Amalia in Mykonos

On Saturday, May 17, Amalia landed in Mykonos at the beginning of her summer odyssey to Greece. On the plane from New York she learned to use ear phones.

Amalia and Mommy and Papi and Yiayia stayed in a friend’s house overlooking the sea, where Mommy and Papi slept in a bed under a turquoise tent. 

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Amalia and Grandma slept in another room where Amalia wore her Hello Kitty water wings to watch videos at night, just in case.

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Here she is sticking her toe in the ocean upon arrival.

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Her favorite thing to do on the beach is to stomp on the castles that Papi makes for her.  Sometimes he makes a big hole for her to sit in.

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During the week she wore all three of her bathing suits.

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She searched for Mykonos’ famous pelican on the harbor but couldn’t find him.

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And admired the seafood displayed outside Niko’s Tavern.  In fact she liked the black spiky sea urchins so much, she said she wanted one for a pet,

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but when Yiayia waded into the ocean and brought her a live one, Amalia changed her mind.

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She never did encounter Petros, the famous pink pelican who is the mascot of the island, but she saw cats, in a red door with lace curtains,…

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…and hiding in a niche of a church,

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One morning Papi and Mommy sailed on a boat to the nearby island of Delos, leaving Amalia and Yiayia on the harbor near the fish market.

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…Delos is uninhabited except for security, staff and a lots of antiquities.   Greek mythology says it is a very sacred island because Aphrodite and Apollo were born here.

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Several times in the late afternoon Amalia went to Veranda to watch the sunset and to take photos of Mykonos’s famous windmills.

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15.5  The windmills.

Here’s a photo her Mommy took of the crowds in Little Venice gathered to watch the sunset.

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And here’s a photo that her Grandma, Yiayia Joanie, took of the sunset.

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One day they went to her mommy’s favorite place ever—Aghios Sostis, which is the name of the church (once a monastery) overlooking a beautiful, uncrowded beach.

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Kiki’s Taverna nearby had just opened for the season.  They had their May wreath hanging by the window.

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Everything is always delicious at Kiki’s tavern, but by the time Papi was cleaning the grilled fish, Amalia had fallen asleep.  She was dreaming of sea urchins and cats and the pelican called Petros, and hoping that she’d meet him the next time she came to Mykonos.

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(Photos number 13, 14 & 16 taken by Eleni N. Gage)