Join Thor and me in a virtual vacation as we wrap up our Greek islands tour with visits to our favorite Kos village and beaches. Farewell to the islands – at least for now!
NOTE: Of course, Thor and I had to make another trip to Greece, as he’s fallen as much in love with the islands as I am. This time I wanted to return to Crete after 37 years, to introduce Thor to “glorious Kriti” and research more settings for my novel-in-progress, THE ARIADNE DISCONNECT. After time-traveling via ruins and museums to explore the mysterious, vanished Minoan culture, we went ferry-hopping to relax on a couple of our favorite islands.
My primary goal in our Greece travels is to soak up as much culture, history, and landscape as possible to fuel my novel-writing. But also vital are our devotions to the beautiful marble-pebble beaches and magical deep blue sea. Our doctors have literally prescribed warm climate and thalassotherapy for our joint and nerve issues, as if we needed an excuse to indulge our passion for swimming and snorkeling off these beautiful islands. And for a bonus at the beach of Agios Stefanos, we swam straight from classic-era temple ruins to the rocky islet of Kastri, with its tiny chapel and a bell to ring for good luck.
We also decided to repeat our unusual indulgence of the previous year with a stay at the luxurious White Rock of Kos, in our “room with a view” and private infinity pool. We only live once, and we believe that Dionysos and Ariadne would approve.
The beach of Agios Stefanos, down the hill from the hotel, includes the ruins of a 5th-century AD basilica that incorporated columns from the earlier Classic temple.
A Greek diver emerged from the sea here with his catch of an octopus. Though octopus is featured on most island menus, I won’t eat them after making acquaintance with several of these intelligent creatures during my scuba divemaster days. While snorkeling, Thor and I were lucky enough to spot a small one farther offshore on submerged boulders, where it reared up and spread its arms to look formidable. Usually, if frightened, they jet away and eject an ink cloud.
The clarity of the deep blue Aegean Sea never fails to enchant, with its flickering sunlight and glimmering fish.
Like Peter Mitchell in my Ariadne novels, I hear that siren song of the sea, calling me ever deeper….
We do occasionally need to dry off and check out local attractions, after our explorations of the ancient sites near Kos Town and the healing sanctuary of the Asklepion (see the past few weeks of Saturday blog posts here). The Traditional House of Kefalos features a cafe and spiffed-up version of the island’s stone houses, with some antique farming implements.
After saying hello to a donkey housed next to the nearby gas station…
…and passing some hungry goats — they really will eat most anything…
…it was off to a different beach down one of our “favorite” insanely steep roads down a cliffside. (Thanks again, my hero-driver Thor!) We bypassed the loungers and headed across the rocks to the third, deserted cove.
Sunlight in the shallows creates a rippling web over the pebbles.
Thor enjoyed his little waterproof camera, and offers this montage of our swims. I’d prefer less of me and more of him, but I never managed to catch any good footage with it. Thor did want to show me diving down to touch the fragments of ancient pottery vessels “cemented” to the bottom. He also luckily caught some footage of a two-foot sea turtle (at end of video), which amazed the locals, as apparently it’s rare to see them here.
We enjoyed dinners at a couple of traditional taverna/restaurants in Kefalos village high up on the mountainside.
Thor judges a restaurant by the quality of interesting salads and availability of fresh grilled fish.
I enjoy the sweet cats who come for tidbits in the outdoor eating areas.
Another day, we took a wander around charming Kefalos village.
On our last day, “Exotic Beach” offered a beautiful stretch of sandy shore, not as interesting underwater as the pebble/rocky coves, but a delightful place to swim, play in the surge, and soak up sunshine or lounge under a rented umbrella before heading back to our cool Pacific Northwest.
It’s always hard to tear ourselves away from these enchanting islands! We were already planning a trip to Turkey and northern Greece (as well as an island, of course), but our travels plans, along with so much of “normal” life for everyone, have been derailed by the pandemic. We are so grateful that we’ve stored up plenty of memories. What are your favorite memories that get you through these times?
Farewell to the islands! Chairete! Rejoice!
Next week: for something totally different, join Thor and me on our trip to Thailand, where we barely squeaked past the pandemic flight closures this past winter. It may be our last travel for a while, but one never knows….
*****
You will find The Rambling Writer’s blog posts here every Saturday. Sara’s latest novel from Book View Cafe is available in print and ebook: The Ariadne Connection. It’s a near-future thriller set in the Greek islands. “Technology triggers a deadly new plague. Can a healer find the cure?” The novel has received the Chanticleer Global Thriller Grand Prize and the Cygnus Award for Speculative Fiction. Sara has recently returned from another research trip in Greece and is back at work on the sequel, The Ariadne Disconnect. Sign up for her quarterly email newsletter at www.sarastamey.com
Brilliant I love your style of writing. You have noted so many of our own happy memories of our second home and Greek family and many much loved friends.
Thank you, Lyn, for the lovely comment! You are so lucky to have Greek family and a beautiful second home. We can’t get enough of the islands.