license from my home state. Apparently, this is a new regulation in Greece, because my host was shocked and sent me to a second place, which told me the same thing. 🙁
THEN I was told that I could rent a (more expensive) bigger three-wheel ATV, but I could not rent the less expensive 4-wheel ATV (without an M license) because the motorcycle licensing requirement is based on the weight of the vehicle. I was skeptical at first, because it seemed oxymoronic (or just moronic)⎯and coincidentally more lucrative for the rental place⎯to prevent a person from renting a cheaper, more stable, 4-wheel vehicle without a motorcycle license while allowing that same person to rent a more expensive, larger, less stable, 3-wheel vehicle. But indeed, it turned out that is exactly how they have written this new regulation. Hopefully, they will recognize the inherent inconsistency and amend it by the time you visit. 😃
Delos Island, another of the Cycladic Islands along with Mykonos, is the mythical birthplace of Apollo, the Grecian God of the Sun, and his twin-sister, Artemis, Goddess of the Moon. In 1990, the site was added to the UNESCO World Heritage list.
As soon as I got to a bit of open road, however, I stopped thinking about all of that, knowing that it was money well spent. I zipped out around the airport to the east and then south to put myself at the nude beach about an hour or so before sunset. Yes, I said the nude beach. I don’t have much in the way of body shame (or any kind of shame), have been to an elicit nude beach or two in the U.S., and have been looking forward to the more relaxed and less puritanical take on public nudity that can be found in parts of Europe. The beach itself was beautiful and mostly empty at the late hour at which I arrived; I had a lovely 45 minutes of sunbathing (on an improvised “towel”⎯see photo) and meditation while the crystal blue water lapped at the shore in gentle waves. Right before the sun touched the ocean on the horizon, I made my way back to the non-nude part of the beach and hopped back on my ATV.
I knew it was going to be a bit more challenging riding these unfamiliar roads in the twilight and darkness, but I wasn’t about to let that stop me from exploring as much of the island as I could with my 24-hours of rental. I took a different route back to the hotel, heading north before turning back west and returning more or less toward the dead center of Mykonos Town. If I had thought to bring something warm to wear while riding after the sun went down, it would have been a perfect outing. But I made it back without catching too much of a chill, and it was a damn near perfect afternoon.
The next day, a friend and I rode the ATV to a beautiful area and lookout point north of Mykonos Town. Unfortunately, just as we reached the lookout, my friend realized he had dropped his wallet at some point on the ride out there, and we spent the next couple of hours retracing our path (twice!) in an effort to find his wallet. THAT was not fun; but there is nothing worse than losing your wallet while on vacation, so we had to make every effort to retrieve it. 🪪 We did not find his wallet out on the road; however, someone had turned it in at the police station (yea!), and “all’s well that ends well.” (Does anyone else struggle with how to spell “yeah” and “yea” to achieve the different pronunciations and meanings?!? I DO!!! My take is that “yeah” is the pronunciation with a short “a”⎯as in The Beach Boys song in the title of this post⎯and “yea” is the pronunciation with a long ā, like when you vote “yea or nay” or want to cheer. 📣 )
Later that afternoon, we returned the ATV and hopped on the ferry over to Delos Island. I feel like ruins are one of those things that either you find interesting and enjoy or you don’t. And I think it is partly dependent on how much you enjoy history in general and maybe partly on how active your imagination is. If you have a vivid imagination and try to conjure up what life was like for the people who inhabited the now “ruined” structures (a friend who I showed my pictures from that day joked that he was sorry the buildings were all ruined before I got to see them 😋), the whole site and experience can really come to life. But it also depends on the ruins at which one is looking. By the end of my two hours on Delos Island, which does have interesting ruins with varying structures, I started passing on the ruins of four plain walls that were once someone’s home, because I had seen plenty of those, and there aren’t really enough distinguishing features to spark the imagination.
But Delos had plenty that do⎯and I found it rather fascinating that there is active archaeological studies still taking place on the island and we chatted with a couple of the archaeologists who are currently living on the island to conduct these studies. I tend to think of all of the archaeological work as being finished at sites like these, but ’tis not so. And there’s a life lesson or life hack in there somewhere, so let’s make that TRAVEL TIP #2: Be curious: there’s always more to see, more to discover, and more to LEARN!
As always, if you click on any of the pictures above or the IMAGES picture on the home page, you should be taken to a gallery containing more pictures. Please explore and post your reactions/responses in the comment section below. This site is designed to become a dialogue or group conversation about life and discovering, creating, and preparing for its Third Act! #NoDayBuToday
Ooo, one more thing: Borrowing a phrase from Ms. San Diego, I want to introduce a little, geographic, brainteaser game called “Where In The World is Scott Schoettes?!?” (or “WITWISS?” for short). I actually started playing this game with a group of friends on WhatsApp a few years ago, when I was traveling a lot for work (and now everyone in the group does it when they travel, substituting their initials for mine at the end). Here’s how it works: Whenever I am traveling to a new location before my next post, I will announce the game with a graphic (that I still need to devise), so for now it will be: 🌎🌍🌏, along with a clue, such as: “This island is famous for its delicious tomatoes.” (that’s the actual clue for this installment of the game 😊)
If you think you have the answer, you can leave it as a comment or keep it to yourself. The answer will be obvious when I next post. There are no prizes (sorry 😕); just the satisfaction of having guessed correctly and knowing in advance the location from which I will next post! 🤗
Barbarat
June 28, 2024Great read! The depth and clarity of your analysis are impressive. If anyone is interested in diving deeper into this subject, check out this link: DISCOVER MORE. Looking forward to everyone’s thoughts!
Bret Marnell
November 2, 2023Ahh, the search for a wallet. Good times.