We have discovered that each Greek island that we have been to has its own character and style. While island hopping one can find a lot of commonality that makes the experience comfortable and relaxing yet each island brings the excitement of discovery. For us Milos proved to be extremely different.
This web site is not intended to be a guide to the best restaurants, tavernas or beaches. Rather it meant as a personalized account that you the reader can use bits and pieces of to enhance your own journey. With that in mind I have included only a few highlights of a trip that Karin and I took in June 2009. The photos here are of the more unique aspects of Milos rather than the numerous shots of beautiful scenery, flowers, doors, beaches and the like.
Most of the comments are lifted from a photo journalism report that Karin created that year. If you would like to follow that report, click on the photo below. The link to the next episode is in the description and the caption of the last photo in each album.
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| Trip to Milos and Sifnos - DAY 1 |
Milos is built in a caldera, much like Santorini, yet it is not as strinkingly awesome as Santorini. The bay is one of the largest in all Greece.
It is an island of mines, some still active. What makes Milos so distinctive and beautiful is it's geology. Minerals, volcanic rock, etc give it an arid, yet colourful, appearance. Among the minerals being actively mined to this present day are bentonite, perlite, kaolin, and baryte. Look them up, if you want to know more.
In June the beaches are still empty and no place is crowded. Milos does have tourists, but mostly Greeks and in July and August. Their airport links to Athens only. Not being on the same ferry route as Mykonos or Santorini makes a big difference in quantity of visitors.
An interesting bit of ancient Greek history is that when Sparta fought Athens Milos preferred to remain neutral. That made the Athenians mad, so later on during another skirmish they came here, killed all the men, and took all the women and children as slaves! Today the airport is bringing Athenians again...but they do not plunder; they buy pretty things in the gift shops, eat in lovely restaurants, and stay in villas and hotels hosted by the friendly Milians, most of whom immigrated from Crete.
This is Sarakiniko, a name of Arabic origin. It is unique, like a lunar landscape yet unreal. Very white convoluted rock formations reach out towards the sea as if a monumental sculpture.
Everyone knows the Venus de Milo. In the 1830's a local farmer found a cave and inside was the top part of the statue. After more searching the bottom half was found in another cave. The farmer told some important French people on the island and the rest is history. She was sold to the French and now resides in The Louvre.
This is Main Street, Klima! Those houses that butt up to a hillside have boathouses in caves. Later houses were built on top. Very unique.
Above Klima and below Tripiti and Plaka is an area of old Roman ruins. At one time it was a full city, now very little is left. A map shows quite extensive ruins in the area, but it has been destroyed by earthquakes and time.
Also in this ravine are Christian catacombs where they held their religious ceremonies and buried their dead, out of sight of the pagans of that time.
This place used to be a huge cave with the ancient town of
Phylakopi, a Minoan site in the Bronze age, on top! There still
are ruins in the area, but since most have fallen into the sea
there is little left. And that which is left hangs onto the
edges.
Even if you are the type to not visit museums we highly
recommend the Milos
Mining Museum in
a new building at the edge of Adamas. It was
fantastic; one of the best we have ever seen. It helped to
better understand the whole island and what we were seeing.
Finally, the super highlight of our Milos experience was our trip to the abandoned sulfur mine. It is remote and not easy to find, but the result was haunting and eerie. You probably have to go there yourself to get the full feeling; the next best is to view one of Karin's Picasa albums:
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| Trip to Milos and Sifnos - DAY 3 - Sulfur Mine |
As
I said above we don't usually recommend restaurants and the like
but on Milos we did discover something else distinctive--a meal at the O! Hamo
taverna. We have never seen anything like it in Greece for
charm and character. Then we were pleasantly surprised by
friendly, efficient service and to top it off, the food was
great. I strongly advise any island hoppers who are getting
tired of the traditional taverna to make a point of discovering
this place in Adamas past the Mining Museum. Its a place
to write home about. O! XOMO which means "The Mess"
is funky, had writings on the walls and chairs and lovely
pottery cups to drink our ouzo's out of! It
was right on the beach, so we ate, walked across the street and
swam and laid in the shade.
Our last day on Milos! Over breakfast we discussed that on our first day we wondered why we came to such a dirty place--meaning mountain tops all broken up with mining, dust everywhere. However, on our last day we had come to really enjoy Milos and were so glad we made the effort. I would never suggest Milos for a first timer to Greece...but once acclimated to Greek island hopping then coming here would be a wonderful idea. A true study in comparing and contrasting Greek islands.
