Gertsamtkunstwerk

Kos Boat Cruise

On the final full day of our Greek holiday, we went on a boat trip. We did it the easy way, buying from the rep in the hotel rather than at the Quayside. That way, we got transport to the harbour, and were booked on a boat aimed at English-language tourists. Our boat was filled with mainly with Brits and Dutch, and one Italian couple who were very out of place. He spent much too much time on his phone, almost certainly talking business. She was dressed impeccably - for a restaurant - even with full make-up and heels, and looked disapprovingly at British and Dutch women in our shorts and flip-flops.

The boat chugged out of the harbour and seemed to travel for miles. Nothing much to see but open sea, the occasional tourist boat and one or two islets. 

 

I put my camera away. I don't wish to labour the point, but while I love the blue of the Aegean Sea, the arid landscape does nothing for me.

Eventually we arrived at our first island. It was a slightly misleading description, for we anchored off the coast of Platti  and were encouraged to dive into the water. Off with the t-shirts and shorts, under which most people had their swimming togs. Some people dived in; I did it my way, gingerly down the ladder backwards. What utter joy! Swimming is nice. Swimming off a beach is joyful. Swimming off the back of the boat is an amazing sensation.

Sitting near us were a mother and daughter (50s/20s). What a palaver they went through so the daughter could change out of her bra and knickers into her bikini and back again, with Mother holding up a towel and glaring at anyone sitting nearby. The daughter was flat-chested and it wouldn't have looked odd if she had worn her bikini beneath her tailored blouse. Women with actual boobs were doing so under their t-shirts or beach dresses.

We were served a 'barbeque' but there was precious little - bread and tomato - for those that didn't eat meat. The meat was pork. Jimmy said it was pretty horrible, and made him yearn for the buffet at the hotel which we had otherwise become bored of.

Our next stop was Kalymnos, the Sponge Island. As we approached, we passed the island's cement works, a major source of cement for the Dodecanese. I'd read the tour leaflet, and told Jimmy, who hadn't, that we were going for a tour of the cement works. He was somewhat dismayed, so I had to tell him we weren't.

We were encouraged to visit the Sponge Factory and buy large quantities of sponge, but we took a coffee, strolled round the harbour, took another coffee, strolled some more and returned to the boat.

I thought it was a nice little town and it seemed to photograph better than I thought at the time. But it did drive home to me the futility of these trips. It's great to be out on the boat, on the open sea, getting the chance to swim. And I understand why they stop in towns. People go into cold sweats if they can't shop all day, and, more practically, it gives us access to more food and drink than the boat can provide. It seems disrespectful to local people to show such superficial interest in their culture, snap-snap, there's my photo, doesn't it look picturesque.

 

I liked the statue near the harbour , depicting different aspects of local life and myth

     

Perhaps inevitably, a statue of Poseidon was not far away.

Our final stop was Pserimos,for some off-beach swimming and to enjoy beach cafés. The strange people continued to act strangely.

The mother-and-daughter-with-towel show repeated itself, only for daughter to wade out knee deep and no further into the sea. Mother was later seen to be rinsing off the daughter's bikini - in the sea, which made no sense to me.

Meanwhile the Italian woman removed her high heels and let her feet go into the water. Suddenly, I pitied her. I couldn't tell whether she was enjoying the sensation and wanted more but didn't dare, or she felt nothing but acted a wriggle to convey the joy she had learned from other people. Meanwhile, her husband fastidiously brushed off sand that had dared to encroach onto his impeccable trousers and matching shoes.

One of our more gregarious companions engaged the barmen in conversation. At first it seemed a charming way to show interest in them but soon became clear it was a way for her to regale them with the epic story of her holiday. She and her husband were here to celebrate their thirteenth wedding anniversary. Their anniversary was in March and they had gone to Amsterdam (thus being more knowledgable about Amsterdam than Dutch people) but in September they were celebrating their anniversary - by going on holiday with her parents. (Sub text, look how loaded we are). Mother, meantime, got anxiety attacks if she wasn't shopping, and yet shopping also caused obvious stress. At least I found out who buys all that jewellery and ornaments made of shells in tourist resorts!

