Shrimp Heads and Cerulean Seas; 10 days in the Greek Isles.
The sundresses, shorts and flip flops have officially surpassed the Patagonia down jackets which have stayed stuffed in the smallest corners of our Away bags since we left the UK. I’m starting to feel like we might have done an ok job packing after all!
We left the buzz of Athens by way of a Sea Jets ferry the next morning, destination Milos. Somehow I had a vision of the ferry as a mid-sized boat with a few cars and people on board, large decks to walk around on while watching the ocean and islands breeze by. I never could have imagined the Goliath that is an island ferry,150 meter boat that can devour hundreds of cars, and thousands people, pets and suitcases. It moves at such speed you’re not allowed outside as it barrels along, a giant moving biodome. The most impressive thing was watching the captains maneuver these massive ships in and out of port, backing up for loading and unloading with the precision of a tender. Despite all our time in Europe over the years we had never been to the Greek islands, but Conde Naste and Travel and Leisure certainly knew we were coming this way and peppered my Instagram feed for the last 3 months with all things Greek islands, getting us mighty excited for the adventure ahead. With 270 islands to choose from, it’s a nearly impossible task to narrow it down for 10 days, so we chose 2 of the quieter islands, ones that seemed to have less of a fancy ‘scene’ and focused instead on the perfection of the ocean. And perfect ocean we found! I have never, in all my time in Mexico, Hawaii, the Caribbean, the Riviera and the Costa Brava, ever encountered water as calm, clear, and captivatingly beautiful as we found in Milos and Sifnos. The water ranged in every color of turquoise, cyan, cerulean, azur and indigo with seemingly endless clarity and thousands of underwater caves, valleys, nooks and crannies to swim through and explore.
Unfortunately, somewhere along the way the Covid gods finally caught up with me (I’ve somehow stayed negative despite nursing Will, Holden and Huxley all through bouts of the vid) and the day after we arrived in Milos I tanked, testing positive and altering the remainder of our time on that most beautiful island. Luckily we were in a house, not a hotel, that spilled onto a deserted rocky ‘beach’ so I was able to spend the next week soaking up as much vitamin D as possible with endless dips into the oh so salty sea while the boys worked on perfecting their dives (starting as very entertaining belly flops), discovering swimming pool size tide pools and learning the art of cliff jumping while staying away from all other people. Luckily Will and the boys’ antibodies kept them protected and by the time we headed to Sifnos we were all in the clear.
We loved Milos for its jaw dropping beaches, coves and inlets, some carved of cascading white volcanic rock, others of perfect sand, others of spires and arches of rock extending into the nearly translucent sea, but Sifnos truly captured our hearts. It is a small, steep island, with just a handful of roads that connect the central hill top town to the beaches and tiny towns below. The entire island is terraced in the most elaborate, gorgeous, ancient dry stack walls. There are seemingly endless hills and peaks dotting the landscape, each one completely empty save for a perfect white church with a blue door perched at the very top. We dubbed the island the ‘land of perfect tiny churches’ as every direction you looked you found one even more quintessentially Greek than the last. We stayed in a sweet little family friendly hotel called Verina Terra in PG with a delicious breakfast spread, an organic vegetable garden, a barman equally adept at both strawberry milkshakes and Aperol spritzes, and an easy interface between ocean and pool for endless hours of playing. We set up each morning in a little shaded cabana by the pool and did our homeschooling from there, then would set out in the afternoons to explore the island, visit another perfect church and find an even more stunning beach to jump into and explore.
Our favorite was the Church of the 7 Martyrs which, despite a desperately hot long hike down to it and then the beach below, brought us down to the best cliff jumping we’ve encountered yet, with 20-30 foot cliffs rising out of the turquoise (new word) water that was so clear it felt like you could see for miles. Another day we rented the tiniest boat that ever there was, a 4 meter rib with a little 30 horse power engine and just enough room for the 4 of us and a cooler of ice, and spent the day circumnavigating the island, tucking into ever tiny inlet and beach we came across, discovering entire beaches filled with perfectly flat skipping rocks, others made almost entirely of a white, pearlescent marble stone, others that were dotted with goats and others yet that were completely abandoned save for the tiny perfect churches. The boys learned how to set an anchor and steer a boat and most importantly the joy of swimming naked when there is no one in sight. At night we would walk the 3 minutes from our hotel to the row of restaurants dotting the beach and find a table and chairs with legs nestled in the sand for the evenings repast. One of our ultimate goals in taking this trip was to introduce the boys to the world of cultures and tastes that exists beyond Boulder, especially after the 2 years of pandemic lockdown that started when Huxley was 3. About 6 months ago we took them out to dinner and spent the first 20 minuets scolding them for being loud, not sitting still, not eating what was served to them and so on. We then caught ourselves and realized that the pandemic had consumed so much of their little lives that we had never had the opportunity to actually teach them how to eat at restaurants, experience new things or push their boundaries and we wanted that to change. We wanted them to know what it is like to sleep in an airport or train station, have to eat something for dinner even if you hate it, because it’s what is available, to hear other languages, to experience other cultures, to be uncomfortable and realize that it’s ok. So, the first night we sat down to dinner at a little seaside restaurant called Yalos and ordered Holden some shrimp, a usually safe bet. When a giant platter of little fried shrimp was placed in front of him, complete with heads, eyes, legs and tails, he looked like he might burst into tears. But he knew our rule: if it’s what is served it’s what we’re eating, so he tentatively picked one up, closed his eyes and put it in his mouth. We were certain that a gagging crying fit would ensue, but instead his eyes popped open and a giant smile broke over his face. “Shrimp heads are delicious!” he squealed and proceeded to devour every single one before any of us could get our hands on them to try. The next night he begged and pleaded to go back to the same restaurant for more shrimp heads, legs and tails… no way to say no to that! Even the chef came out to see the little boy who needed another 300 grams of shrimp 🤣 The whole trip so far has now been worth it!
Random Recs
MILOS:
We stayed in a cute, tiny airbnb in Pollonia hosted by a gentleman named Michel. We loved our little house and he also has a number of others, the Aqua Houses which are a bit more upscale and intimate as well as a tiny boutique hotel. I would recommend them all. Our house was also right next to the White Pebble Suites which looked beautiful, an adults only option.
The tiny town of Pollonia is dotted with sweet restaurants all along the water. Will and the boys sampled a few and loved Akrotiri and Rifaki for amazing seafood. The Appolonio Grill House had great take-out for kebabs, gyros and giant greek salads.
We rented our little boat through Kounos Marina and LOVED it!
SIFNOS:
Highly recommend Verina Hotels. We stayed at Verina Terra which was perfect with the boys and right down by the beach. Verina Astra is up in the hills with a more adult vibe, we went up for dinner and it was stunning!
For dinner: Yalos, the home of the aforementioned shrimp, Omega 3, an incredible seafood restaurant along the beach and Bostani, the farm to table restaurant at Verina Astra that delivered one of the best meals we’ve had in years!
We rented a little RIB boat through Calypso Boat Cruises and it was perfect!