PIRAEUS, GREECE, APRIL 28, 2023

Boarding our cruise ship, the Silver Moon, was effortless. Since my husband was still dealing with the after effects of his intestinal upset*, our swift embarkment was much appreciated. He snuggled comfortably in bed right away, while I roamed the Moon to get to know our home for the next 12 days. Her layout was very similar to the Silver Whisper’s on which we sailed last year in Norway, but the Silver Moon, accommodating nearly 600 passengers, is about one third larger and has twice as many restaurants, eight in total.

[*see previous post]

Returning to our cabin, I settled on the balcony with a glass of champagne to watch our fellow passengers emerge from the customs shed to embark on the Silver Moon.

Secretly, I hoped to catch a glimpse of our friends from Costa Rica, who were joining us on this cruise for a joyous reunion. We hadn’t seen them in six years, when we left CR for Europe. But we had to be patient because first my husband had to recover from his bout of Montezuma’s, or rather Zeus’ revenge.

My first mandatory activity aboard was the Passenger Muster Drill, an important if boring safety exercise. Next I participated in a lively welcome party called a Willkommensveranstaltung for German speaking passengers, hosted by Chrystelle Batteljee from Luxembourg. Chrystelle was one of two multilingual International Hostesses onboard to make potential non-English speakers more comfortable.

Barry’s recovery was inadvertently boosted through a change of destination for our cruise. Owing to a poor weather prognosis in the Cretan Sea, Captain Chavdar Georgiev was forced to drop the island of Crete from the itinerary and changed course directly toward the island of Mykonos instead, thus adding a welcome sea day of rest and leisure.

AT SEA, APRIL 29, 2023

Eos, the Goddess of Dawn, or, as Homer called her Ἠὼς Ῥοδοδάκτυλος’ Eos Rhododactylos, rosy-fingered Eos, gifted us with a beautiful Aegean sunrise in the early hours of April 29, our first full day of cruising through the Mediterranean Sea.

After a leisurely breakfast in our suite, I marched around the ship for exercise.

Meanwhile, my husband received a stern letter from Captain Georgiev, who advised him that “… As you were not present during our scheduled Passenger Muster Drill, in accordance with international maritime law we shall be holding a Passenger Muster Drill for you. … It is a mandatory exercise and anyone not attending the Muster Drill is subject to disembarkation …”. That’s what you get when you sleep instead of muster. At least the captain didn’t threaten any keelhauling …

After changing for the first Formal Night of this cruise, we had pre-dinner drinks in the Dolce Vita Lounge, where, to my great astonishment, I discovered a bottle of Pink Pepper Gin. This artisanal gin is distilled by Audemus Spirits, a small, neighbourhood outfit right here in Cognac, France, home of cognacs not gins! Upon arriving at the Dolce Vita, my dear friend Neal commented spontaneously that I must be wearing my dressing gown, or did he say bath robe? I shall have to burn that dress.

MYKONOS, GREECE, APRIL 30,2023

As April 30 dawned, we had already docked in Mykonos, Greece, one of the many small islands forming the Aegean archipelago called the Cyclades, because they circle protectively around the sacred island of Delos. Mykonos is named after a son of the God Apollo, or maybe a grandson, who remembers, it’s all so long ago …

The island has witnessed a succession of mostly heavy-handed regimes over the millennia, including the Byzantine and Roman Empires, the Venetians, and finally the Ottoman Empire, not to forget the occasional pirate raid, and, of course, the establishment of a Phoenicians trading post as well.

Since I was a child, I could see the white-washed houses and white-sailed windmills of the Cycladic islands in my minds eye. My father and uncle sailed the Aegean Sea in the late 1950s, telling tales of magical places with brilliantly white houses with blue trim, and tiny churches with domed roofs. There were smoke filled tavernas in ancient harbours that served the freshest seafood. They told stories of riding donkeys on steep mountain paths to reach monasteries where silent monks brewed potent concoctions from secret herbs, places where woman weren’t even allowed when swathed entirely in dense black cloth because they were considered the sinful bearers of tragedy and doom by the Patriarchs.

We walked to a parking lot near the Silver Moon to catch a shuttle bus to the favourite tourist destination, the town of Mykonos, also called Chora.

The iconic flour mills of Mykonos, the ‘Island of the Winds’, were built by Venetian overlords during the 16th century. Many have been restored and became landmarks for the tourism trade, especially this row of four called Kato mili. Since we didn’t see them, here is a 2006 wiki open domain picture by Dinkum:

Opposite the currently closed ‘No Salt No Life’ (restaurant?) venue, we settled down for a drink at the Mãndώ Restaurant. Chatting with Mando owner Alex, originally from Athens, and his American wife Jessica, we learned a lot more about Greece, Mykonos, and the tourism industry on this popular Mediterranean island.

On Mykonos, life is surprisingly seasonal. Bright, cheerful, and lively summers alternate with rather chilly and quiet winters during which most island life hides indoors. Fancy boutiques and colourful souvenir shops as well as the majority of food services remain closed for a well deserved hibernation, and supply boats land only infrequently. Therefore the many, many businesses lined up along a dense network of cobbled streets and twisty lanes must vie for the favour of the summer crowds to earn their keep for the whole year. We wish Jessica and Alex all the best for an exhaustingly busy season in their lovely new restaurant & bar!

Alex and Jessica named their restaurant Mãndώ after Μαντώ Μαυρογένους, Mando Mavrogenous (1796 – 1848) who was a Greek aristocrat with roots in Mykonos and a beloved heroine of the Greek War of Independence (1821 – 1832) from the Ottoman Empire. Manto used her considerable wealth to finance troops and weaponry against the Ottomans. Since she was as well educated as she was beautiful, she also deployed her considerable smarts and charm to gain support for the Hellenistic cause across the ruling Houses of Europe.

Over cocktails our friend from Costa Rica surprised me with a beautiful, only slightly belated birthday present. A mere three years ago, my husband had secretly planned a surprise party for my 70th. Judy, her husband and other friends from around the globe wanted to join the celebration, when the advent of the Covid 19 pandemic squashed Barry’s plans, and everybody was forced to stay home.

Judy has been experimenting with screen printing with divers plant materials for some time, eventually seriously immersing herself into this artisanal pursued, even participating in international workshops. I was overwhelmed by the beauty of the silk scarf she gave me. The textural details of the leaves, and the ever shifting variance of hues on such a delicate material were simply magnificent. Since I am the original scarf person, this was the perfect present.

A fun day in Mykonos is coming to an end. Good night, y’all.