I couldn't quite work Pserimos out. It has a population of 130 and we saw one old boy who I imagined had lived there all his life and his ancestors for generations before. Where we landed was pretty, but had no anthropological interest. I think the buildings round the bay were holiday lets, probably for prosperous folk fondly imagining that they were living hippy alt culture for two weeks before returning to their bonus-heavy city jobs.

We sailed back to Kos town. I enjoyed the day, there really is nothing like it. Lots of fresh air, open seas, swimming, people-watching. Splendid day and a great end to an holiday which had been better than the sum of its parts and much better than I've conveyed in these blogposts. But we won't be doing All-Inclusive again any time soon. 

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Other blogposts on my Kos holiday:

A Greek Odyssey

Kos Town

Kos Coach Tour

Kos photo album

Kos Coach Tour

During our All-Inclusive package holiday near Kos Town we booked a day coach trip to tour the island.

I have mixed feelings about coach trips. It is an excellent way to see the cultural highlights without having to juggle bus timetables or hire a car. But you don't have control over how long you spend at places and it's all a bit whistle-stop. 

 

On the whole it worked out well. We had an excellent and knowledgeable tour guide. The coach wasn't completely full and there was nobody entirely obnoxious. There was one elderly woman who was clearly getting drunker and drunker and more garrulous as the day went by, but she was a hoot. One slightly odd woman seemed to want to follow me around and take the same photos. 

As I have said before, the weather was much hotter than I had expected and despite drinking copious amounts of water, it did take a lot out of me. If we had been going under our own steam, it would have been even more draining.

Our first stop was the Asklepion, not far from Kos Town. One of the most important sites in Western Civilisation but I hadn't heard of it until I booked to visit Kos. It is a 'healing temple' sacred to the Greek god Asclepius. The Asklepion on Kos was probably the largest and most well-known in the ancient world, dating from 400 BC. Modern scientific evidence-based medicine has its roots here; Hippocrates worked and taught at this site. Medicine was 'systemised' . Pliny wrote that Hippocrates learned medicine by writing down the successful cures that had been recorded by patients on the walls of the temple. 

One level of the Asklepion included hydrotherapy. Our guide explained the importance to them of clean drinking water. The guide recounted a story where he had to guide a school party round. He asked the children whether  Asclepius existed, and one child, aged about 9, replied "Yes, because he exists in our heads." A profound comment.  Of course these gods exist; it was the genius of humanity to create them to serve society!

 Kos has a history of earthquakes, and the hospital is in ruins. Excavations were begun in the early years of the 20th century. Anyone who visits Kos must go to this site, with a good guide. However, you get more of a sense of space and the size of the place, and great views out to sea, then any insight into the workings of the hospital. Also, because it's built on four levels, there's a lot of stairs to climb. Those with greater mobility problems than me would not get the full experience of the site.

     

We drove into the mountains, to the touristic village of Zia that lies at the base of Mount Dikaios, the highest mountain on Kos. We visited during the day but it's a popular destination at sunset. 

The coach dropped us off in the village square.  Some people headed straight for the shops, which sell everything from the cheapest tat to local foodstuffs (eg honey) to some lovely pottery. I was tempted by tableware but I knew it would be a pain to bring home by charter flight.

We climbed up to the Orthodox church above the village - but first, coffee in a nearby restaurant. I was pleased by the photo I took of the steps but later saw other similar pictures on the web - clearly an obvious shot!

The church was highly decorated. I felt awkward. I'm not religious, and it felt odd being one of many people wandering around taking snapshots. But it's part of the tourist route, and presumably the church tolerates it as it brings money to the village. This is the point where I start to feel guilty as a relatively prosperous Western tourist bestowing my grandesse on a struggling economy. Does it feel more awkward when it's in an EU country?

 

We walked round the village, which is pretty, with magnificent views.

 

As we waited for our coach, I spotted this vintage mowing machine parked up in the village square.

 

Next stop was Pyli, in order to see a fountain. I understand why the coach tour stopped off there but it wasn't a highlight. The guide explained a rite associated with fertility - drinking from each of the taps or somesuch. One poor woman dashed round like she was desperate. I saw it as an opportunity to replenish depleted and warm water bottles!

 

We drove across the island to a beach town for lunch. Kos is said to be one of the greenest Greek islands. I've previously been to Corfu and Crete, but the scenery just doesn't grab me. The town we stopped in - whose name I forget, I didn't make contemporaneous notes - had an air of end-of-season. A few people sunbathing on the beach but not much else. Even the tourist train was parked up and seemed out of commission.

