Santorini and Kos

August 19, Kos, Greece

Turns out my room is not air conditioned! And they are having a hot spell!  And the humidity is very high.  T shirt and swim suit (quick dry one) are not even drying over night!

Good thing there is a fan, but last night the power went out so did not even have that!  The fan is good, but sure do not spend a lot of time in room.  The lobby has the internet and is much cooler!

Caught one of those goofy little tourist trains to Asklipieion, the only transport to the site unless you bike or walk and much too hot for that!

This is a site that was set up as a healing centre in 554 AD by Hipprocrates.  By the looks of drawings it must have been an impressive place, even before 2 other levels were added in the 4 and 5 centuries.  It also includes a temple to Apollo, another very popular guy!

I then headed off to another hot springs.  Caught the bus for about 30 minutes and then had a 15 minute walk down the hill to sea!  This pool claims to cure most everything according to the sign posted.  Maybe it will grow hair!  On my head!  Even though that is not one of the claims, but it does say it will cure 'development problems from childhood'!!!!!!

They had build a rock walled pool around the hot water flowing out of the side of the cliff!  Nice as this allowed fresh sea water into pool and helped cool it down!  The water was still very hot, and did not have the reddish colour like the previous hot spring.  The sea water felt great after sitting a short while in the pool.  Spent the afternoon in and out of the hot pool and the sea.  Very nice.

The hot water exhausted me so had to have a nap!  I am sure that it is very Greek as many places close down in afternoon!

Went into the old town for dinner.  Very nice, lots of people and again, a shoppers paradise!

Interesting as the hustlers here are for the restaurants!  That is a job and that is all they do is encourage people to eat at their restaurant!  Tough competition as there is usually several next to each other.  Had a very Greek dish, pork schnitzel! ahhahah  Did have some Greek sides to the plate.  Was quite good!

August 18, Kos, Greece

Arrived at hotel at about 5 am!  Exhausted as did not get much sleep on ferry!  At the hotel the receptionist just wanted to talk.  A Polish woman that would finish an all night shift at 7.

I could not get into room, so after about 1 hour people were coming down for breakfast so she got busy and I headed off to the bar area, just off the lobby to have a nap

Able to get into hotel room at 9.  Quick nap and then off.

Went to the Castle of the Knights, which was build around 1500 AD, and has survived a few earthquakes!  One in 1933 they say flattened the city.  Interesting as no signage anywhere!  And there are artifacts just laying all over the place.  But still interesting as there are 2 walls.

Then off to the agora, the city area which dates as far back as the 3rd century BC.  This is very similar to the one in Barcelona.  Signs better here and they indicate temples to Aphrodite and Hercules.  These 2 are very popular!

Near by is the Plane tree (a type?) of Hippocrates!  This is the tree under which he was supposed to have taught his medical students.

Took a walk along the beach.  Guessing it is probably 3 or 4 km long!  Very nice except totally covered with thatched umbrellas, lounge chairs and people.  I would estimate that only half the chairs were being used.

This took me close to the hotel, so went back for another nap!  Ended up being 3 hours!  But did sleep well at night too!

August 17, Santorini, Greece

Off on scooter again.  More comfortable today, but traffic, or more the driving is crazy!  Passing everywhere, curves, corners it does not matter.  Arrived at the busy corner, and I have become more aggressive!  Passed all the cars turning left, and ended up in the front row to turn left.  Me, 2 other scooters and a car all making the turn at the same time!  Crazy!  But would have taken for ever to get around the corner.

Made a quick stop for a beautiful view of the Caldera, the water between the islands.  Would be a great place to watch the sunset.  So went to see the red beach.  Amazing as it is at the bottom of a huge red cliff.  The only one I have seen.  There are red parts to cliffs but none like this.  Went for a quick swim and Went to go to the Ancient Aktroki site, but it was closed for 'technical problems'!  Not hitting the 'cultural' spots well.  There is supposed to be a white beach near by but could not find it.

Got back to hotel and was about to jump on scooter with my backpack and 2 girls came walking down the hill.  Not in great shape.  One of them had a huge black eye, bandage on nose and road rash everywhere!  The 2nd girl had some bruises and was walking very slowly.  Guessing they crashed their scooter!  Scary.  But made it up the hill and to the scooter place no problems.  Then a short walk to bus station.  The scooter ride saved me walking up the hill!  Bus to new port, to catch a ferry at 12.20 am!  Yes just past midnight, and to arrive in Kos 4 1/2 hours later.

Had dinner at on of the places in the port.  The waiter is actually a transplated Californian that has been here for 3 years.  Had a travel agency in Athens that organized 3/4 tours a month in the past but with the reports of riots and unrest in Greece, no bookings this year!

August 16, Santorini, Greece

Headed off to Ancient Thira, but turns out it is closed on Monday!  Rode around the airport and stopped to have a look.  Scary with the jets flying over a beach so low it seems you could touch them!

Headed for Oia (pronounced 'ee a')  This is the site where everyone goes to watch the sun set into the Aegean Sea.  Drove around a bit and walked along the top of the old city.  Beautiful as well, and very similar to Fira (the main city on Santorini).  Then went to Koloumbo beach to relax for the afternoon.  Was great as there were some good size waves that you could body surf, but they were only breaking very close to shore so had to be careful not to crash into the beach!

On way back to hotel stopped at a small road side restaurant.  Had some great tasting souvlaki and more Greek salad.  Just about full of salad but it is so good and all the feta cheese you get is something!