Last Day in Milos

The next day we explored a few more beaches, my very favorite being Firopotamos.  It had the clearest, bluest, warmest water I'd ever seen or been in.  There was a really neat ruin just up the hill, and lots of little boats docked just off the beach.  We hung out here for a while enjoying the water and the scenery.  

We drove around a bit more and walked around Plaka later that evening, picking up a Milos magnet from a ceramic shop.  

We relaxed the rest of the day, eating dinner at a funky little restaurant with great moussaka and kebobs.

Fyropotamos, Milos

Firopotamos, Milos

Firopotamos, Milos

The next morning we headed to the port to catch out sailboat tour of the Kleftiko area of Milos.  It was one of the big highlights of our trip.  We saw the most beautiful scenery, ate good food, and had a great time snorkeling.  We were greeted with coffee and cookies, then headed to our first snorkeling spot in a secluded cove.  It was really beautiful.  We saw some fish, but the area is what made it special.  Ryan of course hopped out of the water and started clubbing all around the cliffs nearby.  

We had a delicious lunch of seafood spaghetti with wine, salad, and bread, then snorkeled more through beautiful arches and caves.  The water was stunningly blue and clear.  We were given frappe's when we got back on board, and participated in a little "game" in which the captain towed us all from a long rope behind the boat.  It was kind of scary but very fun.  

We enjoyed mezze back on the boat, which consisted of octopus, cucumbers and tomatoes, grape leaves, bruchetta, and more.  The ouzo was flowing (we can't drink ouzo, its way too strong.)  I was holding a piece of the dried up tip of an octopus tentacle, thinking it was too overdone to eat.  I had no where to put it, so I was just holding it.   A few minutes later the guy siting next to me takes it right out of my hand and eats it!  It was pretty funny.

The boat tour was really awesome and lasted most of the day.  We would do it again in a heartbeat.  "Boat tour Oniero" was the name of the company.

Such clear water, Kleftiko, Milos

Kleftiko, Milos 

Kleftiko, Milos

More Milos

We returned to Sarakiniko beach after dinner later that evening as the sun was going down.  Equipped with our good shoes and cameras we headed over the cliffs which surrounded the beach.  The cliffs were white and some were made out of chalk.  It was really neat to run your fingers across it and pick up little chalk pebbles.

The landscape really did resemble what I imagine the surface of the moon looks like.  Weird chalk formations gave way to whipped-cream looking rock closer to the water.  We found this really neat huge arch coming off the cliff into the water below.  It was neat being the only ones in the area and feeling so secluded among the amazing nature.  We could hear the water thundering under us as we crossed some more hollow areas of the rock.

We got some neat pictures and headed home to bed after having our fill of the beach and cliffs.

Sarakiniko

Arch just beyond cliffs at Sarakiniko Beach, Milos

Arches near Sarakiniko, Milos

Milos

We loved our room at Anastasia's Rooms.  It was spacious, airy, and equipped with a rapid boiler, panini press, fridge and utensils.  We settled in and walked into town to find some food.  We ended up at a restaurant with lots of seating outside between the white and blue buildings on the cobbled street.  We ordered and devoured some roasted veggies with feta, a big salad, and some of the best calamari we've ever had.  The setting was so quaint and pretty and the food was so good, we decided to come back at least one more time before we left.

We walked around a little, it was Sunday and very quiet.  We watched the sunset on a little overlook and walked back to our room.

The next morning we had breakfast at  small B&B down the street.  It was actually a lot of food for what we paid.  We saved the bread to have the next morning.  We hopped in our rental car and drove around to a few beaches, starting with Sarakiniko, one of the most popular on the island for its unique landscape.

We waded in the water a bit and took several pictures.  We planned on coming back that evening with better shoes on to further explore the area beyond the beach.

We stopped at several other beaches, all of them stunning.  The water was just so amazingly clear and the tall cliffs around much of the island made for a really unique backdrop.

To Milos

We had breakfast at our hotel in Oia and then took an (overpriced) taxi down to the new port to catch our ferry. Of course we were early and the ferry was late. 

We hung around the port a little and I bought a veggie sub for us to share on the boat. Once we finally boarded we realized our seats were separated. I sat next to Ryan anyway when he has an open seat next to him. We share the sub and soon the boat stopped to pick up other people from an island on the way. Someone came up to claim the seat I was in, so I moved back over. Between watching people looking green and staggering to the bathroom and watching the inappropriate sexy music videos streaming on the televisions I started to feel a little ill myself. 

Luckily Milos was the next stop and I felt much better as soon as we were on dry land. 

We went to a rental car office and were told they were sold out. We walked down a few yards and found a shop that had one car left. We told him we'd take it. He immediately asked for a drivers license. We handed over our passports. "Drivers license!" He repeated. 

Ryan and I had a discussion in my mom's kitchen in Canfield on whether or not we needed to bring our licenses. When we were robbed in Quito they took our licenses and we had to get new ones at home, and we really didn't need then on the trip. We decided not to bring them to Greece. 

"We are from the United States, we didn't bring them," I told him. 

"Well, heh, it's pretty important!" He said with a shrug that said "duh."

I pulled out my phone, I remember taking a picture of my license and emailing it to the Pennsylvania Board of Nursing to get my PA license. I pulled up the photo and zoomed in so he could see it. It worked!  He copied some numbers down and drove us in his car full of groceries to a tiny parking lot with one car - ours- parked in it. A stick shift Fiat Panda. 

The gas tank was empty. We drove it to a gas station and we shocked at our bill after the guy filled it up. Gas ain't cheap in Milos!  

After stalling out a few times and some choice words from Ryan, we were off in search of our hotel (the term is used loosely in this case). We drove around the narrow streets of Plaka. It was Sunday and pretty dead. We found a very small cafe with some guys smoking at a table outside. Ryan dropped me off and I asked directions. The guys were so nice to pull out a phone and call the hotel for us. Turns out we were only about 100 meters away. The lady came out and waved us over. We would never have found it as there was really no sign. 

She spoke very little English but was friendly and led us to our room at "Anastasia's Rooms". 

To be continued...