Milos... oh Milos... how I adore thee. How I daydream about being back with you... riding on the back of a scooter, death grip around my husband's waist... your awe inspiring and diverse beaches... your white "moon rock" and black volcanic rock and red I-don't-know-what rock... your tourism that is just enough and very relaxed... your lovely people... your aqua and cerulean waters. Oh Milos, we shall meet again... yes, most definitely, we shall.
If Heaven is what you want it to be, I want mine to be Milos. You shall see why momentarily... the place is gorgeous. We spent three wonderful days in Milos, and that was definitely a very good decision, considering that's the longest we were anywhere. Honestly, if/when we go back to Greece, I would not go to Milos for any less than 5-7 days next time. We really wanted to find an island that had just enough tourism that we could communicate with the locals but not so much that it was commercial, and that is definitely what we found there.
We arrived shortly after 10am and found a cab to our "hotel" in the small village of Pollonia (why do all male cab drivers in Greece have horrible BO?). Once we arrived, we were greeted by our lovely hostess, Stavroula, who immediately fed us breakfast and got us up and running to explore the island. We chose to rent a moto (scooter) because it was economical and there isn't much traffic on the island. I'm not going to lie... I was a bit frightened at first because of the twists and turns and drop-offs down to my death, but I was well taken care of by my scooter-driving husband (he had one in college).
That day we went to Sarakiniko, which is famous for its "moon rock", had lunch in Plaka and the explored some cool cliffs and coves on our way back to Pollonia. (Side note: I'm probably going to do a post dedicated to food, because I took several pictures.) We swam a bit at Sarakiniko then laid out on our towels on the rocks and fell asleep. I cannot even tell you how nice that was after getting almost no sleep flying out and then having to wake up so early the first morning so we could catch the ferry. There really isn't much better than napping near the sea.
The next day, Matt went out and found us some snorkeling gear, so we spent the morning snorkeling right outside our studios. We then went to get lunch in Pollonia and had our first frappe and then set out on the scooter to explore more beaches. We went to the port (Adamas) to get post cards and then headed south to Firaplaka and spent some time laying out and swimming. We stopped by another beach on our way back, but it wasn't too impressive so we didn't stick around. We drove all the way back to Pollonia only to find out that if we wanted to do a boat tour the next day, Matt needed to head back to Adamas to book it, so he did that and I showered and walked around snapping some photos. When he got back, we went and saw the sunset and saw a bridal party walking to the church. It was an American girl who studied abroad in Greece and ended up falling in love and staying there, so it was cool to run into a few Americans, though we were glad there weren't too many. :) It was like our little secret island.
The last day was the boat tour from Adamas around the western and southwestern part of the island to Kleftiko and then back to Adamas via the western coast of the east peninsula (Milos is shaped somewhat like an upsidedown horseshoe). The landscapes and rock formations on this island are just spectacular. Words don't do it justice, so I'll just let you see for yourselves (and, I have many more pictures if you're interested for any reason... just leave me a comment and I'll e-mail them to you). Our boat tour was awesome... we had 8 (older) Italianos, 5 Greeks, 1 Frenchie and us. The Italians were hilarious, and one of the Greek girls, Mika, spoke Italian and English pretty fluently so she was a help in translating, and she also answered a lot of my questions about the Greek language and culture. Besides loving every minute of being out on the boat and snorkeling, holy cow did they feed us. First coffees; then a snack consisting of "croutons", tomatoes, cheese, olives, sliced meat and cheese, and wine and ouzo; then lunch of shrimp pasta with wine and ouzo and then donuts. Seriously, it was ridiculous... and delicious.
Each night we had beers overlooking the water at our "hotel" and then went to dinner at a different taverna in Pollonia. They were all good. We truly enjoyed all of our vacation, but I know we both agree that this was the best.