We had a decent meal in the restaurant recommended by the guide. A beau

Kos Town

I feel I ought to be more interested in Greek Classical ruins than I am. It would certainly seem wrong to visit the island of Kos, and not visit its main town, which has history dating back to the 11th century BC, and became a free Roman city. Kos was owned by Crusaders, became part of the Ottoman Empire, and was occupied by Italians and Germans in World War II, and was briefly a British Protectorate.

We caught the bus from our hotel to Kos Town and wandered round for a couple of hours. I would have enjoyed it more if it hadn't been so hot - above average for September, and English fools that we are, we went out in the late morning/ early afternoon.

Kos is major port, with regular sailings to Bodrum in Turkey, just a couple of miles away, and is frequently visited by cruise ships. It seemed that one had docked that afternoon. I think prices are inflated to make the most of cruise ship visitors, and it's a bit odd to see groups of overdressed people walking around even more aimlessly and uninformed than me, and slightly irritating to eavesdrop their overloud English conversations. We also overheard a conversation from distinctly non-cruise ship people planning a group outing to Bodrum which would largely consist of getting very very drunk and buying enormous quantities of cheap cigarettes (from outside the EU!). Funny, because the package holiday rep gave the impression that Bodrum exists to sell 'cheap designer handbags'. Nevertheless, we did contemplate going, for the history/sights, and to say we've been to Turkey without actually committing. But the weather was unrelentingly hot, and we concluded that we're just not interested enough in Ancient History to fork out. Looking at Wikipedia, I've just learnt that one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World is in Bodrum - Mausoleum at Halicarnassus - is in Bodrum, but in ruins! I've seen the Great Pyramid at Giza and don't need to see any other, although, if possible, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon would attract!

Kos is a pretty town and I am sure that I would have appreciated it more if I wasn't so hot. 

The influence of the Ottoman Empire is evident, and reportedly there is still a significant Moslem population around the town.

Hippocrates, considered the father of Western Medicine, was born in Kos in about 460 BC. Everyone who goes to Kos is obliged by law* to photograph the tree of Hippocrates. The much photographed plane tree is only about 500 years old, but may be descended from the tree under which Hippocrates taught and Paul of Tarsus preached.

I also liked the local graffiti!

There are several sights of classical ruins around Kos Town, and now, more than a year later, I'm confused as to which date from the Hellenic period and which from Roman times, and, to be honest, which are which! Still, it was nice to pause for a few moments to look at them.

I particularly enjoyed the Bath house, which, if I read the internet correctly dates from 2-3 century BC.

     

There is a castle on the seafront , the Castle of St John, which was built by the Crusaders. We didn't go in, and by the time I took this photo I was so hot and bothered I didn't even notice this couple inadvertently photo-bombing!

I would have preferred to have visited in milder temperatures and a better physical state. I'm sure if the opportunity were to arise again, I'd appreciate it better. But I don't see myself returning any time soon!

*possibly

A Greek Odyssey

Last year we spent a fortnight in an All-Inclusive hotel in Kos, just outside Kos town. We wanted sun and sea and that was what we got. The hotel, the Oceanis, had many positives. Absolutely scrupulously clean at all times. Beautiful landscaped grounds and thoughtfully set out. Food was plentiful and not without variety. 

We had ordered a standard room, and were upgraded to a more roomy suite, which even had a jacuzzi on the balcony. The reason for the upgrade soon became obvious - it was directly above the hotel sauna and became extremely hot. Fortunately there was air conditioning.

     

However, we did remember why we had vowed never to go all-inclusive again. After a while, the buffet meals became monotonous in their bland lukewarm sameness. By the last couple of days I was surviving largely on fruit and cheese. Every night there was live entertainment in the Pool bar, often until after 11pm. This was amplified throughout the complex, destroying any sense of quiet. The most frequent entertainment was from the resident 'pub singer' by the name of Andy Foster. He sang versions of numerous classic pop hits from several decades. Bearable for one evening, when I was really quite drunk, but he just seemed to get worse and worse. No real musicality, whining voice and no real rhythm. But there was no escape. One night we made the mistake of inviting some people to sit at our bar table (it accommodated four, there were no free tables). They talked at us, boasting about all the other All Inclusive holidays they had been on; by the time the woman started on about how wonderful the Royals are I got rather impatient and was extremely rude, describing Kate Middleton as a lazy waste of space. I have no regrets!

Each week we were entitled to a meal in the 'a la carte' restaurant - ersatz Italian. Really quite poor and an insult to anyone who is Italian or has ever been to Italian.

It's also worth noting that the staff did not have a single day off for the entirety of the season, except if ill, and they worked long hours. Many of them were delightfully candid, making it absolutely clear that they were only working here because of the dire employment situation in cities such as Athens. I strongly suspected many were desperately over-qualified and/or experienced for this menial work. However, despite what they must have felt, they were unfailingly polite and efficient in their service.

We went into Kos Town on the frequent cheap local bus and also on two excursions (future blogposts) but otherwise we stayed in the hotel. We had intended to hire bikes and explore, but the weather was much hotter than we - or anyone - expected. I had seen that it averages 25 degrees during the day, and have been to Greece twice before at this time and found it pleasant, but there was not a day that the temperatures didn't exceed 30, often by quite some margin. Too hot to do anything but swim in the sea! The locals kept saying that it should have rained, there should have been rain. A short heavy shower would have been welcome.

There were two pools but we didn't much bother with them. One was called the Quiet Pool and we frequently had coffee beside it in the first week, noting how people clearly just wanted to read or  snooze. We returned on our final day and noticed two parties who insisted on loudly playing bat-and-ball in the pool. I wonder about the mentality of people who see a sign saying Quiet Pool and go out of their way to make noise. "Oh look at me, I'm so interesting, I demand attention"

 

   

The hotel included a chapel, apparently one could get married there, but it was closed when we did our walking/photography tour of the campus

 

Some of the produce for the kitchen was grown in the grounds

It was rarely dull looking out to sea across a busy shipping lane to Turkey. When large or fast ships or boats passed, a few moments later a particularly lively wave would ripple onto the beach. It took me a while to work out cause and effect!

     

The grounds were nice and they had strict rules about leaving towels on loungers early in the morning or late at night. There seemed to be a natural divide between the lively noisy beach below the Pool bar and the further beach where peace and quiet was rarely interrupted.

     

As seems to be de rigeur in these hotels we experienced the delights of towel art. It all gets a bit tedious after a few days.

 

As I say, there's a lot of positives about the hotel, and if you're looking for a holiday of All Inclusive indolence I would strongly recommend the Oceanis, albeit with the caveats expressed above. But we strongly concluded that AI is not for us, not for a long time now.  

Back from Crete

There we were larging it every night in Malia. Never saw daylight. We drank the most lethal cocktails got pigging drunk every night...

Nah, not us. Agios Nikolaus, us. Really nice restful holiday spent doing vey little except for a couple of boat trips. We split our time between beaches and restaurants. I'm as brown as very brown person, and a bit disoriented because we travelled overnight, arroved back at seven and went to bed until mid-afternoon.

The stuff for Google. We stayed in the Hera Village, halfway between Agios Nikolaus and Elounda. It was advertised as 4* although we paid 2*, and it was 2*. Very clean, staff friendly and helpful, food eatable without being exciting. We went all-inclusive, but on the basis that we were paying the price of a B&B, and any 'free' drinks we scored were a bonus. Scarcity of double rooms; in the twin rooms the single beds were separated by an immoveable stone table. Hmm. The hotel should never make or break the holiday, and it did neither. The private beach is a joke. I never got there, knowing that if I walked a treacherous path down a sheer cliff face I would probably never get back. And it's not a beach, but some flattened rocks that make the sea just about accessible. I actually took hundreds of photos, but there's a limit to the number of seascapes that hold interest, so there will be judicious publishing over the next few weeks.

There are lots of nice beaches around Ag Nik, and the bus goes past the hotel. It's pretty frequent, but irregular, so a timetable is necessary. Or stand at a bus stop and a taxi is bound to stop.

Wonderful opportunitues for people-watching, and plenty of sources for writing. I'm just sorting through emails now. I've deleted over a hundred spam comments, most of them disgustingly vile, so I'm glad I didn't leave anyone in charge of deleting them. At least they don't get published now.

More blogging sometime