Greece Trip: Milos
Kalimera Milos!
Arriving at our beautiful hotel Miland Suites with a welcome yamas waiting for us! The rooms and views were spectacular – only drawback was transportation was necessary for getting anywhere that we did not have pre-arranged by the Be A Greek team – but the reception handled getting us a rental for 24 hours so that we could go for lunch and then check out some of the local beaches on our list. First stop was lunch at O! Hamos – highly recommend as they don’t take reservations and wait time for dinner can be quite long -- it was the perfect beginning to our time on Milos – hand-written menus, another Dakos/Rusk/Sheperd’s salad, another “Grandmother’s Cheese Pie” / fried cheese, saganaki with honey, another lamb/chicken/rooster w/fried potatoes – and of course cats and jugs o wine!
Next we decided to explore an “organized beach” – meaning a beach that has sunbeds/umbrellas to rent, food/drink to order, and bathroom facilities – since we had no beach gear other than towels, we chose Plathiena – it was beautiful, but still very windy here (which is why our sailboat trip intended for today had been cancelled) – we relaxed and had a few spritzes in the sunshine!
Dinner reservation at Nostos Seafood was rescheduled for us for tonight – it was perfection – we sat right on the water’s edge – yamased with some Prosecco to start and shared a few appetizers of local cheese platter and smoked mackerel bruschetta – then a bottle of Gaia Assyrtiko paired with – the best dish of my life! No kidding, and I eat a lot, I had the STUFFED SQUID with local cheeses on orzo risotto with squid ink – I’m going to dream about this dish forever – not even sure what everyone else got – I know there was octopus, lobster and crab stuffed tortellini, and skewer of sauteed prawns – but I was in my own world and shared very little – not even a little bit sorry. We did all then share two desserts – profiterole with berries and chocolate and a very odd baklava that was green and pistachio mousse – food coma time – had to walk it off into the Adamas port town and find our way to Akri bar for a nightcap – with more cats…..
Day 2 – first full day on Milos – we got up early to take advantage of our full spread breakfast buffet and ½ day rental car to go see the most unique “beach” on the planet – it looks like the moon – Sarakiniko Beach is an absolute must see to experience – it is NOT an organized beach, so be prepared to stay a short time or have your own provisions. There were breathtaking views, bit of bad boys jumping from high places into the blue deep, and time for basking in the beauty – we were so glad we went early, as we were leaving to return the car by 11 we saw the place really filling up and parking all over.
Toilet Tip #2: you must ASK to use a toilet at a gas station even when you are buying gas (this was on our way to return the rental and needed to top off the tank - the owner was really mad and did not accept my apology in either Greek or English – we asked if this was typical, but other Greeks said he must have been having a bad day – just be aware when you are not in your own country, rudeness is relative!)
We now have time to explore the port of Adamas, shop, and get some lunch before our next planned excursion to the Wine Cave Tour. We found another gem right near the bar from the night before – Flisvos – for more local Greek cheese, fried cheese, bread, liters of wine, and Dakos salad – this place was also known for their gyros where the meat is sliced off the roaster in front of you! This was also the scene for Toilet Tip #3 – take your cell phone with you! Not all bathrooms are alike and one of our travel friends found herself stuck, banging on an interior door til finally one of the workers heard her and let her out – quite traumatic and this time she got the apology – signomi!
See details of our Greek Wine Tasting: Milos at the Kostantakis Wine Cave.
Day 3 (I think) is our sailing excursion day! We had to be rebooked due to winds on our original date, but were placed in the experienced hands of Captain Frederick on the Sunset – see SunsetSailingMilos for booking info – we also made it into their Instagram posts! Zenia was first mate and kept us laughing, dancing, eating, and drinking through the 7+ hour cruise – we saw the little fishing village of Klima where all the doors are painted different colors for their boat owners to find their way home – we sailed and swam all around Milos, Poliegos, and Kimolos - we sang and danced to Mama Mia and as we sailed back into port we saw the entire area ablaze with smoke and fireworks as their home football (soccer) team had just won a champion match – very exciting!!
For our final night on Milos, we went to one of the most popular spots for octopus – Medusa – it is one of those ‘no reservations – just show up and wait’ kind of places – we heard if you go before 6:30 (or for lunch) there is no waiting, but also learned that if you arrive after 8:00 you will find they have run out of the whole portion octopus! We were so disappointed to miss out, but our dinner was excellent anyway! We of course had to have a saganaki (kefalotyri fried cheese) and a local cheese fried with honey, we paired and shared a bottle of Santorini white wine, Riganato (grilled bread with fresh tomato, feta, EVOO), grilled ½ portion of octopus. Fried calamari, and grilled calamari – ending with a bakalava w/ice cream, shots of ouzo, and a cat…a few cats….yamas and efkharisto Medusa Milos!
Páme (let's go) to Naxos!!Éla mazí mou (come with me!) on our Greece Trip: Naxos or back to our Big Fat Greek Anniversary Trip!