Milos is a volcanic Greek island in the Aegean Sea, just north of the Sea of Crete. This island is a popular tourist destination in the summer but we found the island very quiet. I think the local population is around 5,000 people. The island was one of the first islands to join the Greek War of Independence of 1821. During the 19th century, Milos was a major meeting point for American and British ships fighting Muslim pirates in the Mediterranean. Most of the island is rugged and hilly and is of volcanic origin.
We stayed in the town of Pollonia- at the northeastern tip of the island (see map above). The town is a quiet fishing village. We ate dinner in a traditional tavern on the waterfront which was pretty typical for the majority of our meals. I really don't remember eating indoors much at all, apart from breakfast.
We were up early to shoot sunrise- however, the spot where we went was in walking distance of our hotel which meant we didn't have to get up quite as early.
The golden light was nice on the rocks. You can see that this was not a beach for swimming- it was quite the rugged coastline.
I thought this was a very interesting rock formation.
A local fisherman
The photo was taken just down the road from the hotel.
This was the hotel we stayed in. We did have some challenges such as hot water (non existent at times) and a slow internet. However, I had a large suite wth a beautiful view of the water.
In the afternoon we drove to the tiny fishing port of Areti. This was one of the viewpoints on the drive.
Areti turned out to be a small fishing port with a few buildings with boat garages. You can see just how chrystal clear the water was.
There were a few painters that we observed for a few minutes.
Our late afternoon visit was to Klima, a well known colourful seaside village. A long strip of multi-colored traditional fishermen houses, known as “syrmatas” lie along Milos Bay. The houses were initially painted different colors so they're easily recognizable by their owners. The two-story design is very practical – the bottom serves as the boat garage and kitchen, while the second floor makes for a great living space.
It was a very colourful village.
The village is a a very popular spot for tourists so we did see the locals working on various construction projects as well as painting. The colourful houses and their reflections were nice to photograph.
Laurie and Jane both finding different subjects to photograph. Jane was enjoying photographing the ducks but I'm not sure what Laurie was looking at.
The light got more interesting later on in the afternoon so I concentrated more on photographing the water and sky.
Next stop was sunset at Sarakiniko.