Day 33 - Saturday July 31, 2010 - Mykonos to Athens Greece to Philadelphia to Ft Lauderdale

Saturday July 31, 2010 Mykonos to Athens to Philadelphia to Ft. Lauderdale (There is no place like home!)

Pictures: Home Sweet Home!

Sunrise over the Atlantic Ocean from our condo

The Venetian - we live on top!

Las Olas Wall at the beach

Flights 16, 17, and 18 to complete my around-the-world trip traveling 6,099 miles. I've traveled 27,550 miles and visited 5 countries over 33 days. Not a long time in each country but it was GREAT. I've now "ticked off" 72 countries on my "Visit 100 Countries in a Lifetime" list. I guess this is part of my bucket list. Don't want to accomplish this too quickly unless I decide to extend my bucket list to "Visit 200 Countries in a Lifetime"!!! (:-) By my count there are 241 countries in the world right now so that is doable!

We had a wake-up call for 5 am. At least we got to see one sunrise on Mykonos.
We were ready by 5:30 and went to check-out from the hotel. Geeezzz – the bar bill was a lot!

The taxi arrived in no time and it was only a 5 minute drive to the small Mykonos airport. The gate wasn’t open yet so we had to wait for that. It was no surprise that our luggage was overweight so we had to pay 16 euros for that. Funny how it worked out – we ended up with 27 euro cents after the taxi and baggage charge.
We got through security, onto the bus to go to the plane and we left about 10 minutes late. It was only a 20 minute flight and we had plenty of time in Athens before our flight to the US. We retrieved our luggage and went to US Airways to check in. They had switched our seats so we could sit together but they were reassigned so we had to change seats again once we got on so we could sit together.
We went to the British Airways Lounge since we are flying Business Class, used the internet, had coffee and relaxed.

Went through security and to the gate. Looks like a packed flight. Only issue was our seats. I had changed our seats since we had different reservations so we could sit together. Somehow US Airways changed that. We figured out that it was because of the air marshall sitting next to me. He wasn't very friendly and wouldn't change seats with us. Oh well. We ended up spending the 10.5 hour flight from Athens to Philadelphia watching movies, reading, and I got all of my pictures organized in a trip album. That took a couple of hours as I must have 100 pictures!!!!

I used the world map in the US Airways magazine to star planning my next ATW trip. This next one may be the South American capitals. Belize, San Sanvador (El Sanvador), then Bogata (Columbia), Caracas (Venezuela), Rio de Janiero (Brazil) and then maybe to Manila (Phillipines). I'm also searching for an "enlightenment" class in Thailand to go to - intrigued by the Buddhists. I'm not sure of other Asian or European or African stops. Will give that some thought soon as I may do a southern hemisphere trip during the winter while it is summer there.

We arrived in Philadelphia early but typical of US Airways our gate wasn't available so we had to wait and ended up being late. Went through immigration swiftly since we were first off the plane. Then the wait for the bags to arrive. Typical of Philadelphia and their slow baggage system. They finally came out, we retrieved them, went through customs and gave US Airways our bags for the next flight to Ft Lauderdale.

We went to the Envoy Lounge but they told me that was only for outbound passengers but we could use the US Airways Club. So we went there, had a drink and snacks (just what both of us need - more food!), caught up on email and recharged our computers. I checked my cell phone message and was surprised - only 2 over the last 33 days so people actually listened to my "away message"!

Our flight to Ft Lauderdale left on time and we both crashed. I felt like I had been drugged. I guess it was the one cocktail in the US Airways lounge! Twenty-four hours of travel is a lot. Being back at home in my own bed is such a good feeling after such an extended trip.

Arrival in Ft Lauderdale was uneventful. We retrieved our bags and got a taxi to take us home. It always feels so good to be at home in your own bed. Nothing like it. Didn't do much packing - just washed up, shaved, and then straight to bed for a good night's sleep after an exciting fourth trip around the world. Dreaming of the next one!

