Milos

That road to the port in Santorini is just as terrifying going down as it is going up.  But, now that I was somewhat familiar with it, the journey didn’t seem to take as long.  The guy dropped me off, I paid him 35 euros, and was left to wait for the ferry.  As much as I wanted to book another ride on a Blue Star ferry, none were heading to Milos, so I was once again bound for a Seajets ferry.

Arriving in the city of Adamas on Milos, I followed the directions on my phone to the hotel.  One of the major perks to the place I’d booked was that it was in walking distance of the port.  I passed by a bunch of cafes, a bank, and a decent sized grocery store before heading down the road/alley leading to the hotel.

First issue:  once the desk clerk showed up, his explanation of the island was cut off by a phone call.  As I waited along with another couple behind me, he spent a good five minutes ignoring the people in front of him to talk on the phone.  

Second: when he showed me to my room, up the narrow, unfamiliar stairs with only a half-wall between me and the ground below, he didn’t offer to help me with my bags, simply waiting at the top for me to catch up with him.  

Third: after he’d shown me the room and departed, I realized just how tiny the bathroom actually is.  

While the style of the décor was pretty, I could touch the walls on either side without stretching.  With my long legs, I couldn’t sit on the toilet without hitting my knees on the wall, so I always had to sit at an angle.  And while I was initially glad to see that the shower was fully enclosed with a ceiling of a decent height (unlike Perissa), I had to slip into it sideways (over a pretty high step) because the toilet is right in front of the entrance.  Oh, yeah.  And I couldn’t put toilet paper into the bowl as I learned from a note on the back of the room’s entrance.  And, yes, I forgot a couple of times and had to fish it out with the toilet brush.  Not my idea of a swell time. 

Fourth: while I’d become used to the lack of or poor placement of the power outlets in Europe, having dodgy wi-fi was more than I was willing to take.  It kept cycling on and off the first couple of days and wouldn’t work at all if I moved my computer away from the desk.  Even the other side of the room was too far to get a signal.

So.  Already I wasn’t feeling the hotel.  And that was before all the noise started.  Music, banging, chairs scrapping, and yet another sexing couple nearby.  Sigh.

No matter.  I wasn’t on the island for the hotel.  Off to explore Milos.

Something I noticed very quickly.  Though the harbor is full of boats and the restaurants around the congested main street are open and busy, this place feels half-dead.  I understand some of the shops and restaurants not being open until high season.  But it’s more than that on Milos.  A bunch of the buildings are in ruins or completely abandoned.  

This has been the case on all the islands I’ve visited, but it’s a lot more noticeable on Milos.  For instance, this hotel looked great.  It’s just off the harbor with views of the water.  Too bad there weren’t any guests.

Half of the island was inaccessible by car, hence the number of day-tripping boat services at the harbor (most of which weren’t running in the off-season).  There was a taxi stand by the harbor, but I wasn’t willing to pay for one on this island when I didn’t see any place as being worth the fee.  There were places to rent cars/ATVs everywhere, but once again, there was no way I was driving the narrow, congested roads of a Greek island.  With the usual restaurants and souvenir shops, there wasn’t anything around in walking distance that I hadn’t seen before. 

So yeah.  In less than 24 hours, I was over Milos.

I missed the black sand of Perissa. Missed sitting at my favorite breakfast place watching the sun glinting off the water.  Missed my conversations with Maria.  I wasn’t going to get that interaction with the clerk in this place as he’d already irritated me.  And I would be on the island for six nights.  Great.

I spent my days sitting on the pier and reading.  Boring island or not, the water of the Mediterranean is still gorgeous and I love looking at it.  Feeling like a grandma, my new favorite activity was watching the ferries come in.  I’d watch the people get off the boat, all happy to be on a new island, and wonder if they knew something about this place that I didn’t.

Despite the abandoned feel to the place, every night the port was crawling with children.  They’d come out just before sunset on their bikes, scooters or rollerblades to race up and down the square around the restaurants.  At least someone was having fun on this island.

Gripes aside, I did get a free glass of Riesling on my second night at dinner.  And despite not feeling Milos much, I had to sit there and be in the moment.  I was on an island in Greece, the sun was setting, I’d just had a nice meal, and was staring at the water while enjoying my gratis glass of deliciously fizzy wine.  Not too shabby. 

Friday morning after breakfast, I noticed that the bus stop was teaming with people.  The hotel clerk had warned me that the buses were not very reliable but, on this day, a cruise ship had docked, sending a bunch of tourists ashore.  To accommodate them, the bus company had added some more buses to the route.  I figured it was as good a time as any to hop a bus.  Didn’t care where it was going as long as it was out of Adamas.  After maybe ten minutes of driving around windy roads, we turned off on the road to Sarakiniko.  I thought it would be a town.  Turns out it’s more like Milos’ version of the Grand Canyon.  

Great views of the water, a tiny beach, and some cool caves.  It made for a nice couple of hours exploring.

Trash is a serious issue in Greece and, after Athens, Milos seemed particularly bad. There was one area right in front of the water with a couple of benches beside a tree.  It would be a nice sitting area if not for all the trash everywhere.  I tried to sit there to read one day, but the amount of refuse everywhere was irritating me.  I finally had enough and went to a nearby restaurant to ask for a trash bag.  I then spent the next 30 minutes climbing rocks and ducking under branches to collect as much trash as I could.  It wasn’t a very large area, but at least it looked better once I was done.  My own little bit of volunteer work for the country of Greece.

Travel day couldn’t come fast enough.