Milos, first thoughts..

 Monday, Tuesday 

So I said goodbye to my little house on Andros, I wasn’t sure about it to start with, I have never found Greek properties I have rented,  as comfortable as our UK house. Our house in the UK could not be described as opulent, but it’s nice and I miss our sofas, and our bed is a king size and I like our bedding. The bathrooms here are not as nice, but you get used up to things, and appreciate the environment here, which is significantly better in many ways to the UK. I even enjoy the ferries rides. I just have lots of downloads on BBC Sounds to keep me amused. I have just started on the Museums that made us, with Neil MacGregor which is very good. Also The Reunion with Kirsty Walk. ( the British Leyland one is very good!)

I have noticed at the ferry port on Andros a Mute swan being overly interested in the ferries when they are docking. As my ferry docked the swan got really close to it, touching it, I have no idea why. I saw some scraps being thrown overboard, the seagulls had them. Just before we left, the swan moved away, as if it knew we were going. Although it was very windy, the voyage seemed quite smooth. Annoyingly at the Rafina port I had a lot of trouble getting a cab to accept my card. They wanted me to get the money out of an ATM and give it to them. In the end I found a guy, but he got me to put in the amount of diesel in his car that the fare  would be. Once in Piraeus, I checked into our favourite hotel and had a wander round the city. As I have been here many times, I know my bearings a bit better now. One thing I found was a sausage shop. Every sausage you have ever imagined ( maybe not black pudding) is on sale here.


I had an evening meal near my hotel and a drink while speaking to the staff at Faros hotel, they know myself and Hazel very well. I did get a quite nice sunset photo of the Piraeus port.


When I had my breakfast in the morning, one of the waitresses told me men find love on Milos! The ferry to Milos is a super fast catamaran, which stopped at Serifos and Sifnos on the way. You are not allowed outside on these ferries, you have to be inside and seated.  I did have a chat with some English ladies who were going to Sifnos, they had been many times before. After getting off the ferry, my new Airbnb host picked me up in his car. I then realised once he dropped me off, that although the place is really nice, it’s not a nice walk down to the port, even though it only takes fifteen minutes. It’s a busy road with no pavement. The good news is there is a nice supermarket and bakery further uphill and not far. I wandered downhill and had a look at the town. I think these Greek islands are very personal, what one person likes, another doesn’t. I also appreciate that I have only seen the town. I will see more of the island tomorrow, but I think it’s a bit like Paros town, in that it’s very geared for tourists, of which I am an example! Here is its church, which is pretty.


The shame was at the entrance of the church were some coloured cobble stones. Almost certainly they make up a design, but many of them were loose and lost. This meant you could not see what it depicted. A real big shame. Around this elevated part of the town, there was a film unit, maybe recording the Greek version of Midsomer Murders. There was a tiny Catholic Church shoehorned into a small space. I also saw two museums, which looked grand, but we’re not open. They were filming in this authentic looking garden.


I had a look at the tavernas around, and a lot of them looked like the flashy places I saw in Syros. There maybe some authentic looking ones, but they are not open yet. So given the road is busy and dangerous, I think I will be eating in for the next few days. So the plan tomorrow is to get a car and have a look at the island. If I see a taverna nearby on my travels that looks ok, I can drive to it and drink water! Meanwhile these pretty flowers seem prevalent, they are not wild, but they are beautiful! I don’t think they are petunias.


Oh one last thing, Hollyhocks seem to like Milos, I have seen several, they are already flowering!


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