Milos, Folegandros
We woke this morning to glass-calm seas, and departed Sifnos at dawn for a gorgeous cruise south. While this part of the Mediterranean is not particularly rich in wildlife, those on deck saw the occasional escorting Cory’s shearwater and a few scattered bottlenose dolphins. But the seas and the colorful islands were the highlight of the morning, as we entered the channel between the volcanic islands of Poliegos and Komilos and turned toward legendary Milos. This small group of three islands is rich in minerals, and Milos was actually one of the most important islands of all the Mediterranean in antiquity. It was a major supplier of obsidian, a black volcanic glass that was the most important cutting tool of its time. Today, the mineral wealth of the island is more industrial, but is manifested in beautiful layers of orange, red, black and yellow rock.
We anchored on the south of Milos and took advantage of the great weather with a morning of swimming, kayaking, and a little bit of lonely beach-bumming. Kayaking along the cliffs was spectacular, and jumping from Panorama’s swim deck into the Mediterranean brought out the child in all of us.
In the afternoon we cruised to one of the true gems of the Greek Cyclades: the island of Folegandros. The only bus on the island picked us up at the small harbor and we chugged our way up to the chora, or main town. This is the idyllic Greek island village we imagined, with its narrow whitewashed alleys, blue-domed churches, coffee-drinking villagers and comfortable lazy felines. The views were spectacular, the villagers were engaging, and the ramoleko was tasty and strong. We all returned down to the harbor feeling that we had discovered one of the hidden jewels of the Mediterranean.
We woke this morning to glass-calm seas, and departed Sifnos at dawn for a gorgeous cruise south. While this part of the Mediterranean is not particularly rich in wildlife, those on deck saw the occasional escorting Cory’s shearwater and a few scattered bottlenose dolphins. But the seas and the colorful islands were the highlight of the morning, as we entered the channel between the volcanic islands of Poliegos and Komilos and turned toward legendary Milos. This small group of three islands is rich in minerals, and Milos was actually one of the most important islands of all the Mediterranean in antiquity. It was a major supplier of obsidian, a black volcanic glass that was the most important cutting tool of its time. Today, the mineral wealth of the island is more industrial, but is manifested in beautiful layers of orange, red, black and yellow rock.
We anchored on the south of Milos and took advantage of the great weather with a morning of swimming, kayaking, and a little bit of lonely beach-bumming. Kayaking along the cliffs was spectacular, and jumping from Panorama’s swim deck into the Mediterranean brought out the child in all of us.
In the afternoon we cruised to one of the true gems of the Greek Cyclades: the island of Folegandros. The only bus on the island picked us up at the small harbor and we chugged our way up to the chora, or main town. This is the idyllic Greek island village we imagined, with its narrow whitewashed alleys, blue-domed churches, coffee-drinking villagers and comfortable lazy felines. The views were spectacular, the villagers were engaging, and the ramoleko was tasty and strong. We all returned down to the harbor feeling that we had discovered one of the hidden jewels of the Mediterranean.
