One of the nicest aspects of the Greek isles is being able to headquarter on one island and take inexpensive ferry, day trips to near isles. We went to Symi which is near the Turkish coast. It is a small island that used to live on sponge diving. But synthetic sponges caused many of the inhabitants to leave the island. So many in fact, that the pretty houses in the main town are vacant and kept painted nicely to look good for visitors. Even though it is almost nothing more than a tourist destination, it has nice restaurants and is a nice way to spend a whole day for less than $30 (Cdn).
I went on to Kos alone as my sister had to return to her work. I took a high speed ferry there in about two hours. It is also right at the coast of Turkey. Every island in Greece is somehow different. Most are predominantly rock covered, but Kos has actual green grass and mountains covered with pine trees. The town of Kos is a jewel. I found a pleasant and small hotel and visited the ruins. The main ruins of a fortress (Turkey is THE neighbour after all) are right in the middle of the town and are also some of the most beautiful and compelling ruins I saw on this trip. This is also the home of hippocrates, the father of medicine and much is made of where he taught. There is a tree said to be the replacement for the actual one he planted 2,000 years ago, which itself is said to be 900 years old and is about 36 feet in diameter. It is so old and fragile and overweight that they have built a most surprising metal support system to hold up the branches. My usual method of visiting an island is to go to the bus station and ride some busses out of town and back to see where I want to go for a longer time. But I had not expected Kos to be so compelling and I did not have the time to do that. The airport is a 45 minute ride inland and that was uninteresting, but I think that the other end of the island at Kefalos is beautiful and I wish I had time to go there.
In the photos, the white buildings behind the yellow umbrellas is Turkey as seen from Kos. The buildings are all Symi.
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