Perry L. Gardner: Private Journal #25
Saturday, September 9, 1989
Today we leave Mykonos, our tour is growing towards the end. I have enjoyed it very much—tried to relax and go with the flow. My first impression of Mykonos was very intense, but I was too tired to record it while it was happening, so I will try to recall it while on the spot.
I was struck by the blue of the sky with the hot sun, the blues and greens of the ocean, the desiccated rock land, and the buildings of white, white with the blue doors and windows. The building cubes remind me of Taos, New Mexico—a jumble of dice-like cubes in a random pattern over the rocky hillsides. Another impression has been the sound of the waves on the beach—a rhythm of splash and silence, continuous since we got here, night and day. The other sound was partying until the wee hours of the morning. The sea spreads before us, with islands on all horizons. It has been without rain here since March, so all land is like a rocky desert. I would say various shades of tan or brown. The water is cobalt blue in the deep, and green in the shallows. It is very calm this morning, but as the days moves, on a wind comes up in the afternoon and whitecaps can form. The wind is a blessing, because it helps temper the heat from the sun, which would be unbearable without the wind—natural air conditioning.
The white-box architecture is very effective. It provides the needed protection from the sun, and the mass gets cooled at night. Louvered shutters keep the sun out and let wind come in.
The people rhythm is in keeping with the climate. Work in the morning while it is still cool, and then shops shut down at 1:00 for lunch and a siesta. At 6:30 PM, shops open again, and then after nine comes dinner and party time until the early hours.
MYKONOS—Windmills & White & Blue Houses
DELOS—Sacred Island for Millenia
When we landed it looked like a jumble of rocks, but when we walked the streets and saw the houses, it became a city. The idea of keeping people from being born there so there would be no citizens, and the idea of no deaths to keep it pure, is strange. Politics and power is the name of the game.
I went to the Maritime Archeological Museum yesterday and found it delightful. The models of ships spanned history, and the workmanship of the models was, in general, excellent—with a few with the cruder work, with parts out of scale, etc. Also, the garden of the house the museum is in was delightful.