Tales from Mykonos (Day Four)

Monday was our last day on Mykonos. Fortunately, our plane didn't leave until late in the day, which gave me time for another activity. I had signed up for the "Morning Walk" but I was kind of tired so I wasn't sure I wanted to go. My friend Mariano told me, "I heard there's a short part that's pretty steep... then it's all flat." Yeah, I figured I could handle that.

After a quick breakfast we met in the lobby of the hotel for a short briefing. It was going to be pretty hot and and I stupidly forgot to bring any sunscreen. I went to the spa to buy some and had this conversation:

JOHN: How much are these small bottles of sunscreen?

SPA LADY: The bottles on the left are 38 euros, the ones on the right are 42.

JOHN: Uh...

SPA LADY: Sir?

JOHN: <thinking> "Do I really want to spend that much money on sunscreen? I can't spend that much... can I? No, that's ridiculous..."

SPA LADY: Sir?

JOHN: Let me... uh... think about it.

I just couldn't justify spending so much money so I left the spa. Fortunately the tour guide had some she could spare.

Now, I'm not sure what kind of crazy lotion this lady was carrying, but it was quite thick and she urged me to really rub it in good, which I thought I had done... but apparently... I had not. Wasn't aware of that fact, though, until later.

We took a small bus to the other side of the island and a local hiker handed us some walking sticks. The hill was pretty steep and I was huffing and sweating by the time we got to the top. As promised the trail flattened out and I thought life was good again. But that's when our guide pointed to an enormous hill I nicknamed Myonos-Everest. He said, "We're hiking up THERE!" Ugh.

To pass the time I chatted with Mariano, Brice, Martin, and the others. It was tough, but we all reached the top, and the view was spectacular!

We hiked back down and drove back to the hotel. Once there I ran up to the room to take a shower and when I passed the mirror I did a double take:

I looked like I was wearing clown paint...

Maybe tour folks carry around bottles of trick sunscreen lotion, to hand out to idiots like me that don't bring any of their own. I mean, it didn't even come off in the shower, and I still had traces of it several days later.

But all in all Mykonos, the weather, the hotel, the food, the company... it was all fabulous. I now understand the charm of the Greek Isles and I am excited to return there someday, hopefully with Melanie at my side this time.

Thus we come to the end of my Mykonos adventure.

Click HERE for More Tales From Mykonos.