After a long and wonderful day in Istanbul, I was excited to sleep in and have a morning on the ship before our last full day of vacation. If you read my first post of this series you will know I wanted more time on the ship to soak in the sights from the water, the activities on board, etc. Somewhat of an ironic statement for someone who has thalassophobia.

From Turkey we were heading back to Greece for one more adventure, but we would not arrive until 1200. I’m naturally an early riser and this gave me time to do all the things I wanted to do that morning. I greatly enjoyed having a leisure breakfast, time to savor my coffee, and one more run around the outdoor jogging track.

The wind was wild that morning, and one side of the ship had me running through what felt like full bodied molasses thanks to the wind.

Lucky for me, the wind meant there were no other humans on the deck and I could run without having to stop. After my run I showered and got ready with Duncan to grab some lunch before we took a ferry boat to the shores of Mykonos. We were unable to port the cruise ship, but a constant shuttle was running throughout the day for people to come and go.

We took the small boat to the shore where we met our guide who was taking us to Delos, a small island that can only be reached by boat (third boat ride for us of the day.) There are boats that depart from Mykonos and some of the surrounding island, and I highly recommend a trip to Delos if you’re ever in the area.

The boat ride took about 45 minutes and the waters of the sea were beautiful. When booking this tour I had never heard of Delos, but it was one of the few options that sounded interesting. The archaeological site on the island of Delos is the remains of a sanctuary to the gods Apollo and Artemis, and the city that developed around it.

What was once a bustling port city is now a fascinating piece of history.

We chose a tour that offered iPads, showing us what the land might have looked like back in the day. I was indifferent to the 3D aspect when booking, but Duncan was intrigued. Once we got to the tour the iPads were not of interest to either of us, and more of a hindrance.

Our guide was knowledgable, kind, and easy to understand, but the iPads slowed us down and I wanted to explore more of the ruins.

Immediately upon arrival to the island we were greeted by cat, after cat, after cat. If you have been following along with this vacation series (or if you just know me), you will know the cats stopped me in my tracks and were a huge distraction from listening to the guide. I eventually took my headpiece out and focused on the surroundings and focused on the cats.

Duncan and I wandered off a few times, never out of ear shot, and we always found our way back to the group.

This place was amazing, and I will absolutely return. I want to see more of the ruins as well as climb to the top of Mount Kynthos. I could not stop looking at this peak during our tour and wishing I had time to run up it. We were given about 15 minutes of free time at the end of the tour before wandering back to the boat heading to Mykonos. We found a cool structure, and then we were followed by two locals.

After our adventure on Delos we had two hours to wander Mykonos as the evening wore on. It was 1800 when we arrived back to Mykonos and we were planning to take the 2000 shuttle back to the cruise ship. Originally I was worried this wouldn’t be enough time, but two hours was more than enough to wander and get a feel for this small city. It was beautiful weaving in and out of the streets in the evening.

I had no goals here, other than to see white and blue streets, find the famous windmills, and pet as many cats as possible. We would be leaving the land of wild kitties the next day and I had to soak in as much as I could.

After chatting with Duncan when we arrived back home, he decided this last day in Greece was his favorite. We were able to watch the sunset on the beach looking out towards the water, and Delos fueled his passion for history. My favorite day was still our first day in Israel, but the freedom of no plan in both Mykonos and previously in Rhodes made Greece a top contender for a return visit.

Mykonos is a bit kitschy for my taste, but I was happy to have seen it. I don’t feel the need to return to Mykonos, but there are plenty of other islands I would love to see. Thankfully, while the shopping in Mykonos wasn’t for me there were plenty of friends to see before we left. We didn’t eat in any of the restaurants, but I can only assume the food was delicious.

Before we left the island Duncan had the idea of taking another cringe hand guiding photo, but this time he would be leading me towards a cat. We took one of these photos as a joke on the ship one of our days, and now this feels like an appropriate tradition for us whenever we see a cat.

We made it back onto the ship by 2000 and ate one final dinner in the buffet. The following morning we were up early to get our stuff together before disembarking the ship for the last time. The process for getting off the ship was chaos, my only negative feedback for the entire trip, but I made it off $30 richer thanks to a free credit we didn’t use. A win is a win.

It has been two and a half months since our return, and I am still daydreaming about this adventure.

I’m in awe of all that we saw – from Greece, to Israel, to Cyprus, to Greece, to Turkey, and back to Greece. Cruise ships vacations aren’t for everyone, but man was this an easy way to travel. This was my first international trip with Duncan and it went amazingly well. Now we will just have to see how he likes a Brittany planned international vacation. Muahaha.

Q: Do you have any upcoming summer/fall/winter plans? Let me live through you!