Mykonos is one of the Greek Islands that you see in brochures… the way Nova Scotia is depicted by Peggy’s Cove. Mykonos has the white stucco buildings with the blue trim, windmills from long ago, winding white washed alleys topped with overflowing dark pink bougainvillea… everything you could want in a Greek Isle!

We arrived ahead of schedule and quickly made our way to Mykonos Vacation Scooters. It’s a family business of cousins and uncles and George! They took amazing care of us and after a quick pickup at the old port terminal we had our scooter for the day.

How many people get to say, “I spent my day touring Mykonos on the back of a scooter!” Thank heavens David is an expert rider! There were literal 180 degree “sharp right/left turns,” fast moving traffic in both directions and some crazy moments of David driving and me holding up the phone trying to decipher the GPS instructions. But the scenery and the curves were awesome!

We drove into town. We had wine and beer by the sea watching the tourists walk by, we found an overlook spot to view the harbor and the windmills and we made it out to Lia Beach on the Eastern side of the island. We spread out beach towels and walked across course sand and larger rocks at the edge of the water to go swimming in the Mediterranean Sea! This is the kind of day where you want to pinch yourself to make sure you aren’t dreaming this!

On the way back we stopped at the windmills and then headed back to return the scooter. George, the cousin who provides the taxi service for the business deserves his own post!!! The stories he shared in a half an hour of interaction could fill a book! George, who was married in the States (and thinks he might still be married but not sure…) regaled us with his adventures!

But the whipped cream and cherry of our day was reuniting with friends from our previous cruise in January on deck 15 where we went to watch the sunset. We had had plans to connect with John and Charlotte at the martini bar the first night of the cruise but never made it. And the tonight there they were!! Group hugs and a reconnect and the perfect ending to a “pinch me is this real” sort of day!