Mykonos (or Μύκονος if you prefer)

July 5, 2019, Mykonos, Greece — After a full afternoon at sea (with no free WiFi for blogging, I siesta’d), we disembarked around 6 for a tour of Mykonos, one of the Cyclades islands group and one of the best known islands in Greece. Being best known means it was crammed with tourists, so we added to the throng. Its 30 beaches add to the appeal. Off-season there are around 11,000 residents on the island — I can’t imagine what it swells to during their 8-month high season.

Nicknamed ’the island of the winds,’ Μύκονος literally means ‘pile of stones.’ Take your pick. Its history is familiar: over the centuries it was part of the Roman Empire then, after Rome fell, the Byzantine Empire. When Constantinople fell in 1204, Venice took it over, with a brief incursion by the Catalans, until 1537, when the Ottomans arrived and kicked out the Venetians. The Turks stayed in power until the Greek war for independence began in 1821.

It was impossible to get a good shot of all 3 windmills without hundreds of people in it. So here's the view from the windmills...

And from down the slope...

Our guide said the sleepy town woke up in the ’60s and ’70s when it was discovered by ‘hippies and the happy boys of the rainbow flag.’ Today 90-95% of the economy is tourism. You can see why:

The Greek flag is blue-and-white striped, and this vibrant blue is everywhere on Mykonos. The buildings — and between stones — were first whitewashed with lime centuries ago to fight disease, which established the all-white-buildings look. While it is predominant, this vivid blue is not the only accent color allowed... there are about a dozen permitted colors.