Greece: The odd at sea, part I: Milos

Our Greek getaway started with an annoying difficult check-in process at Frankfurt Airport thanks to our traveling with two passengers with the same name, which apparently confuses the dickens out of airlines. But, after our journey from Frankfurt to Geneva to Athens to Piraeus to a small yacht yard called Marina Zea, we were on our boat, bloated from the excessive gyro meat and the eager anticipation of what lied ahead. Thankfully a good night’s rest and the gorgeous morning views of terraced white-washed houses allowed us to relax and prepare ourselves for our first island: Milos. The U-shaped isle of Milos is perhaps most famous for a late-1800s discovery of a statue now known as Venus de Milo. But to the four of us scientifically minded folks, it was the geological oddities like hot springs and limestone beaches that interested us most. So, without ado, we rented a small car.
Our first move was to blatantly disregard our rental agent’s wishes to drive where they explicitly told us not to – on small dusty roads on the unpopulated side of the island to see rocky coves we’d noticed in a brochure. Unfortunately, what we didn’t know is that you can only see these enticing cliffs y sea AND that we’d be seeing them by sea the next morning. So, we tried, failed, got disheartened, and then sought a quick and quiet refuge in a nearby beach called Tzigrado.
When we arrived at the breezy coastline’s parking lot, we noticed about 20 people waiting in line. Curious, I asked what the queue was for and were met with oblique points down a steep, stepped crevice where a slow-moving, single-file line of tanned Europeans were using a ladder, rope, and each other to scuttle up a sandy rift in the rocks. This was the path to the beach…and like those special rush hour lanes on highways that change directions, this path only goes one direction at a time. Hmmm. How bad could it be?
HA! Fools we were. A half hour later we were stuck halfway down the crevice waiting for rude and impatient Europeans who decided they didn’t want to wait for our downward direction to finish before they started their ascent. Like a horde of bikers at a Chinese buffet, there was no cutting in.
We had a nice view of the blue-green water and we were shaded from the sun thanks to the eight-foot cliffs of the ravine, but we were miserable. Why? The Aegean region is hot, dry, and windy, you see. And this means that those of us stuck in a crevice to be bombarded, literally, by sand, rocks, and dust, which ceaselessly rained down on us, getting in our hair, eyes, ears, noses, mouths, and bathing suits.

And since we were stuck, there was nothing we could do but get frustrated at the me-first Europeans who refused to be patient on the nice, beautiful beach. So we just stood there, gradually gaining mass as the up-to-a-quarter-sized pebbles accumulated on our heads. We were miserable … and, in my opinion, this was the worst part of the entire trip. Luckily the beach was wonderful. The small beach had a disproportionately large share of watery coves, tucked away snorkeling spots, and attractive women bearing it all. Was it worth it? Well, although the caked layer of pebbles around the edges of my eyes blurred my vision for a while, I could still see boobies....and, to me, that made it worth it.

Afterward we lunched (Greek salads) and saw many of the other small and geologically fascinating beaches around the island.This included the following limestone beach, which, I thought, could only be made cooler if those topless hotties came for a visit. In this picture, I’m a giant attacking what seems to be Bryce Canyon. ROAR! (God, I had fun here).
We finished the day with a trip to see the Venus de Milo site, some early Christian catacombs, an old Roman amphitheater, and an ancient walkway. These were all in one, walkable area, but unique just the same.
At this point our car overheated – no doubt from the exhausting drive thoughout the bad part of the island – so we were basically done for the day. So, we got a dinner recommendation from the unsympathetic rental agency lady (who didn’t reimburse us for the failed car) and ate ourselves silly on octopus, tzatziki, and olives.