Thursday, March 22, 2012

Kos, Greece

Part two of my Spring Break trip too me to a little island in Greece called Kos. Initially I had thought to stay there for 2 or 3 days but on the sage advice of several friends I planned a one night stay.

Kos is a BEAUTIFUL little island with pretty beaches, some great little sites but it only takes about an hour to see the entire town. There is Hippocrates tree which is pretty cool. To think that the father of medicine was there, taught there and planted the tree so he could have somewhere to sit in the shade (and you need it in Kos, even in mid-March the sun was relentless). They say that the Apostle Paul taught in the shade of the tree too. *sigh* My inner ( yea right, let's be honest... everyone knows) history nerd and Jesus lover was thrilled to stand in that spot and read under the shade (although there were no leaves on the tree) of that tree (is it bad that I was dumbing down my brain with the latest copy of People Magazine rather than expanding my knowledge?).

The Plane Tree of Hippocrates... behind it is a Mosque from when the island was part of the Ottoman Empire.

A beautiful church in Kos... it just made me think of Easter.

Spring has sprung here! The very walls of the castle had flowers coming out... beautiful.

My first view of Kos from my ferry boat. Pretty, pretty.

Happy me from the overpass that leads from Hippocrates tree to the castle (which was full of Byzantine ruins... which we have LOADS of in Turkey so I didn't pay the Euros to go in a see).

Mid-March is NOT the time to go to Kos. While the island is charming, quaint and sleepy all year long, it was still shut down for winter hibernation (maybe opening back up at the end of the month or early April according to some locals I asked) and so there were no shops open, just 2 small restaurants that I could locate and a handful of cafes. It was VERY sleepy. Good for a day but not longer.

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