20 Years Later

Tuesday...it is still a little cloudy with a chance of rain. We are excited to spend the day sea kayaking and exploring the coast of Milos.
http://www.seakayakgreece.com/

We rode our little scooters to Mondriakia, a tiny fishing village, to meet our guide Rod and the rest of the group. This village is simialr to others on Milos in that the fishermens houses and boat houses are right on the water, built into the rocks of the shore line.

Glaronisia

Papafragas

The kayak trip was the perfect thing to do. Rod, our guide is an Aussie married to a Greek woman, and lives on the island with there 2 children. He takes kayakers and tourists out for trips around Mios and really is a fun informative person to spend the day with. It is obvious that he loves what he does!

Exploring sea caves

He took us through some amazing sea caves, past a ship wreck, hiking to a very ancient archaeologic site and even made us a picnic lunch on a secluded beach.

Lunch spot

I highly recommend taking a trip with Rod if you ever get the chance!

After the kayak trip we rode our scooters to the other side of the island hoping to explore the Catacombs and ampitheatre near Klima.

the catacombs were closed for tours but we managed to find some to climb into and check out.

the ancient theatre is perched high on a steep hill overlooking the bay. What a great place to see a show!

Milos is the place where the famous statue Venus de Milo was found. It was actually found by a farmer not far from the catacombs and the theatre.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venus_de_Milo#Discovery_and_fame

Milos is also called the Island of colors...it was formed by volcanic action and has a wide variety of geologic rock formations.

Palaeohori Beach

Kevin at Sarakiniko

We really loved our stay on Milos. It was a relaxing end to our tour through Greece.
The Island offers wonderful restaurants and cute little shops as well as beautiful beaches and ocean views.

One of my favorite photos from Milos - reminds me of the amazing contrast of colors- the blue of the water, sky, chairs and shutters on the white houses and buildings of Greece.

Blue Chairs on Milos

Tomorrow we head back to the Athens area for an over night at the Aquamarina hotel in Mati and then off to the airport to fly home!

Today we catch a flight to the Island of Milos, which is 100 miles south of Athens.
We are hoping it will be sunny and warm.

We are staying at the Hotel Portiani which located on the main harbor and town square.
I learned about this Island from my friend Annaka....she was right...it is a wonderful little island which is not over run with tourists. It seems that mostly Greeks and Europeans visit here. The other reason for choosing Milos is that it is one of only 2 places, we could find, to go sea kayaking.

Our mode of transportation for the next few days will have a little less power than we are used to.

I found some other very helpful information about Milos and travelling in Greece at http://www.greektravel.com/ this site is written by Matt Barrett and he will also answer e-mails with helpful answers and ideas when planning a trip. He recommended the hotel we stayed in on Milos and he was absolutely right on!

Sunday, everyone packs up for the last ride!

We stopped for a coffee break in a wonderful mountain village - I think it is Langada

Back to the bike depot in Rafina

Spa at the Hotel Aquamarina in Mati, Greece
After a relaxing soak in the hotel spa we all met for a fun farwell dinner.
The hotel had Greek dancers entertain everyone. Some folks got up and joined in the fun!

(Clare and Cindy Dancing!)

It was a little bit tense sorting out the issues with the motorcycles. As with most of the trip this anxiety and confusion could have been avoided by simple communication. Some people just do not have these skills...or don't feel the need to share information, too bad, an especially disappointing quality for tour leaders. I have decided not to ride for the remainder of the tour. I will ride in the support van. The day was pretty crazy as the group tried to avoid several rain storms, lightning and thunder! I guess it was a good time to be riding in the van.

We ended up taking refuge on the porch of a really nice Museum. The Hora Museum houses a beautiful collection of pottery and artifacts from Nestors palace dating 15-16 century.
http://www.culture.gr/2/21/211/21107n/e211gn01.html

In order to avoid the rain the days route kept changing....but we finally ended up in Olympia late in the day. The hotel we stayed in had a beautifully decorated lobby and pool area. The weather was much cooler and clouds and rain continued to move through the area.

Modern Olympia

We had a nice dinner at one of the many outdoor cafes then walked around Modern Olympia, which was lined with souvenir shops and merchants very anxious to sell since it was the end of the season.

The next day Kevin went with the group on a loop ride to Apollos Temple.

tents covering Apollos Temple Site

Apollos Temple

He really enjoyed this ride and the temple.
I spent the day relaxing at the hotel and shopping with Kay. She was great at handling the very pushy merchants!

In the afternoon Kevin and I explored the ancient site of Olympia. We were very surprised at what a wonderful place this actually is. There were very few tourists there. This is a huge site, being able to freely walk around gave us a good sense of what it must have been like...way back then. Imagine travelling for weeks to get to Olympia, over dirt roads wide enough for carts and goats. Winding up into the green mountains and then staying in this large village with imposing temples and houses, with the best athletes of the time. The outdoor field where the games were held had a seating capacity of over 40,000 people!

We also recommend the museum at Ancient Olympia. It was an incredible collection of statues such as Hermes and Dyonisis and the famous Nike, as well as wonderful artifacts from the ancinet games.
http://www.culture.gr/2/21/211/21107m/e211gm04.html

Distance (200 ks)

Leaving today we follow a coastal road to the Diros caves. Kevin and I decided not to tour this site and just sat outside on the patio overlooking another beautiful bay with colorful boats bobbing in the water.
Next we are onto Kalamata - where we make a stop at a motorcycle dealership to buy a battery for one of the bikes. This is a very busy city with a lot of fast traffic.
After lunch we start out onto more back roads into another beautiful area stopping for coffee in Kardamili. the village is set between the blue sea and the base of Mount Taygetus, it is a place we would love to return to and explore.


(having fun in Kardamili)

Back on the bikes we ride into the countryside and head for the seaside village of Pilos.
The roads are slippery and in the afternoon several of us go down on two curves!
I am shocked at how slippery the road was! It was so slick it even Made it difficult to walk on some sections. We were told that the older roads were buillt with crushed marble and perhaps that has something to do with it...what ever the cause it is crazy.
Now we understand why there are so many roadside memorials!!!

Luckily, we are all ok. We are bruised and sore and 2 of the bikes are not running, but we all make it to the hotel in Pilos.

After the days upsetting end, it was so nice to have dinner together in a wonderful little restaurant outside, under the flowering vines and stars where we were able to relax a little. As usual the food was amazing!