Naxos & Milos (The Cyclades, Greece): 50 shades of white and blue
It's been five years since we last came back to Naxos, which has been one of our favourite places on earth for ages. Obviously we were a bit apprehensive as things can rapidly change in touristy places when you haven't been back for a while. So, after a walk to our local Verride train station, a train to Alfarelos, another train to Lisbon and the metro to the airport, a flight to Valencia, Spain, another flight to Athens, Greece, and yet another flight to Naxos, we are picked up by Nikos, our friend and owner of the apartments we've been staying at since 2010. They have two buildings of studios, Stratos and Alsos, we prefer to stay at Alsos as it is on a quieter street. We arrive early in the morning and our room is being cleaned, so we go for a wander and immediately reacquaint ourselves with our beloved island. We catch up with Angela, Nikos’s wife and the most gracious and fun hostess. There’s always a cup of Greek coffee or a chilled carafe of homemade (by Nikos) wine on her verandah table as lots of guests come and go to have a long chat before going out for dinner. We also go back to Maros, one of our favourite restaurants ever. They always give you a second carafe of homemade wine for free and everything, literally, comes with fries, what’s not to love? The island is still busy considering summer is over, after two years of travel restrictions due to the pandemic. Also, there’s an unusually high number of American tourists, due to the increased value of the US Dollar against the Euro. You can hear them everywhere, loud and clear, mostly in large groups, which is very unusual for a small Greek island used to attracting more english and northern european independent tourists. Our 15 days fly by, filled with the Naxos magic of long walks on the beach, sunset walks in the Kastro (Venetian Castle) and the waterfront, copious amounts of organic homemade wine and of course, chips with everything. Of course we go for a long run and hikes in the mornings to counteract the effects of the wine and chips factor. It´s time to say "Ciao Naxos", next stop, Milos.
We catch the ferry to Milos and after 7 long hours, we arrive at the port town of Adamas. It's after midnight as the ferry was late, and Emily (Emilya in Greek), our host for our 3 days stay, is waiting for us. After a ride in her car, we arrive at Emily’s Rooms (36 Euros), in the port town of Adamas. The studio is a bit small but comfortable, with ocean views from the balcony and very near the centre of town. We are deliriously tired, so we have a good sleep and wake up refreshed to explore Milos, our 18th Greek Island. This is also the island where the Venus de Milo (Aphrodite in Greek, and currently exhibited at the Louvre) was found. After a short walk around Adamas, we decide to go on a hike to explore the incredible villages on this island. We start walking up a very steep hill and the views are incredible. Our first stop was the incredible multicoloured settlement of Klima, with it's unique, vibrant houses carved into the rocks and almost floating in the water, an instant Instagram hit. Then we continue to the gorgeous village of Plaka, the capital of Milos. From there, we buy a sandwich and a bottle of water and continue our hike to the seriously famous and Instagrammable Sarakiniko beach. With it's white rock formations, emerald green waters and caves eroded by the sea, steeped in stories of pirates, Sarakiniko is an amazing site, perfect for swimming or just chilling out watching the brave people diving from the rocks into the sea. By then we’re seriously exhausted, hot and bothered but nothing that a dip in this beautiful ocean can’t fix. We make our way back to our studio by bus as we have already hiked up or down hill for about 22.8kms today. Of course we found a great place called Gyros of Milos for fab gyros and chips near the port and keep going back for more. On the second day, we go for an early run then catch the bus to Papafragas to check out the pirate caves, which were closed, thanks for letting people know in advance btw. Then we walked to the next town, the beautiful village of Pollonia, with a gorgeous bay, perfect for swimming and people watching and we do so while enjoying an ice cold FIX beer. We catch the bus back and pack ours bags as we’ll be leaving tomorrow. It's worth saying that Milos has a very good, cheap and reliable bus service which takes you everywhere. We wake up, go for a run and a walk, have a feta pie for breakfast, and catch a 5.5 hour ferry to Athens.
