Day 0155

Ferry to Delos and Mykonos and back to Naxos. A terrific day out.

Couldn't figure out the economics of the boat trip until we stopped at Paros and picked up approximately 400 French retirees. Substantially detractacted from the romance of plying the ocean to one of the most sacred locations of the ancient world, but nonetheless I coped and tried to be as inconspicuous as possible whilst hemmed in by Saga tours pensioners.

Delos. Dry, crackling vegetation. Flowers growing up in and around the ruins. Corn sheaves, figs, thistles. Naxian lions, fertility symbols, columns, mosaics, temples. Aquamarine lagoon, green blue sea channel. Museum with weathered sculptures. Fantastic to see them in the context of their environment: in a normal museum you don't think of the heat, the salt, the whistling wind, the birdsong. Lovely.

Mykonos, good to wander through little streets and sit and do nothing. I wonder if my brain is atrophying, I do hardly any serious thinking or problem-solving, and slip readily into a hypnotic state of torpor.

Thought about the refugees on their boats in this same sea, probably at the very moment I'm zipping across it for my own pleasure and diversion.