Mykonos

We have been in Mykonos for the past 3 days, and it has definitely been a highlight of the trip for many, including myself. The hotel that we have been staying at is right on the beach, and although some of the swimming attire takes some getting used to, we have been enjoying the sunshine and beautiful beach weather. It continues to be sunny and mid-30s every day, even on the island.

Yesterday, some of the students came with me to visit the island of Delos. We saw the ruins of a 2000 year old city, where we could walk into the market, the hotel, the theatre and even the homes of 30,000 ancient Greeks, Romans, Turks, and pirates. I'm not sure about that last one, but I do know that the entire island was massacred about 2000 years ago by an emporer from Asia who was concerned that the Roman empire would continue to expand his way, so in a preventative measure, he wiped out the Roman colony on Delos.

Mykonos is a beautiful town with streets that meander in every direction. It is incredibly easy to get lost here. The town was actually designed to thwart pirate attacks (I think this is actually the story where I meant to talk about pirates). The residents figured that if their streets followed no pattern whatsoever, pirates would get lost and eventually stop attacking and sit down for a gyro at a local store. To this day, the meandering streets are still filled with tourists.

The food at our hotel has been amazing this week. Last night we celebrated Alex's birthday with a delicious chocolate and strawberry cake, and some candles that didn't want to stay lit with the wind blowing through the open windows of our beachfront restaurant. We also had grilled cheese. I was a bit concerned when I first saw the menu, but when it came out, I realized that "grilled cheese" in Greece is actually a piece of salty cheese that they literally place on the grill. Makes sense. We should start calling our version "grilled bread with cheese inside" because we are really really the ones misleading people. Besides, Greek grilled cheese is much better.

It's hard to believe that our time in Mykonos is almos over. We head back to Athens tomorrow and then we are off to Italy on Saturday. I'll let you all know how that goes!