AEGEAN SLENDOUR

Kelvin Chan dives into the magnificence of the Greek isles.

TEXT KELVIN CHAN

Do you want to take my picture?” asked the tough looking lady. I was admiring the artwork and for a few seconds I wasn’t sure if she was talking to me. Taking my silence as a yes, she said, “I am not dressed properly now, wait here while I go change in my studio.” Regaining my composure, I said “Ok”, and she then disappeared leaving me all alone with her paintings lying on the ground. I stood there surprised, amused and wondering what I should do if someone else came in to buy those paintings.

A few feet away, some of my friends were having breakfast at an open-air café. I went over and ordered my breakfast while keeping an eye on those paintings. But before I could tuck into my breakfast, the lady returned all dressed up in a black jacket complete with a leather cap and dark sunglasses. For the next few minutes, I took pictures of her holding up her paintings, while she told me that she was an artist in Mykonos where she has a studio and gallery. During the weekends, when there are more tourists she would be out displaying her paintings at the market place.

We had just arrived in Mykonos a few hours ago at 2am after taking a ferry from Samos to Pyros in the afternoon and then waited for another ferry to take us to Mykonos. Mykonos is one of the most popular summer islands in the Aegean Sea and also the most expensive. We decided to avoid the summer crowds and planned our trip for the beginning of autumn when there were less tourists and hotel rates were much cheaper. Unfortunately, there were also less frequent travelling between these islands and we had to do some island hopping to catch connecting ferries to Mykonos and Santorini. We had to constantly change our plans according to the ferry schedules over the next few days but it didn’t spoil our mood as everything was just picture perfect and we were too busy taking in the sights and beautiful scenery around us.