Ano Mera and Agrari

We arrived in Mykonos yesterday afternoon and spent the evening getting settled in and learning to area a little bit.  Had a nice dinner at a local taverna.  Today (Saturday), we rented a car and drove around the island.  The roads are really narrow, windy, and steep in a lot of places.  Most of the island seems to be arid, rocky hills and valleys.  Lots of rock walls and shrubby ground cover.

Anyway, we headed toward the center of the island to a town called Ano Mera.  Nearby is a place called Paleokastro, which is home to a monastery and the remains of an ancient castle.  The drive up to Paleokastro was kind of crazy, but the view was nice, and the scenery of the drive was cool.

Bougainvillea near out hotel entrance.  These were all over Santorini too!  Really beautiful AND cool because the pink parts, which look like flowers, are actually modified leaves (bracts), surrounding tiny white flower clusters.

Wider shot of the entrance

Another view

The roads of Mykonos.

Overlooking Panormos Bay and Ftelia beach

Remains of the old castle.  The monastery is hidden on the other side of the hill.

A panaoramic, just in case :)

Once we'd had enough of old castle remains, we headed back down to the main square of Ano Mera and had a snack.  Had something called ekmek during lunch, which seemed to be a Greek version of the Australian "snot-blocks".  (Tasty.)  The town seemed to be crawling with little cats.  At lunch, the waiter taught me a few Greek phrases, including "eisai gata", which means "you're clever/smart/cunning", but directly translates to "you're a cat".  Makes sense to me.

Here's a cat selling souvenirs

And being pet

Cat sleeping

A little church.  Part of the nearby Panagia Tourliani monastery, I think.

Cat sleeping

Guarding the restaurant

Being cute

Doing their thing

After Ano Mera, we headed down to Agrari beach, which was a nice spot to sit and paint a little bit.  Pretty water and a nice view of the surrounding hills.

Towards the end of the day, the sun is setting in the opposite direction,
lighting up this hill and making it very orange.

Tomorrow: a tour of nearby Delos island.