Mykonos, Santorini, and Milos activities

Day 1 in Mykonos
Our first day, which happened to be Easter, we decided to head into town to get some cash (no ATMs in Paradise Beach) and check out the little downtown. It was very cool and picturesque. The little town obviously relies on tourism as it's main source of income and there were many cool stores. Many were closed because of the holiday and it being the off season. But we still were able to enjoy some excellent pita sandwiches and had a nice walk through the whitewashed buildings and churches. We then took the bus back to Paradise beach where we passed the afternoon back at the beach bar and enjoyed some feta cheese and delicious Mythos beer.

Day 2 – Being that we decided to cut our stay short in Mykonos (partly to do with the accommodations), this was our last full day, of which we spent the majority of the day sitting at the beach. After waking up, we enjoyed our free breakfast and took some long showers. At about Noon we headed for the beach. It was nice being able to just sit back and enjoy the weather. That was partly why we decided to start this trip in February so that we could have some nice early summer weather. The beach was great, the sun was warm, but the water was still a bit cold. Either way, no complaints.

Day3 – Mykonos to Santorini
We took the ferry from Mykonos around 3:00 in the afternoon. We could only take the high speed ferry because of the offseason. This cost us about $70 Euros, much more than we anticipated. But it was only a 2.5 hour ferry and as we disembarked our hostel driver was waiting for us. Apparently he had to deliver some flowers to another island, so we had to wait around at port for about 45 mins. Until the next ferry arrived. It wasn't that bad since there were cafes and ferry offices around so we were able to check on ships to Milos and Athens. The driver also owns the hostel and was very friendly and helpful. I think it's safe to say that our hostel here in Parissa beach is the best we've had yet. The rooms are clean, spacious with a nice terrace and deck chairs to enjoy the morning sun. The family staff is helpful and friendly, there are great restaurants and bars down the street, and the beach is just 30 meters away. Our first dinner here we went down the street to a Greek/Italian restaurant where we had some pizza and roasted veal. After dinner we walked along the beach. It was very creepy as the water was pretty rough that night and the lights from the restaurant shining on the water. It felt like at any moment the water could just rush up and overtake us. I think our first night we were very impressed with Santorini and looked forward to spending some relaxing days here.

Day 2
After waking up, we went looking for a supermarket to pick up groceries for breakfast and lunch. The market down the street was closed, so we stopped by a small bakery and picked up some awesome croissants and a couple of small pizzas for lunch. We laid out on our deck to get some sun, and then went out to check out the beach. Since Santorini is a volcanic island, the sand is very dark, but very incredibly soft. A bartender on the beach said the rock is like pumice. The water is a little warmer than in Myknonos so we walked along the beach for awhile before having a few drinks at a beach bar. After we went back to try the market again. This time it was open so we picked up some groceries and a liter of santorini wine. We ate dinner at Ntomatini, where we met a nice lady from Oregon. She gave us free shots of some terrible tasting liquor.

Day 3 – We were supposed to go on an all day excursion around the island and to check out the volcanic caldera, wrapping it all up with a sunset from Oia, but the weather was a little cloudy this day, so the tour was rescheduled for the following day. It ended up being a great day. It didn't matter because we spent the day in Fira. We hiked down the caldera to the old port, bought some souvenirs and then took a cable car back up to the top. We had a great lunch (cheap!) overlooking the volcano. We had dinner at Del Mar, where the food was great and we were treated with some free wine.

Day 4 – The day of the tour. We woke up, had breakfast at our favorite backery and then caught the tour bus back to the port of Thira. There we boarded a converted fishing boat and sailed to the volcanic island. We hiked around and saw the crater. Then we went to some hot springs. Melanie swam to the springs. The water was pretty cold but the springs were nice. Then we sailed to Thirassia, where we had some grilled kalimari and then sailed to famous Oia where we had some great food (stuffed fried olives!) and prepared for the famous Oia sunset. The sunset was beautiful.

Day 5 – we spent most of our day at the beach. We had dinner at Del Mar again, and we were treated to some Santorini special dessert wine called Vinsanto

Day 6 – we had to leave Stelios because they had no rooms available, but we were able to stay at his nephews place. There place was also nice. We chilled at the beach once more, were lazy and watched some greek TV.

Day 7 – Costas (Stelio's nephew) drove us to the port where we caught our ferry to Milos. Once in Milos we hiked a short ways to ur hostel. This is another great hostel. Greece seems to have great accommodations for a pretty low price. Service is also very nice, especially in restaurants. They love to give away free wine. We had a nice dinner and went to bed early.

Day 1 – Milos
we found another nice bakery to have breakfast up the street. We must have seen 50 cats. They are everywhere in Milos. Then we decided to take the city bus into Plaka (the capital) here we just walked around. It is very pretty, and there are virtually no tourists around. Most people are gearing up for the high season, so many shops were closed and being worked on. We had a nice lunch and walked around a bit more. We saw some wild cats fighting. Kind of strange. We took the bus back to the port. Later the hostel owners convinced us to checkout this neat coastal area called Sarakiniko. We had to walk a little ways but it was worth it. It's a very interesting rock formation along the coast. Similar to the badlands. The rock is very smooth and weathered by the wind and water. It reminded me of an SUV commerical. But it was very pretty. Later we walked back and had dinner at a nice pizza and pasta place.

Day 2 – Milos
We headed for the port after breakfast and spent a nice day with Captain Mike and his sail boat. He took us around the island to see the cool rocky coastline and into some aquatic caves. He didn't speak English very well, so whenever he didn't understand you, he would say “For me, It's no problem my friend”. It was a lot of fun. He made us coffees, fed us lunch, gave us snacks. He even let me sail the boat. Good times.

Day 3 – Milos (our last day :(

We woke up and had our breakfast and then went to the beach to kill some time before our ferry. We had a nice lunch and now we sit back at the hostel writing this post. We have until 8:00 tonight before our high speed ferry arrives. Then we arrive in Athens at Midnight. Tomorrow we take our flight home to Minneapolis. You all better have kept that Swine flu away.

That's it for now. Perhaps we'll write again soon.