Day 32 - Friday July 30, 2010 - Mykonos, Greece

Friday July 30, 2010 – Last day on Mykonos

Left: Elia Beach

Right: With Yiannis, our entertaining waiter at Fato a Mano in Mykonos

I woke up with the sun about 7 but didn’t get up until 8. Tim slept in longer. Another hotel but beautiful day on Mykonos.

I did my computer things, had breakfast and then got ready to leave for our last day at Elia. We left on the 11 am bus and were able to get a good spot on the beach. What a glorious day. The beach is beautiful - sandy - the water cobalt blue, a bit chilly but refreshing, and the lounges and "huts" are perfect for relaxing.

We decided to eat at a different restaurant for lunch - Capelayo (which means the mast of a ship). It was good. We split a Capelayo salad, I had seafood souvlaki and Tim had black pasta with crayfish. Delicious. We had a great bottle of Greek white wine.

Tim wanted to leave on the 6:25 bus since we have to pack tonight - but it was absolutely packed. People standing everywhere. They opened the back door and "pushed" more people on where there was no room. They turned about 12 people away since there was no room. We lucked out as the man standing by the back door yelled for the driver to stop at the round-about and since we were seated right there we got off and we able to walk down "the hill". Love it.

I had a banana daiquiri and swam to cool off in the hotel pool. About 8 we went to shower and get ready for our last sunset on Mykonos and another dinner at Fato a Mano. We stayed for both of the shows and they were doing of filming of the party and shows. We left about 9:45 pm and headed into the city to Fato a Mano. We hoped that Yiannis will be able to wait on our table again.

As we arrived Yiannis spotted us and unlocked the special balcony for us and we had our special table again. Yiannis was very happy as the business venture he is working on with his brother is coming to fruition. We are happy for him.

He likes Alexander the Great and takes a "strategic approach" to many things - like trying to get a date with Nancy who works at the restaurant next door. He has other business ideas including starting a magazine for young men. With his ideas, energy, and positive attitude Yiannis will be able to make a difference. He gave me his FaceBook address and I invited him to be a friend.

Yiannis made recommendations for dinner. We started with tomato balls which were really fried tomatoes and beef carpaccio with parmasan cheese. For dinner Yiannis recommended that I get the pork with pomegranate sauce. Tim had prawns that were delicious. Also another bottle of Greek white wine. We've enjoyed the wine so much this trip.

Yiannis brought us a fruit platter with caramel and honey drizzle which we enjoyed. We engaged in a lot of conversation with him which we greatly enjoyed. We went to the front of the restaurant across the street and had our picture made with him (above).

Back to the hotel about 12:30, we finished packing and to bed about 1 am. We have a wake-up call for 5 am - ugh!

Day 31 - Thursday, July 29, 2010 - Mykonos, Greece

Thursday July 29, 2010

Left: Our favorite bartender at Elysium - Emile. Always doing something precocious with his fans.

Middle: Tim with our favorite waiter at Elysium - Dimitri

We slept until 10 am today – amazing to both of us. Off to breakfast, update email and then we caught the noon bus to Elia Beach. It was packed. And when we got to the beach, all of the umbrellas and chairs on the first 3 rows were already taken, so we had to settle for the 4th row. A bit windy at the beach but otherwise enjoyable. Reading, napping, listening to music, talking to others. I finished my book as did Tim. So far, I’ve ready 4 books on this trip and have 1 to keep me company on the trip home on Saturday.

We went to lunch at 3:30. Not our favorite meal. We started with stuffed mushrooms which were good. Then we both had pasta. Tim’s was green pasta with fish and I had linguini with seafood. Mine was good but a little sandy in a couple of bites.
We stayed at the beach until 7:30 and took the bus back into town. It was close to sunset time so instead of showering we got our last bottle of Greek wine and headed to the veranda to enjoy the sun setting. There were no clouds and it was once again beautiful.

We showered and dressed and went to the last show by the pool. We talked to Eugene, the dancer, and Larry, from Microsoft. We had the front desk make reservations for us at Gola, which is UP “the hill” from the hotel and only a 10 minute walk from the hotel. It was just past the Starbucks we had patronized and a beautiful space. High on the hill overlooking the harbor. Even had a pool but Andreas, our waiter from Italy, told us “it is forbidden”! Apparently for some reason it cannot be used, but pretty to look at.

