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Paradise Beach
When I get off the 6-hour boat ride from Athens at midnight, I'm beat and want to hit the sack, but don't know where to stay.  This Aussie Dan at the port pops over to our tired lost gang of deboarding passengers and tells us about the Paradise Inn.  After my Egypt experience where I followed one of these hotel guides to a craphole, I'm a bit wary.  But Dan's chipper and I'm beat, so I jump on board the Paradise Inn van.  It says "Follow me to Paradise" on the back.  When we get to the hotel, supposedly right on the beach, it's dark and looks a little shady, but I shrug and roll into bed. I can always switch hotels in the morning.    When I wake up the next morning, I open my balcony door to see this.  No need to change views...

Mykonos Town
Mykonos Town, near the port, is the most touristy Greek islands, with jewelry shops and expensive restaurants to cater to the cruise-shippers and other tourists.  I catch the 20-minute bus from Paradise beach to check it out.  You can buy a gyro for 6 euros (usually 1.50) and fish for at least 15 euros at the beachside restaurants.

  I get lost in the town's street maze, which is always fun.  Turns our that they built the town this way so that when pirates invaded the town, residents could escape through the alleys while the pirates get lost.  Like I do.  Arrrgh, matey.  But it's fun.

Leaving Mykonos
As I run off to catch the hydrofoil to Santorini, I meet up with Ryan and Brenda.  They're on a two week tour of Turkey and the Greek Islands, etc. 

Brenda paid 50 euros for a red snapper at one of those pricey restaurants.

Ryan and Brenda have had a great time buying food from the local supermarkets.  Great way to experience local culture. Cheaper too.  They invite me to join them for their picnic lunch on the boat, cause they're packing a bag of Greek groceries.  They give me some olives which are huge, like the size of a kumquat.  Ryan says he feels like a little monkey using both hands to take little bites.  The tzaziki (yogurt/cucumber spread) and a chopped-olive spread are yummy on fresh bread.  

We change boats on Samos and then head over to Santorini.

I did not Photoshop any of the blues in any of these photos!  That's just the way it looks!

Hey, my t-shirt matches!

Paradise beach, from my balcony.  No crowds or nudes in April.  But from some photos posted on the wall, I see of the huge bar and dance area - this is the place to be in the summer for wild crazy parties.

I end up climbing a hill for a nice shot of the port and a red-domed church.  There are little churches all over the place, like more than 400 on the island, because in the old days, each family had its own church next door.  I guess that makes going to church a little easier

It's kinda alarming walking thru the Mykonos street maze, and then suddently there's a huge pelican hanging out.  This lady's bravely giving the pelican a fish, but check out that sword beak. Yikes.

More churches in town.