Milos is one of
Greece's
volcanic islands, so it
has spectacular
rock formations and
hot springs. A bicycle,
motorcycle (
papaki)
or car would useful if not essential. It is slightly industrialized with
mineral
mines but don't let that scare you away.This is a beautiful island with fantastic
beaches like
Chivadolimni,
Lagkada and
Apollonia where you can take a boat
to the island of
Kimilos. The main village of
Plaka is made up of the cubic
white houses which the
Cyclades are known for. The island is rich with archeological
sites including
Christian catacombs, a roman
ampitheatre, and
Venetian castles
and museums. Daily boats to and from
Pireaus connect the island to
Sifnos,
Serifos and
Kythnos. It's about a 7 hour trip to
Pireaus. There are also
3 boats a week to
Agios Nikolaos in
Crete and one or two a week to
Folegandros,
Sikinos,
Ios and
Santorini.
Any of you that retained something from
art history
will recall that the famous statue, the
Venus de Milo was found on
Milos.
My high-school history teacher was from
Milos, so that fact was
pounded into
us. The small island of
Kimolos is worth the visit, and is accessable daily
by ferry from the port town of
Polonia. The island is great, has really nice
beaches and
hot springs, so it's worth it to spend a day soaking up the
rays
there.
Milos is large enough so that you can enjoy hiking around, and the
Venetian
castles are fun to explore. There was a lot more stuff
roped off on my last
trip, but in general, you can see more of
archeological sites on the islands,
as compared to the
mainland. There are small passages and various
cisterns
that the
intrepid explorer can wander. Some of the real cool cisterns are filled
with murky water, but you can hop around on little islands of fallen rubble, and
shafts of sunlight filter down through holes in the ceiling. It's fun...really...
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