It is Friday, June 3rd.  A cup of coffee at dinner last night kept me awake until around 3:15 a.m. this morning.  This coincided with our 5:00 a.m. wake up alarm to shower, pack up and be outside the hotel at 6:15 a.m. for a shuttle to the Athens port to catch our ferry to the Island of Mykonos which was to depart at 7:30.  Ready and waiting at the appointed time, our van driver showed up a little while later and took us to the ferry.  We boarded the ferry with our luggage and stowed it below at the garage level.  There were eight decks above us.  We were sent to the sixth deck above us by elevator.  The four of us wandered like bewildered children unsure of where we were supposed to be going or even what we were looking for.  It was a crowded ferry with sofas, chairs and some dining tables along the way.  It was loud and chaotic with people sprawled every which way.  Moving towards the front of the ship we kept walking until we reached a section called business class, where an attendant was checking credentials.  Unsure if our tickets qualified us to enter we walked up to him and showed him our tickets (all of the tickets were in Greek and you know what they say, it’s all Greek to me.  So far no one in our group has stepped up to act as a translator for the rest of us).  The attendant told us that we all had business class tickets and to come on in.  It was like a secluded little paradise with few people, plush carpeting and cushy leather chairs surrounding glass tables (it’s at times like this that paying 50 euros per ticket rather than 35 really seems like a bargain.  As the ferry set sail, Lynda turned her chair around to face the front so she could keep watch for sea life of any kind, especially seals, whales or dolphins!  You can her take her away from the Vortex, but you can’t change her sea watching habits!!!

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We couldn’t get off the vessel before Lynda and Barb found the gift shop.  I mean who doesn’t want to shop for clothing on a Greek ferry?  Doug and I remained at our ship front table reading while the ladies did what ladies do.  In almost no time, they arrived back at our table clutching their latest acquisitions.  They each had a T-shirt, one white and one pink and they both had the phrase we’ve all repeatedly been able to say on this trip, “Serendipity”.  Barb then showed me a little history on that word.  Serendipity is a word which reportedly was first coined in 1754.  It is defined as the phenomenon of unexpectedly finding valuable or agreeable things not sought for.  Uhh yeah, but didn’t you guys purposely go shopping for clothing?  Their response in unison?  “Yeah, but we didn’t purposely go shopping for a T-shirt that said serendipity on it!  Come on!!”  Nuff said.

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We arrived in Mykonos about 12:45 this afternoon and our ride was waiting for us to take us to our hotel.  We are staying at Petinos Beach Hotel on Platys Yialos beach.  There are all kinds of shops and restaurants around here and what is striking about this place is the buildings are brilliant white with blue trim.

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Our hotel desk clerk told us there are no private beaches here but some beaches are more populated than others.  After checking in, we changed into swimming attire and set off on a walking path at the recommendation of the hotel clerk that would take us on a path to hit four to five different beaches along the way depending on how far we wanted to walk.  The temperature is cooler and more comfortable than Athens was, probably somewhere in the mid 80’s.  We wanted to cool off in the ocean but not necessarily rub shoulders with the rest of the bathers at the crowded beaches.  We hit the fourth beach and decided we didn’t want to walk any farther.  As we set down our backpacks and our towels and hit the water, it soon became very apparent that this was a “clothing optional” beach!  It was pretty shocking at first but we just minded our own business and didn’t stick our nose in other people’s business.  Doug and I reminded Lynda and Barb that clothing was indeed “optional” and our words were met with a cool, “And we are choosing to exercise our options.”  The water was warmer than the water at Elger Bay but probably by only 12-15 degrees or so.  After swimming and cooling off for about an hour, we decided it had been a long day and should probably head back to the hotel for some rest.  As we were walking back, with our eyes now tuned into the fact that we had just come from a clothing optional beach, we noticed that basically all of the beaches we had passed previously were indeed clothing optional.  As we got back to our hotel, Barb matter of factly stated, “There are no private beaches but some beaches show their privates.”  We all had a good laugh at that synopsis.  I would sum up the experience by saying it was quite memorable.  Some were very pleasant memories, and some were memorable like the nightmare you just can’t quite shake.  Anyway, we are back at the hotel and now resting up for dinner.