October 2016, Mykonos, Greece

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Mykonos has been Sue’s ‘home’ since she first set foot there in the early 70’s.  The first time she went was with a group of girls, including her sister Sally.  They were backpacking through Europe; Greece ended up being their final country, the island of Mykonos in particular.

Sue, my wife and friend, has been absent from this blog because she has been ill for the past several years to the point she was not able to travel.  She loved to travel.  She passed away last year due to recurring, multiple illnesses.  It’s hard watching your spouse of many years go down that path.  The last few months all we; Wanda, her caregiver and I, could do was to make her comfortable.  Hospice care is a wonderful option. When Sue’s illness progressed and she did not have the energy to fight any more the hospice team determined the proper medications she needed so she could come home.

Family chapel

My trip to Mykonos is bitter-sweet.  We had not been to Mykonos since 2001.  As a point of reference, I flew back to the states three days before 9/11.  Sue’s wish was to have her cremains taken to Mykonos.  She’s in the family chapel overlooking a small valley.  Soon she will be joined by other family members who have already passed.

Taking cremains to a foreign country is not a trivial matter, at least not to Greece.  Paperwork starts with death certificates and associated papers received from the mortuary.  These have to be sent to be apostilled (certified) by the Secretary of State.  Then they have to be translated into Greek.  In order to enter Greece the cremains and urn are placed in a wooden box, then sealed by a Greek official.  This meant going to the Greek Consulate in LA to have all the papers reviewed and the Greek seal placed on the box.  She melted a puddle of red wax on the box placing the Greek stamp in wax.  Now, Sue is ready for the trip.

Church - Paraportiani

The island has gotten more crowded.  I went after the end of tourist season, late September through early October.  The roads were still packed with tourists.  Smart cars, small SUVs, motorbikes and 4-wheelers are the chosen modes of transportation.  Big American cars would not fit on the narrow roads made even narrower by parked vehicles occupying every open spot along the road.  Walking is an adventure.  I like walking and made the mile and a half hike between the port and home several times during my stay.  Everybody thought I was crazy for walking ‘so far’.  When I told them about my several mile hikes with camera and fishing equipment just to make some photos or catch and release a few trout all they could do was shake their heads.  I told them I’m doing this to stay in shape for my long photo and fishing safaris with all my hiking buddies when I get back home.

Little Venice

People are everywhere; in town the walking-only streets are filled with window shoppers.  The classic views of Mykonos; the windmills, little Venice, the port itself, and the often photographed church – Paraportiani, draw camera toting tourists.  I join them on a few occasions making the effort to get there early, before the throngs of tourists.  It is worse when the cruise ships stop; offloading hundreds of tourists on the little town.

The island is filled with a younger crowd the first week; beaches by day and I assume bars by night are the primary destinations of this group.  I am assuming bars at night because 1) I am staying home visiting family and watching soccer and 2) that is what Sue and everybody else did when they were in their 20’s.  I am way past the bar scene.  The second week seems to be swept clean of the younger crowd replaced by families and older couples.  The shop owners are glad of the older crowd since they have more Euros to spend.

Lighthouse

Takis takes me around to several island spots I have never seen.  One evening I attend a concert for rehabilitating the famous island lighthouse.  We drove up there a few days later seeing the magnificent view from the steps of the lighthouse.  On our return trip we stopped at an overlook above the port where I plan to come back shooting sunset and the ‘blue’ hour as darkness moves in.

The European eating schedule is vastly different from the states.  I usually had toast and maybe some leftover chocolate cake or pie for breakfast, an occasional ‘normal’ breakfast for me at home.  We have a large, filling lunch around 2 followed by a ‘light’ dinner sometime after 8.  ‘Light’ is in quotes because dinner didn’t seem very light to me.  Several times we got together with friends for dinner, consisting of a table full of mezethes; basically appetizers.  Our tables would be full of plates of souvlaki, greek salad, tzatziki, mousaka, bread and olives to name a few.  Beer, wine and an occasional ouzo are our liquid refreshments.  Around 10 we would say our good-nights, never going home hungry.  Each night on our return home we’d swear we weren’t going to eat that much again; the next night we'd be stuffing in more wonderful food.

Mykonos does not seem to be affected so much by the downturn in the Greek economic and governmental challenges.  I heard from friends and family how taxes keep going up while nothing improves.  Still, tourists keep arriving on the island; staying, eating, drinking, spending money and having a good time.

One afternoon we took a boat to Naxos, another island in the Cyclades.  There is much to see there; it is quite a large island and I was told there are many quaint villages all around.  We did not take the time to tour the island; we wandered the town picking up local cheeses, olives and spices.  The main port/town has a hilltop castle from the 13^th century.  Unfortunately due to the economic challenges mentioned earlier the castle/museum was closed.

Each morning I would try to get out doing something.  Usually it involved grocery shopping because we didn’t buy much more that what was needed for a day or two at a time.  Mykonos has the first grocery store I have ever seen with an elevator and a setup for a disc jockey.  No disc jockeys were doing their thing at 9 in the morning.

Celebrating the end of another day

My other adventures were going out to familiar locations on the island to photograph the way it is now relative to my images from the early 80’s.

Afternoons I usually had to fight the urge to take a nap, the usual routine for native Greeks.  I ended up looking over what I shot the previous day, or read down by the pool.  I didn’t take advantage of the pool but I did soak up the sun almost getting a little tan, something I do not do in NM.

Another myth - broken.  When I was little I remember seeing cartoons; a rooster would be silent right up until sunrise, crow once then fall quiet again.  No so here.  Roosters were waking me a 2, 3, 4 AM with constant crowing.  I looked out my window and didn’t see even an inkling of the sun coming.  Even after the sun was up they would keep crowing.  I don’t recall seeing anything about that on Myth Busters.  A fresh chicken dinner was the topic of more than one conversation.

View outside the office

Before this trip to Mykonos I wasn’t certain I would be returning.  Each time it takes 28 hours from door to door.  I did upgrade my ticket a bit so I had room for my legs, but air plane seats are not made to sit on for the 8 – 10 hours it takes to cross the Atlantic.  Even so I am reconsidering my thought of trips to Mykonos.  I have family there.  I had a wonderful time here.  Besides, I got a job offer from my brother-in-law to work for him once I retire from my present career.  I don’t relish the idea of starting a new job but the view out the office window can’t be beat!

Welcome back home, my dearest Sue.

Thank you for stopping by,

 Mark