August 24th - My alcohol-free, 21st birthday

We spent most of our day traveling, minus a seven-hour ferry layover in Mykonos. Which actually turned out to be great, because we got to see a second Greek isle.

Leslie had read a little about the island´s history on the internet the night before, so she filled me in.
In the past, Mykonos had been and island where exiles were sent, including homosexuals. So now the gay community on the island flourishes, and also attracts many gay tourists. That also means that the nightlife (bars, clubs, etc.) on the island is prevalent, which became more and more obvious as day turned into night.

We trekked to a place known as Little Venice because of the way the ocean-side buildings resemble the Italian city. It was a long, sweaty walk uphill, but we made it to the ocean and walked along the narrow streets past so many little shops.
We arrived a couple of hours before sunset, so after walking around for awhile, we sat down to have dinner at a restaurant on the ocean.
And when I say on the ocean, I am not exaggerating. There was a whole line of different restaurants, and the ocean water actually splashes onto the sidewalk as people walk along.
We chose a more elegant restaurant and sat down at a table no more than 10 feet away from the water just as the sun was beginning to set.
We ordered Greek salads and a pasta dish with seafood to split. It was great.

And then Leslie pulled out a birthday card for me and some earrings that I had pointed out in a little shop earlier that day. I never suspected anything, the little sneak.

While we were eating, an Asian couple sat down at the table next to us. And, because it was getting dimmer, the man (naturally) pulled out a light attached to a headband and strapped it to the front of his forehead. One of the highlights of my night.

The ever-so-strange manager of the restaurant also talked to us for a bit, but we told him we were Mexican and only spoke back in Spanish. He didn´t know Spanish, so he had to communicate mostly with gestures and some broken English. Good times.

He actually brought us these drinks called ouzas that tasted like black liquorice, telling us that it helps the digestive process. Gross, so gross. I barely even took a sip. When he wasn´t looking, Leslie actually threw hers out onto the beach, and then I poured half of mine into hers to make him think that we had drank a bit. Hehe, sucker.

Then a clown from Germany strolled by looking for some work. He offered to make us a heart, but, unfortunately for him, I think he may have miscalculated and guessed that we were a romantic couple.
Nope, no love here buddy, but good luck in your endeavors.

But then the ever-so-strange manager saved the Clown´s job, and bought the heart for us. Aww. Gracias, señor.

And that was our 7-hour trip to Mykonos. We walked back to the port, took a bus to another port, and waited for our ferry to arrive to take us back to Athens.
We grabbed a booth in the dining area and slept for about 4 hours until the boat docked around 3 am. Taxi to the train station while dozing in the back seat.
Not wanted to sleep on the ground outside the station, we wandered to the nearest hotel to sleep and shower until our train departure at 3 pm.
Looking back, I´m so glad we did that, considering we would spend the next two nights sleeping on a concrete deck.