The Aegean is a beautiful blue off  Mykonos, a Greek island with a reputation for being a party place, especially in summer.  

  It was September when we arrived on Mykonos and my  first goal was to find a ferry to take us to Delos, the sacred island about an hour away.

Both are among the Cyclades, which means circle in Greek, and are about equally distant from mainland Greece and the Asian coast of Turkey. A quick look at a map reveals how critically located this island group was to commerce in ancient times, when people and goods moved more often by ship than by land.

Twisty streets on Mykonos are said to be the result a wish to discourage pirates when they came to pillage and plunder. 

The Crystal Serenity offered many fine shore excursions for exploring both Delos and Mykonos, made popular by Jackie Onassis. Since then, Mykonos has achieved the reputation of being a party island, supportive of the gay and lesbian lifestyle and popular with the sun and sand set who wants to party deep into the night then sleep on the beach by day. Its crooked streets were said to be the result of it being designed to foil pirate who came ashore to pillage and plunder.

The ship's shore excursions, which started at $132  for an exploration of Delos to $3,345 for a beach outing by private yacht, sounded wonderful. They included guided walks with wine tastings, explorations by Jeep and by inflatable boat. But despite the great deal we'd gotten for this cruise, our budget was stretched to the max, so we explored Delos on our own. You'll read about that in January's travel section, set for Jan. 13.

This tiny seaside chapel is among 365 churches on Mykonos.

Returning to Mykonos after our trip to Delos, we discovered a town with great shopping, pretty twisty streets cascading with bougainvillia, and lots of churches and chapels.  Getting lost on its winding streets was half the fun, just as it is in Venice, and finding your way back was a great adventure in passing B&bs, shops, cafes and private homes - all whitewashed and many topped with blue roofs.
Not much of a party scene in September when college crowds are back in school, but lively and pleasant with reasonable prices. 

 We both agreed it would be a great place to return to. So we will, next time an opportunity to travel to Greece comes our way.