Delos & Mykonos
The Panorama pulled away from the hustle and bustle of Marina Zea and the city of Athens in the late afternoon on the 25th of June. We were all excited about being on board, heading out to cruise a well-known, though somewhat mysterious, archipelago of islands called the Cyclades. After the welcome aboard briefings, and introductions to officers and Natural History staff our Captain took the Panorama on a short two-hour cruise slightly southeast of Athens to Cape Sounion. Standing on the top of this large cape stands an enormous temple to the God of the Sea, Poseidon.
The anchor was dropped and the fantail was prepared to “open the swimming pool.” This was the standard Panorama invitation to have our first swim in the Aegean Sea, under the temple to Poseidon!! A lovely dinner followed and as the sun let go of its final light, leaving just a tinge of warmth on the columns of the temple to Poseidon, an announcement was made calling everyone to the bow of the Panorama….the nearly full moon (one day short) was beginning its ascent into the night sky directly over Poseidon’s temple. After such an amazing first 5 hours we had to wonder if this could be a sign of the days to follow?
The Panorama remained at anchor under the watchful eye of Poseidon until the early hours of the morning before lifting her anchor and heading to our first island visit at the very center of the Cylclades, Delos Island. This island is a narrow strip of land, no more than five kilometers long from north to south and some 1300 meters wide. Though this is a tiny piece of land, it remains to this day, one of the most important archaeological sites in the Mediterranean. It is the birthplace of Apollo the sun god and his twin sister Artemis, goddess of animals and the hunt. Founded as a sacred place of worship in about 1000 BC, Delos became a pilgrimage destination and was the center of worship in the Cyclades by 700 BC.
The name Cyclades refers to the circle of islands that surround the tiny island of Delos. During its heyday there were 30,000 inhabitants on this small island. Today, there are no permanent residents, only caretakers and the ruins, the stories and the vibration of all those people who came and walked the narrow streets, alleys, and processional way just as we did this morning. Our Greek guides Tzemma and Effie divided our group in half and headed out for a leisurely walk through the ruins recreating and rebuilding the community of Delos and the Cycladic world, as it existed many thousands of years ago.
Just before lunch the local tender returned to Delos Island to ferry our group back to the Panorama. The day was heating up rapidly and once lunch was finished, our ship had reached her anchorage site where our fantail was made ready for a much needed cooling and refreshing swim.
After our swim, we got underway for Mykonos Island, our afternoon destination. The Panorama anchored off of Old Town facing the famous Mykonos windmills. Our Zodiac and rescue boat ferried everyone ashore and we spent the late and much cooler part of the day exploring this very famous Cycladic Island. Entering the narrow streets we found ourselves in typical Cycladic architecture of white buildings with lots of blue trim. To add to the good fortune of our arrival in the Cyclades, we found this full moon Saturday had two Greek weddings scheduled! Brides and grooms were arriving by small Greek fishing boats, and traditional and rarely seen elder musicians walked the streets, playing wonderfully on very unusual instruments, while both families of the wedding parties, tourists and locals enjoyed all the festivities.
Soon it was time to return to the Panorama and another lovely dinner on board. As dessert was being served the anchor was lifted, and slowly we began departing, heading towards our next day’s destination. The evening was still lovely and warm, so after dinner many of us headed out on deck in the lovely soft twilight of evening and were greeted with the full moon rising in the eastern sky just behind Mykonos Island, as we slowly cruised away, heading deeper into the Cyclades.
