Tripiti is one of the cluster of cities that make up the main residential area of Milos. Plaka is the main city and capital, and Triovasalos is the third in the cluster. For the most part, Plaka is the main event, and I'll have another post covering its attractions. But on the evening of the 31st of August, Tripiti is definitely the place to be in Milos.
There is a religious festival in Tripiti that night, and as far as I can figure out, it's called "Fires of Kyriafgoustou". It's a pretty typical Greek panigiri (the 'g' is pronounced like a 'y', like in gyro), centered on a particular church, in this case the main church in Tripiti. There are lots of food stands in the street with beer & wine, live music, and the main event, the fire. This is basically just a bonfire in the square next to the church. What makes it interesting is that crowds of children spend all night making daredevil jumps over the bonfire. Even with that, I'm not quite sure why it was quite so exciting. When I went on camping trips as a child, I think we would occasionally jump over the fire for fun. It wasn't nearly as exciting as this fire-jumping in Tripiti.
I think part the difference may be that I'm now an American adult and I have different ideas about what is safe and appropriate behavior for children around bonfires. I didn't have a problem with this, but in America I think every child in this picture would have been taken from their parents by child protective services. Not only were there children jumping over bonfires, but this went on until midnight or later, and most of their parents were not obviously parenting. I'm sure they were around. They just weren't being very vigilant guardians.
I'm sure the lack of heavy handed parenting was part of the fun for the kids too. You've got crowds of kids cheering you on. Tourists are taking pictures. How can you resist that kind of excitement?
So the parents are partying and the children are playing with fire. The Greeks do know how to celebrate. If you're going to be in Milos in late August, I highly recommend working this festival into your schedule.
Here's a picture of the souvlaki stand next to the church, which you may or may not find amusing.
A couple of final points on Tripiti. There was an incredibly cute bar near this square. Aesthetically, it looked like a really cute combination of English country pub and quaint Barcelona bar, built in the middle of a Greek island village. We didn't go, and I don't even know what it was called, but if you have some time in Tripiti, look out for it.
Also, parking was brutal the night of this festival. If you can figure a way to get there without parking in Tripiti, do it.
And finally, we ate at a restaurant called Glaronissia in Tripiti that night. It was very cute, but it was the worst food we had our whole week in Milos. The two main dishes I tried (one lamb, one goat) were nothing but fat and bone. Supposedly the third dish in our party was quite good. Given the generally great restaurants in Milos, I'd suggest you don't waste a meal at Glaronissia.
There is a religious festival in Tripiti that night, and as far as I can figure out, it's called "Fires of Kyriafgoustou". It's a pretty typical Greek panigiri (the 'g' is pronounced like a 'y', like in gyro), centered on a particular church, in this case the main church in Tripiti. There are lots of food stands in the street with beer & wine, live music, and the main event, the fire. This is basically just a bonfire in the square next to the church. What makes it interesting is that crowds of children spend all night making daredevil jumps over the bonfire. Even with that, I'm not quite sure why it was quite so exciting. When I went on camping trips as a child, I think we would occasionally jump over the fire for fun. It wasn't nearly as exciting as this fire-jumping in Tripiti.
Here's a picture of the souvlaki stand next to the church, which you may or may not find amusing.
Also, parking was brutal the night of this festival. If you can figure a way to get there without parking in Tripiti, do it.
And finally, we ate at a restaurant called Glaronissia in Tripiti that night. It was very cute, but it was the worst food we had our whole week in Milos. The two main dishes I tried (one lamb, one goat) were nothing but fat and bone. Supposedly the third dish in our party was quite good. Given the generally great restaurants in Milos, I'd suggest you don't waste a meal at Glaronissia.
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