Sunday 25 October 2009

Greece 2009 - Milos, Pollonia


Adamas was busy but not as much as I was expecting and there wasn’t even the usual throng of room to let pests waiting to meet the boat. We walked around the harbour but it was over two hours before the next bus to Pollonia where we were staying and we didn’t fancy lugging the bags about for that long. It was just about now when I got the first pang of uncertainty that rises like sap in the stomach, Pollonia was ten kilometres away and Adamas looked busy and exciting and I worried that we had made a mistake. Rather than hang around for two hours fretting we broke one of our normal rules and took a taxi for €12 to Pollonia, generally we try to avoid expensive taxis and this was the first time since Naxos last year.

It was about a fifteen-minute drive along the coast road and my feelings of uncertainty rose to defcom red and started to fill my chest and my throat especially as we drove through the village and into a rather scruffy little place with half finished buildings and overflowing rubbish bins. Finally the taxi drove down a dusty street towards the sea and we arrived at the Nefeli Sunset Apartments and I really shouldn’t have worried because they were absolutely brilliant! We had a simple white room with cornflower blue doors and windows and a balcony with a stunning view over a wild and restless sea on the exposed side of the village. It was a perfect setting and we sat for a while and watched huge waves crashing in and breaking over black rocky outcrops in the sea.


Sent to the shops I walked the short distance into the village but in the middle of the afternoon the mini-market was closed so I admitted defeat and started to walk back but then it suddenly occurred to me that there must be a bakery so I walked back and sure enough I was right and I was able to buy alcohol and snacks and take them back. I got lost on the way back and ended up at the sea some way from the apartments but that was lucky because it was a lovely walk back along the cliffs with the wind howling in and the salt spray leaping up over the rocks.

As we sat and had a beer the blue sky started to reassert itself and the clouds slipped away and despite the wind, or perhaps even because of it, this was a perfect place and we congratulated ourselves on a good choice of hotel.

With the weather improving we walked into the little village to do important things like check the bus and ferry time-tables, see where we might like to eat later tonight and find a little bar for an afternoon mythos. All along the harbour side there were tavernas and bars and in the late afternoon they weren’t too busy and we attracted the unwanted attention of waiters who were anxious for business and we explained to them all that we weren’t eating right now but if they left us alone then we might come back later. One was especially persistent so we resolved that we wouldn’t eat there out of principle. We stopped for a drink at the taverna next door, liked the menu and agreed that this would be where we would eat tonight.

While we sat the grey clouds returned and it looked like the day was a write-off and we wouldn’t be enjoying a Nefeli sunset tonight. But the weather can change quickly in the Cyclades and an hour later the Nefeli lived up to its name and the clouds broke into a thousand pieces of unwanted grey and just like the Greece football team at Euro 2004 the sun waits for a chance and scores a break away goal in the final minutes. The sun reasserted itself to its rightful position in the sky and we were treated to the crowning glory of a glorious sunset streaming in from the west over a raging sea and wild crashing waves, more like being in Cornwall than being in Greece! There was a kaleidoscope sky with ever changing views of red, yellow, amber and milky white and an angry green sea and bubbling white surf crashing on and around the multi coloured rocks.

The weather was wild and a temporary power cut made the place even more moody and wild but it didn’t last long and once the sunset entertainment was over we dressed and got ready to go back to the village. It was much cooler tonight and for the first time since I can remember I had to wear two layers of clothing tonight. We ate where we planned and had a nice meal before returning to the apartments and before we fell asleep we listened to the hissing wind and the restless sea and we wondered what tomorrow might bring.

http://www.milos-nefelistudios.gr/


No comments: