Kos Town, Greek Island, Greece

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Tomas, still suffering with "man flu" bravely dragged himself up for a day trip to Kos Town.

The weather was expected to be a little cooler with some cloud and possibly rain so I thought it might be a good day for walking and exploration. As it turned out it was still mainly sunny but the breeze and occasional cloud cover did make it a good day to be more active.

The bus to Kos left Tigaki hourly. We chose 9.25am but were waiting at the second stop away from the beach and there must have been so many people at the first stop that 3 busses went by before we were picked up about a half hour later. Extra busses just kept being filled until everyone had been collected. Everyone had a seat and no one needed to stand so there was no need to feel that if you didn't get on first your trip would be any less comfortable. The busses were air conditioned and only took about 15mins.

When we first arrived we found a few archeological digs with Roman ruins and walked along the waterfront to the marina. There appeared to be ancient ruins everywhere. I spotted lengths of Roman columns just lying haphazardly in a park or beside paths.

We weren't really sure what to expect of Kos town and as it turned out were walking in the opposite direction from the centre. I expected the tourist area to be full of trashy shops, which didn't interest me so wanted to see what else there was.

As it turned out when we did head back to the centre we found the most beautiful, colourful, vibrant ancient village with beautifully restored, tidy buildings, shops and paved streets. An enormous meticulously restored Roman Castle, charming narrow, windy streets lined with all sorts of shops that the normal treasure shopping tourist might be interested in (we are not normal in this respect). It was very pleasant strolling through these mazes. Paving had been meticulously laid by hand and showed centuries of traffic in their shiny polished surface.

There were also beautiful Greek churches, lines and lines of traditional old boats along the waterfront, some were fishing boats and some for taking tourists on trips. Beautiful and busy squares lined with tavernas, people cycling and walking in every direction. Excited restaurant touters joking with each other over the competition for business. It was such a fantastic atmosphere. Life, history and colour all around. I loved it!

Bodrum in Turkey is clearly visible from Kos. It is possible to see the lights at night and during the day the stone buildings climbing up the slopes are also clear. As the sun sets its reflection illuminates golden on Bodrum windows displaying its own special effect. This makes for a lovely outlook from both Kos town and Tigaki.

I must make special mention of the ice cream and deserts. In Kos town I tried a yogurt cherry ice cream and it was heavenly. The thickest, creamy ice cream I have ever experienced with a cherry sauce mixed through it, similar to the cherry centre in the cherry liquor chocolates. My normal experience with ice cream is usually some artificial imitation of flavour and consistency more like thickened frozen milk than cream. This was real, white and dense and I will never be able to enjoy a lesser ice cream as much after experiencing this. The shop was called Special Patisserie and it was advertised as the best ice cream on Kos Island.

By 5pm my untrained body had a blister on a little toe and aching legs so we waited for the service back to Tigaki. As with getting here the returns were hourly. Again at least 3 busses filled, everyone got a seat and it took us directly back with no stopping along the way.
Upon returning I bumped into our Dutch neighbours and they told me they had taken 4 hours to walk to Kos town along a back road and then bussed back. I thought that I really needed to harden up so that I could experience travel like this more. I was envious.

Here in Tigaki is a lovely contrast to Kos town. It didn't look as if Kos town had very good beaches but it probably did somewhere, we just didn't see them. The pace is slower and it is quieter here and there is a lovely breeze in the evenings from the beach but the history, energy and vibrance are in Kos Town 10 km or 15 minutes bus ride away.

We visited Kos town a few times during our stay. Each time was a sheer pleasure and the colours and energy were always exciting.

The third visit was when we had time and energy for all the roman architectural ruins. The EU had kindly spent millions of dollars for the restoration of many to bring Greece up to standard of the other European countries and then nicely held Greece for ransom for this. This appeared to be the way of the EU over road developments, child care centres and the like which it was obvious Greece was unable to afford.

Kos' Odean and the Casa Romana were beautifully restored ruins, both free to enter and made me sit and dream about what it must have been like to catch a glimpse of life in those times. I lay back in the shade, looking up at the sky and dreamt that I could be a bird hovering over the ancient empire centuries before.

Massive areas of ruins in Kos town that had not even begun to have been reconstructed. Ancient villages that we were free to wander around, climb on top and around and dream. It was amazing to find elaborate mosaic marble floors partly covered by rubble and completely unprotected, enormous carved marble pillars, ancient bath tubs, plumbing systems and storage areas. It must be that the cost of restoration must be far too great for anyone to undertake. To explore these treasures so casually felt very special.

Casa Romana has had millions spent on in for restoration with EU money that Greece could not afford. It was left for the locals to manage. The Casa had a few women sitting on seats with official badges around their necks in various castle rooms surrounded by their children. There were no seats for others anywhere. They would growl at people for setting a foot wrong or approaching areas of treasure too closely. I am one who always tries to do the right thing but couldn't seem to set a foot right here and I can't be the only one!

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Photos

Ancient Marbled Mosaic Floor
Left totally unprotected

Ancient Ruins
Enormous Areas of them we could freely wander around

Comments

[Sue Harcombe]

Love it
Great photos and lovely to hear all about what you are doing. Sounds wonderful.