Milos, Greece (October 17, 2025)
For our last day in Greece, I wanted to go explore. No more poking around shops. Today I wanted to climb a mountain and take in some breathtaking views from as high up as I could get. I asked Violet to join me and she was very much into the adventure.
Lets go climb some boulders and stand on the top of all of them
The island of Milos is another arid island of Greece, which means the rocks are plenty and the vegetation is few. So when we come across some green, it’s a nice contrast and makes for some good pictures.
First hill was a small solar-powered light house with good views
While it was easy to navigate to this lighthouse, the hill was relatively small and neither Violet nor I felt fulfilled from the climb, so we agreed to continue our venture forward to see what else we could climb up. The higher we got, the more interesting the sights became.
Notice the hole in this rock likely made from the high winds up here
At the top of each hill told a different story. For example, this rock outcrop showed the direction of the winds and a hole that was likely carved from high winds in a consistent direction. Much of this rock have holes from the constant winds blowing into them, often blowing sand and debris along with the wind itself.
Cool outcropings witih bushes growing like tops of cave coverings
As we kept going, the discoveries got cooler and cooler. Like this natural cave-like dwelling made up of natural carve outs of the rock and bushes that have grown to create a natural canoe over the rocks. I could already see Violet considering this hide out for a game of “Hide and Seek.”
Then we discovered a REAL cave hidden behind some more rocks
When we came across this real cave, it was clear that it was man made. It may have started out natural, but someone had clearly opened it up and likely was mining for something. We took a peek inside going as far in as we dared to go without the proper harness, ropes and guides for a cave like this one.
Violet peeks inside this cave and notices the steep drop down
We half expected bats to come flying out as we poked our heads in. Instead, it was a pigeon that half startled us as it came rearing out of the cave at full speed and loud as could be. Whoa. But with the floor slippery with sandy rocks, we dare not risk going further in less we slide down deeper without the ability to climb back out.
Overview of the city center of Milos from the mountain view
We could see clearly the town of Milos below us. Somewhere down there, Elena was doing the typical tourist shopping trip going in and out of shops and checking out what was being offered in the way of hats, T-shirts, Christmas ornaments and other trinkets.
We kept hiking until we reached the highest peak marked by this elevation marker (in Greek, so we’re not sure what it said).
Here’s to reaching “the top” of one of the highest elevation points
And yes, we also took a selfie to capture the moment between the two of us at the top of the mountain.
Fun day of hiking together on the island of Milos
And, of course, there were lots of pictures taken to capture the views from on high in the mountains of Milos. Standard caveat applies that none of these pictures capture the true essence of the island expereince nor the beauty herein.
And, on the way back, we took some quality time to be with the many, many cats that inhabit the island. We love how the locals just take care of all these cats. They seem to be owned by no one but taken care of by everyone.
They are certainly friendly and will sit in your lap and be adored if you care to stop and pet them for a few minutes or longer. Cats have a wonderful way of grounding us into the present moment – especially when they are roaming free and pull you from whatever else you were planning on doing before making eye contact with them.
And, after all of that, we had a nice walk back and took a few more pictures of the island to capture the essence of the feel of the island.
And finally, we took a tender boat back to our ship. It’s fun to venture out in this “rescue” boats without it being an actual emergency. You get a feel for what it would be like if we did (for whatever reason) need to evacuate the cruise ship.
We took the rest of the day to pack up and figure out why Air China wouldn’t allow us to check in online or via its mobile app. It was the strangest thing as we’ve never had any trouble checking in for our flights online before. After several hours (not exageration), we final gave up and decided to do the rest at the airport after getting off the boat. The adventure continues … just not on this cruise ship as of tomorrow.
