Tag: pelican

A minstrel in Mykonos Town

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A bouzouki player entertains tourists in the Kastro area of Mykonos Town while one of the Mykonos pelicans preens behind him

Musician Andreas Tsironis plays the bouzouki while one of the island’s famous pelicans preens on the wall behind him in the Kastro area of Mykonos Town

 

 

Tunes for tourists: Cruise ship passengers who headed for the Kastro area of Mykonos Town in hopes of seeing one of the famous Mykonos pelicans, as well as the iconic Paraportiani Church, got a triple treat while visiting the island recently.

They not only got to see both the church and one of the popular birds in the same place, but they also got to enjoy some live musical entertainment at the same time, courtesy of a local bouzouki busker.

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2012 Greek holiday trip report: Mykonos Part 3

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Remezzo area of Mykonos Town

All quiet on the northern front: Even though it was a gorgeous morning, very few people were out and about when I walked past the Remezzo area of Mykonos Town at 10 a.m.

 

 

[Editor’s Note: This is the latest instalment in a series of reports on my 2012 vacation. Those of you who have already read Part 1 and Part 2 may want to go back and take another look through those posts — I have added several videoclips to each part.]

 

 

Thursday May 17

 

Sounds of silence: My fourth day on Mykonos started off with brilliant sunshine and plenty of peace and quiet.

The breakfast room at Hotel Tagoo was almost empty, with just a handful of guests showing up during the time I was there. It seemed like most people were sleeping in to recover from either a late night on the town or too much fun at the beaches the day before.  Two guests who did make it down for breakfast told me that a friend of theirs from Mykonos would be taking them on an early afternoon driving tour around part of the island. They had room for a fourth person, and invited me to tag along. They planned to visit some beaches I had not seen in a few years, plus at least one I had never been to before, so I jumped at the opportunity to join them.

Since I had a few hours to fill before the island drive about, but didn’t feel like laying in the sun by the pool, I took a walk into town. The streets were surprisingly quiet and empty with practically no vehicular traffic and pedestrians. It was incredibly serene — and almost surreal  — hearing only birdsong and sound of my shoes on the pavement. I didn’t expect that, at 10 a.m., I would have most of the Tagoo area and much of Mykonos Town all to myself. A cruise ship was docked at Tourlos, so I fully expected to run into groups of tourists wandering around, but the parking area next to the Old Port (where the cruise ship shuttle buses drop passengers off) was eerily quiet. I passed fewer than a dozen people during my 10-minute walk between the port and Taxi Square.

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2012 Greek holiday trip report: Mykonos Part 1

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Air Transat logo

Air Transat logo on a winglet of the Airbus jet that flew me from Toronto to Athens

 

My Mykonos, Paros and Attica/Glyfada trip report

 

What follows is an edited and significantly expanded version of a trip report I posted on TripAdvisor.com shortly after returning from my holiday in Greece this past spring. I have added more extensive details to the text, and have included dozens of photographs to illustrate the report.

 

Sunday May 13: Flight from Toronto to Athens

I flew Air Transat, the Canadian charter airline I have flown on all of my trips to Greece. The flight was about two-thirds full when it left Toronto just past lunchtime on Sunday May 13. It stopped in Montreal for 90 minutes to collect more passengers and load the food and beverage carts for our 9-hour overnight flight to Athens. During the stopover, a flight attendant told a passenger sitting behind me that, with the additional passengers from Montreal, the flight was nearly full. (On all of my previous flights to Greece, except one, we flew direct to Athens; this year, Air Transat’s May flights stopped in Montreal because fewer people were travelling to Greece at the time and there wasn’t enough passenger demand to justify direct flights from both cities.)

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Meet Petros, the famous pelican mascot of Mykonos

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a pelican on Mykonos

A pelican on Agia Anna beach next to the harbour at Mykonos Town

 

Famous feathers: Mention Mykonos, and most people instantly think of windmills, sandy beaches and white cube-shaped houses with blue shutters and doors. Yet one of the most popular tourist attractions on the island is a bird — a 53-year-old pelican named Petros. Actually, there’s not just one pelican on Mykonos — there’s a pod of three. And even though they all seem to be called Petros, they aren’t in their 50s.Yet.

According to local legend, the original Petros apparently flew from mainland Greece to Mykonos during a fierce storm. He was found, half-dead, by a fisherman who nursed him back to health. Island residents named him Petros and took turns feeding him. Petros became such a hit with tourists that he was designated as the official mascot of Mykonos. But he met an untimely, scandalous demise around 1986 when he was either run over by a car (some locals blame a drunk taxi driver) or sexually assaulted (some blame a drunk tourist).

