Milos & Poliegos Islands
After the hustle and bustle of Athens, the Cycladic Islands of Greece feel calm and tranquil, and certainly operate at a slower pace. It was a treat to begin our “island time” with two of the smaller and less visited Cyclades – Milos and Poliegos.
Milos is an island that most people have heard of, perhaps without knowing it, as the island on which the famous Venus de Milo (Aphrodite of Milos) statue was found. We spent our morning exploring this mineral-rich, and very arid island, beginning with a visit to the site of the ancient city of Milos and the resting place of that famous statue. We continued on to the charming little village of Plaka, the modern capital of the island. Here we found great views of the crystalline bay below and narrow alleyways to explore. Small shops enticed us briefly into their cool interiors, and somehow, we all ended up at the ice cream shop. Our final stop of the morning was at the wildly eroded “moonscape” of Sarakiniko. Here, a thick layer of bright white pumaceous tuff (ancient volcanic ash) has been eroded into curvaceous shapes by the sea, making for a great natural playground and fabulous photographs. After exploring the caves and pinnacles of Sarakinko, we returned to the port of Adamas, where we found lunch waiting for us aboard Panorama.
Our afternoon was dedicated to beach time, and we spent several hours swimming, kayaking, snorkeling and sunning at Poliegos Island. Here, the white, sandy bottom of the bay in which we anchored turned the deep blue of the Aegean to stunning turquoise. Those who stopped to contemplate were mesmerized by the clarity and perfect temperature of the water. Everyone else simply enjoyed paddling around the bay, snorkeling along the rocky shoreline, building sand castles at the water’s edge and soaking up some of the abundant Greek sunshine. It was a perfect afternoon.
We returned to the ship for a fun Greek lesson in the early evening, followed by a delicious dinner and an evening stroll on deck, under stars that have been eyed by humans for millennia.
