– accessible and dramatic –
Niran is finally able to take an extended break from work, so we’ve decided to spend two weeks in Greece this summer. Poor old Calum has just missed out as he’s had to return to Australia for his next semester at uni. Poor timing Cal!
We’ve never been to Greece, and it was difficult to choose which island to visit as there are literally hundreds. We eventually settled on the island of Milos for our first week. It’s a largish island in the Cycladian group (which also boasts Mykonos and Santorini). We wanted a break from the circus, so decided that Milos would suit us best as it’s not one of the premier tourist destinations, but interesting enough to keep us occupied for a full week. The reason it seems to have avoided a full tourist blowout is that it’s a mining island – has been since Neolithic times it seems. This probably puts off a lot of would-be tourists, but also makes for some incredibly dramatic and untouched landscapes. It’s Day 3 of our visit and so far we haven’t been disappointed!
The mining activity and size of the island probably accounts for the fact that it has an airport which made it a great option in terms of minimising travel time, the potential for shipping delays because of poor weather and in my case, the dreaded sea sickness. It’s a small airport but does the job!
We met the house rep, Kate, at the airport and were escorted to the house. Just as well. It would have been a daunting trek otherwise – given the state of the roads. There would have been a good chance we would have turned around had Kate not been with us! But having arrived, the location and view were absolutely gorgeous. There wasn’t much left of the day – just enough time to duck into the local supermarket to buy some supplies for a light dinner, and a shot of the sunset from the patio. Aaah how beautiful! How lucky are we!
Our first full day, a Sunday, started with a trip into the main port town, Adamas. Given the difficulty in navigating the roads, we thought we would keep things simple and get our bearings first before embarking on any major excursions.
Adamas is a small, bustling town. Niran says it reminds him of Cairns in Australia – a busy and slightly gritty tourist town, where all the main tourist activities start and end. It was to become our main source for supplies over the next few days, and we ended up making a number of visits here. It gets particularly hectic every time a boat arrives in port – which is actually quite frequently!
We decided to make our way along the boardwalk to the Milos Mining Museum, which was recommended on every tourist guide we had read. It was a great little museum – well worth the time – and it gave us a general understanding of the geology of the place which would come in handy as we explored the island over the next few days.
Our next stop was lunch at a beachside restaurant just a little further up from the museum – O Xamos. We sat under the shade in the courtyard and enjoyed an absolutely wonderful meal of real home cooked food. I had goat and potatoes. Niran had the piglet in parchment – both dishes cooked with a great deal of heart. And I loved the menu in an exercise book!
We spent lunch feeding a couple of pussy cats – this little fella, who appeared to be the runt of the litter being our primary victim! He was such a sweetie, and settled down for a sleep next to us while we ate, so he must have taken to us as well!
After lunch, we tottered home and had a siesta before embarking on our next adventure to Sarakiniko Beach which promised to be a real treat.
We had decided to leave it until just before sunset so that we could catch the evening light. Milos Island was created by volcanic activity and we’d learned at the museum that the rocks at Sarakiniko were “fossiliferrous pumice volcanic tuff” – there you go, we did learn something! It was like an amazingly eerie lunar/mars landscape. Sublime!
Not surprisingly, we weren’t the only ones there – it was packed with Instagrammers busy documenting their beautiful lives on the Greek Islands – it was amazing that I was able to catch any photos without humans in them! We stayed until sunset – hence the changing hues. I haven’t added colour filters to any of them. Franca you would have had a field day here – we couldn’t have dragged you away!
And a photo of the old couple joining the selfie crew:
We visited Sarakiniko Beach again on a morning later in our stay to compare sunrise and sunset. There’s more in a later post.
For more about the fishing villages of Milos Island, see my next post