Another legend maintains that jet setter and regular Mykonos socialite Jackie Onassis gave the island a new pelican to replace its maimed mascot, while another says a German zoo donated a bird as well. Yet another story says a third pelican wound up on Mykonos when he was discovered on a beach, injured like the original Petros, and brought back to good health by the locals.

Whatever one or all of the stories is true, it’s a fact there’s at least three pelicans entertaining tourists on Mykonos these days. They can often be spotted as a group, in a pair, or sleeping or strolling around solo. Their favourite places to hang out are at Niko’s Taverna (where they pose for photos with diners and then collect fresh fish treats from the kitchen), Paraportiani Square, Little Venice, the windmills on the hillside above Little Venice, and along the Mykonos Town harbourfront.

The last two times we’ve been to Mykonos, we’ve encountered pelicans in cocktail bars at Little Venice and on the harbourfront. Which makes me wonder … haven’t they been warned that it’s dangerous for them to hang around people drinking booze?

Below are photos of some of the pelicans we’ve met during some of our visits to Mykonos.

 

two pelicans on Mykonos

Two pelicans swimming in the harbour at Mykonos Town

 

a pelican on Agia Anna beach Mykonos

A pelican entertains tourists on Agia Anna beach at the harbour

 

pelican at Niko's Taverna in Mykonos

A pelican catches a snooze in the square next to Niko’s Tavernan

 

pelican sleeping on Mykonos

The pelican appears to be sound asleep …

 

Mykonos pelican taking a peek

… but he’s fully aware of all the tourists and cameras close by

 

pelican on Agia Anna beach in Mykonos Town

A pelican on Agia Anna beach

 

pelican watching the boats in Mykonos harbour

Watching the boats in Mykonos Town harbour

 

pelican on Agia Anna beach in Mykonos Town

Taking a long slow stretch on the beach

 

a pelican on a street in Mykonos Town

A pelican pauses while walking down a street in Mykonos Town …

 

pelican in a Mykonos jewellery store

… en route to a jewellery store near the waterfront, where he checks himself out in a mirror before being shooed back outside by the shopkeeper

 

a pelican on Mykonos

A pelican poses for pictures at the Mykonos Town harbour

 

Donny and a pelican in Mykonos

A pelican poses for a picture with me on Agia Anna beach

 

a pelican at Sunset Bar at Little Venice Mykonos

A pelican at the Sunset Bar in Little Venice

 

Mykonos pelican beak

Petros gives us a full frontal face view

 

pelican at Skandinavian Bar in Mykonos

A pelican in the courtyard at Skandinavian Bar

 

pelican at Skandinavian Bar in Mykonos

Waiting for someone to buy him a beer, perhaps?

 

pelican at Camares bar on Mykonos

Enjoying evening cocktail hour at Camares bar near the harbour

 

a pelican at Little Venice on Mykonos

A close-up look at the pelican’s neck pouch, which apparently can expand to hold nearly three gallons of water or fish

 

a pelican at Little Venice on Mykonos

Another close look at the pelican’s colourful beak

 

a Mykonos pelican

 This pic reminds me of an old Hollywood entertainer wearing a fake hairpiece

 

a pair of pelicans at Nikos Taverna in Mykonos

 A pair of pelicans waiting for fish at Niko’s Taverna

 

pelican at Nikos Taverna in Mykonos Town

 A pelican waits outside the kitchen door at Niko’s Taverna

 

three pelicans at Nikos Taverna on Mykonos

Three pelicans line up for fish treats at Niko’s Taverna

 

pelican on Agia Anna beach in Mykonos Town

A pelican stands proud on Agia Anna beach at the harbour

 

Greece holiday 2011: Mykonos

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Mykonos Town

Looking down on Mykonos Town and its harbour

 

The main harbourside walkway in Mykonos Town

The main harbourside walkway in Mykonos Town

 

 a street in Mykonos Town

A church on a street in the heart of Mykonos Town

 

Mykonos Town harbour

Mykonos Town harbour

 

the famous Mykonos pelican

Tourists meet the famous Mykonos pelican

 

A street in Mykonos Town

 

an intersection in Mykonos Town

An intersection in Mykonos Town

 

boats in Mykonos harbour

Boats in Mykonos harbour

 

octopus

Octopus drying in the sun at Babulas taverna