Dinner at Gola was excellent. We started with martinis. For starters Tim had squid that was excellent and I actually don’t remember what I had . For main course, Tim had the lobster and pasta dish and I had a pork filet with truffle sauce which was excellent. We tried a Greek red wine which was almost a rose and pretty good. For dessert we had their special dessert which was semi-fredo, an ice cream dish made from yogurt with crunchy things in it. By the end of the dinner, we were “toast” too!

We walked down “the hill” back to the hotel about 12:30 am. Yeah – I didn’t have to walk up “the hill” at all today. Funny how I revel in the smallest things!

Right to sleep, exhausted from all of this relaxation on Mykonos. We look forward to our last day on the island with great anticipation.

Day 30 - Wednesday July 28, 2010 - Mykonos, Greece

Mykonos July 28, 2010

We got up about 9:30, had breakfast and went into town. Got some water at the mini-market and headed to the bus station. The bus was there waiting and soon we were on our way to Elia. Another absolutely glorious day at the beach. Such a pretty place.
I had another massage in early afternoon from the Chinese massage therapist. He was really good and it made my back feel so much better. We read, listened to music. Swam, and napped until 3 and then went for lunch at the nice restaurant. We had an Elia salad and a plate of mussels. For lunch Tim has moussaka and I had a pork steak. Delicious.

We stayed at the beach until 6:25. The late afternoon is the best – absolute best. We enjoy that the most. The bus was packed and many had to stand. We got off at the round-about again and walked “down” to the hotel. No Starbucks today though. We had banana and strawberry daiquiris and swam in the pool. The pool was so refreshing after being at the beach.

We showered and dressed and went for sunset cocktails. This was the most beautiful of the sunsets. Clear and the colors after the sun set were beautiful. Even though we see this every day in Florida, we enjoy watching this. We saw the early show at the hotel (the same one as last Wednesday). We are wondering if they will all repeat now. We went into town so I could get a Mykonos T-shirt and then went to Katrin for our 10 pm reservations.

We were greeted warmly when we arrived – they know us know. “Mrs” went screaming across the restaurant to “Mr.” - - - “Lorenzo – Lorenzo”! That was funny. They sat us at our prominent table right by the front door. Mr. came over to talk to us and I asked if he had any fresh fish – and he said “Of course – a red snapper for you”. We ended up letting him choose our entire dinner. The first course was a fish dish in a large shell baked with béchamel cheese on top – delicious with shrimp, mussels, fish and scallop. It was wonderful. Mr. showed us our fish and we enjoyed the wine he picked out for us while they grilled it. Then it was presented again all cooked. Mrs. filleted it. She asked us if we wanted the head and we both in unison said “Yes”! She said she liked people who wanted the head and knew what was in it – the cheek meat. Dinner was delicious. Tim left only a skeleton after dissecting the head.

Ends up that Mr. and Mrs. aren’t a married couple as we had suspected – they are cousins. Her brother works there and another cousin. A family business. I inquired about Katrin and was told very reverently that she “was resting”. The brother suggested desserts for us – a crème brulee and a chocolate brownie that we like a chocolate lava cake with ice cream. Delicious.

Mr. offered us a cognac which we politely accepted and sat there enjoying the evening. Several large groups had come to the restaurant about 11:30 so everyone was really busy. We bade our farewells and told them we would see them on our next visit to Mykonos. They were very pleased.

It was after 12:30 so we headed back to the hotel – unfortunately up “the hill” but we stopped a few times along the way and rested. Right to bed and a good night’s sleep.

Day 29 - Tuesday July 27, 2010 - Mykonos, Greece

Tuesday July 27 in Mykonos

I woke up at 7:30 despite the late night last night. Today is a pool day so I'll get some napping in by the pool.

Reserved "our chairs" by the pool and updated email and my blog and had breakfast. Tim seems to have a bit of a hangover today - imagine that!