If Heaven is what you want it to be, I want mine to be Milos. You shall see why momentarily... the place is gorgeous. We spent three wonderful days in Milos, and that was definitely a very good decision, considering that's the longest we were anywhere. Honestly, if/when we go back to Greece, I would not go to Milos for any less than 5-7 days next time. We really wanted to find an island that had just enough tourism that we could communicate with the locals but not so much that it was commercial, and that is definitely what we found there.
We arrived shortly after 10am and found a cab to our "hotel" in the small village of Pollonia (why do all male cab drivers in Greece have horrible BO?). Once we arrived, we were greeted by our lovely hostess, Stavroula, who immediately fed us breakfast and got us up and running to explore the island. We chose to rent a moto (scooter) because it was economical and there isn't much traffic on the island. I'm not going to lie... I was a bit frightened at first because of the twists and turns and drop-offs down to my death, but I was well taken care of by my scooter-driving husband (he had one in college).
That day we went to Sarakiniko, which is famous for its "moon rock", had lunch in Plaka and the explored some cool cliffs and coves on our way back to Pollonia. (Side note: I'm probably going to do a post dedicated to food, because I took several pictures.) We swam a bit at Sarakiniko then laid out on our towels on the rocks and fell asleep. I cannot even tell you how nice that was after getting almost no sleep flying out and then having to wake up so early the first morning so we could catch the ferry. There really isn't much better than napping near the sea.
The next day, Matt went out and found us some snorkeling gear, so we spent the morning snorkeling right outside our studios. We then went to get lunch in Pollonia and had our first frappe and then set out on the scooter to explore more beaches. We went to the port (Adamas) to get post cards and then headed south to Firaplaka and spent some time laying out and swimming. We stopped by another beach on our way back, but it wasn't too impressive so we didn't stick around. We drove all the way back to Pollonia only to find out that if we wanted to do a boat tour the next day, Matt needed to head back to Adamas to book it, so he did that and I showered and walked around snapping some photos. When he got back, we went and saw the sunset and saw a bridal party walking to the church. It was an American girl who studied abroad in Greece and ended up falling in love and staying there, so it was cool to run into a few Americans, though we were glad there weren't too many. :) It was like our little secret island.
The last day was the boat tour from Adamas around the western and southwestern part of the island to Kleftiko and then back to Adamas via the western coast of the east peninsula (Milos is shaped somewhat like an upsidedown horseshoe). The landscapes and rock formations on this island are just spectacular. Words don't do it justice, so I'll just let you see for yourselves (and, I have many more pictures if you're interested for any reason... just leave me a comment and I'll e-mail them to you). Our boat tour was awesome... we had 8 (older) Italianos, 5 Greeks, 1 Frenchie and us. The Italians were hilarious, and one of the Greek girls, Mika, spoke Italian and English pretty fluently so she was a help in translating, and she also answered a lot of my questions about the Greek language and culture. Besides loving every minute of being out on the boat and snorkeling, holy cow did they feed us. First coffees; then a snack consisting of "croutons", tomatoes, cheese, olives, sliced meat and cheese, and wine and ouzo; then lunch of shrimp pasta with wine and ouzo and then donuts. Seriously, it was ridiculous... and delicious.
Each night we had beers overlooking the water at our "hotel" and then went to dinner at a different taverna in Pollonia. They were all good. We truly enjoyed all of our vacation, but I know we both agree that this was the best.
Sarakiniko
Matt swimming in the lagoon at Sarakiniko
Cool dude(tte).
Adamas from the road to Plaka
Kapros Beach
The 3-ft wide ledge we had to climb down to get to Kapros... slow and steady wins the race!
The late day sun near our "hotel"
Frappe!
Firaplaka Beach
Matt wading in the Aegean near a large rock
GOATS!
Pretty flowers at our "hotel" - Apollon Rooms
Pollonia harbor
Our view
Pollonia sunset
Boat tour scenery
First snorkeling stop
The water near the entrance to the caves took on this amazing bright blue color
Kapitan!
Getting close to Kleftiko...
Kleftiko - amazing!
Traditional fishing village... so freakin' cute!
Pulling into port - Adamas