Today is a quiet day by the pool. We got all of our computers updated and bade farewell to Josh from NYC who heads back to the US today. We were the first out by the pool at 11:30 - everyone sleeps late here. We read, napped, swam, listened to music and talked to Larry from Brooklyn until he headed to Elia for the day. We intended to go into town for a late lunch about 4 but opted to stay at the hotel instead of having to walk back up "the hill"!

So the Italian Alex (waiter) set us up a table in the shade and we had wraps and enjoyed a bottle of wine. It was good. We settled back by the pool and then a big surprise. We had met Eugene from Zurich last night at Pierro's. He studied with Alvin Alley and has a dance company. He put on a show - and it was fantastic. They cranked the music up. He was ALL OVER the pool area with his number. At one point they poured a bottle of champagne over his head. He used a cake and then a bottle of water that he poured on one guest by surprise at the end of the number. I ended up being a small part of the show when he pushed me in the pool half way through his number. Fun, impromptu and very entertaining. He is very talented.

We stayed by the pool until 7:30 and then dressed for dinner. We had our cocktails, watched sunset, watched both of the evening shows put on by the hotel, and talked more to Larry from Brooklyn. We then headed into town to shop for new sandals for Tim. He wanted Greecian sandals that lace up around your ankle. We looked in a couple of shops to no avail. Then I found a huge shop with all kinds of sandals - that's all they sold. I didn't see what he was looking for and asked the woman and there they were - right in front of me. Tim tried them on and bought them. Mission accomplished.

Then I saw a shirt in the alleyway at another shop that I liked and went in that shop. She had my size, I tried it on in the store and bought it. Then Tim bought a cotton knit shirt at the same shop. Then to dinner.

Our destination was Fato a Mano Restaurant which had been recommended to us by several people. We arrived there (right next to the fish restaurant we ate at the first night) and the restaurant was almost full. We were warmly greeted and asked if we would like to eat in a "special place". We said yes and followed him across the street and upstairs to a private balcony set up for diners. We were the only ones there and had a table at the edge overlooking the street below and the restaurant across the street. The moon was full and clearly visible from our table. Now how did we get picked from all of the patrons at this restaurant for this special table? Things like this happen to us all of the time. Why us? We couldn't figure it out but had a wonderful evening.

Dinner was good - Greek salad and proscuitto and melon. The melon here is not like our melon at home - much sweeter. Delicious. Tim had taggliatella with proscuitto, peas and a cream sauce (Pasta a Mano) and I had their filet (Filet a Mano!). Both were delicious.

Our waiter was very engaging and entertaining too. Yiannis told us many interesting facts about Greece. For example, the Parthenon, the Temple of Poseidon, and the Temple of Hera form a triangle and the sides of the triangle are all the same distance. May have this one slightly wrong, but if you extend the columns of the Parthenon up, it would be 1,860 - the golden number.

Yiannis is very proud of his country and its rich history. He was intrigued with our story of Oasis of the Seas and gave me his email and I sent him a link. He hadn't heard about that.

We ended dinner with a dessert platter with of a cream filled pastry with fruist with caramel and honey drizzled all over it. It was so good. Sitting there with the full moon, having a delicious dinner, and having interesting conversation with Yiannis was great.

Then we headed to Jackie O for a night cap (which neither of us really needed). The music was loud and it was packed by the water front. But we enjoyed that.

We then headed back to the hotel. It was very still and HOT. I struggled with "the hill" yet again and fell right into bed when we returned. An enjoyable day.

Day 28 - Monday July 26, 2010 - Mykonos, Greece

Monday July 26, 2010

Picture: The villas overlooking Elia Beach

I woke up at 7:30 and finally got up at 8 today. Early for a change but well rested. I updated my blog and email and we went to breakfast.

We headed back to Elia today since yesterday was so enjoyable. Now that we have "the hill" thing figured out, it is easier - down to catch the bus, and then off at the round-about on the return - and down back to the hotel. The only time I have to climb "the hill" is after dinner - I can handle doing it once a day - I think.

But it was beautiful at the beach. The morning had occasional clouds so it wasn't so hot. The people watching at the beach was great. We read, listening to music, and swam. I had a massage by a Chinese man from Shanghai that was glorious. He hit all of the right places in my shoulders, back and feet. I'll do that again. Only 35 euros so it was a bargain.

We went for lunch at 3:30 and had a wonderful fresh fish that they fileted for us. It was superb. (And expensive). We stayed on the beach until 7:15 and caught the 7:25 bus back to town. We did the "walk down" and stopped at Starbucks for my afternoon caramel frappachino. Yummy.

We showered and went to the sunset party but missed the actual sunset but stayed for the shows that were fun. The crowd was really going so there were naked people in the pool before the evening was over.

We headed into town for dinner at Nikos - an old Greek establishment. Josh from NYC joined us and we enjoyed talking to him. I got to meet Niko too. Tim had the lamb chops (overdone) and I had lamb moussaka. It was good but not fabulous. We then headed to Pierro's Night Club - just what we needed - another drink!. Boy did we get into it there. Friends from NYC who were staying at our hotel were celebrating a birthday and had the VIP area reserved. So we were invited to sit with them right out front. Later, Juan (or John) from Capetown, South Africa had a group who joined us. He owns a home on the island were Mamma Mia was filmed and they had just come over to Mykonos for a week. He says that was enough. It was interesting talking to him.

We left about 2 am just as "the show" was starting. Time for a much needed rest.

Day 27 - Sunday July 25, 2010 - Mykonos, Greece

Sunday July 25, 2010

We slept until almost 10 am, had a quick breakfast and then headed to the bus station across town by the port. This is where the buses depart for Elia Beach. No sooner had we purchased our tickets and return tickets from the kiosk when the bus arrived. It departed for Elia Beach right on time at 11 am for the 25 minute ride across the island from Mykonos City. This is the first bus of the day to Elia.

We arrived and headed to the beach on the far right and secured our beach chairs and umbrella for the day. The fee of 12 euros seems to be standard for this on Mykonos. We had a spectacular day on the beach. Reading, swimming, napping, listening to music on our ipods, and Tim even had a back massage. The sun is so strong here so we had to continually use sun block and we stayed under the umbrella a lot.

About 3:30 we headed to the restaurant for lunch and had a delicious lunch of mussels, aphrodisiac salad, and shrimp. The shrimp here are so sweet and delicious. We also enjoyed a bottle of white wine that was good. Our experience with the Greek wines is much better this trip than the last.

We finished lunch about 4. There was a bus back to Mykonos City at 4:25 but we opted to stay until the 6:25 bus and enjoy the beach more. A relaxing and enjoyable day. We’ll repeat this day tomorrow.

The bus arrived right on time and was packed. We sat near the front and asked the driver to let us off early at the round-about. We are going to “experiment” with the return. We think if we get off at the round-about, then the walk back to the hotel will be about the same but all DOWN hill instead of the grueling walk UP hill. We were right. It was just a 10 minute walk from the round-about to our street. And then a short walk DOWN hill to our hotel. I stopped at Starbucks and treated myself to a caramel frappachino – yum!

It was about 7:15 by the time we got back so we showered and I washed out a few clothes since I’ve now been gone almost 5 weeks. Off to sunset and cocktails at 8. We met Clinton from Halifax, Canada and enjoyed talking to him. Josh came over during the show and we chatted with him, He had spent the day by the pool.

At 10 we headed into town for dinner. Tonight we tried a homemade pasta restaurant. They make the pasta on the street so everyone can watch. We asked for a table and were immediately seated upstairs on a makeshift balcony. The ceiling was so low I had to bend over to get through. Two Australian couples were seated near us in a window alcove with an arching window sill. One of the women had to take her hair down from on top of her head and bend her head forward during the meal since the ceiling was so low.

The dinner was delicious. We started with tomato balls and caprese salad. Tim had ravioli stuffed with mushrooms. I had the spaghetti with lobster. And of course a bottle of wine. We laughed as we thought about how many bottles of wine we have enjoyed. The restaurant was very popular and packed the entire time.
We left a little after midnight and stopped for some gelato before making our way back to the hotel. The sun made us tired and we got a good night’s sleep.