The Port of Kos

Kos and Fortress

The ferry trip from Samos was very pleasant (Blue Star, The Diagorus), and Alex was in an exceptionally happy mood - in spite of suffering from a head cold for two days. The ferry had WiFi and so we were well set to pass the time with iPods, Laptops etc. Arrived at Kos port around 5:30pm, donned backpacks and promptly set out for the Imperial Hotel, the location of which we had scoped out previously. What we didn't reckon on was that the ferry deposited us at another dock than we had anticipated and we found ourselves having to navigate from the other side of the harbour before we got back on track towards the hotel. The extra distance, combined with the weight of the packs, took its toll by the time we reached the hotel. But luckily, Kos seems to be a much flatter island than Samos, so we didn't have to cope with steep climbs. We quickly took possession of our apartment and then the pool and our aches floated away with us in the water.

That night, we explored the town looking for a place to have dinner and discovered what we suspect is the only Chinese Restaurant in the Greek islands. Always a little wary of cravings for food we had missed while travelling, we hoped it wasn't going to be spaghetti substituting for noodles, but the food was excellent.

Kos is more of a tourist town/island than Samos, with a bustling port full of tavernas, tourists (mostly from Germany it seemed) and many boats offering day trips to Bodrum in Turkey which we could see off in the distance across the sea from Kos port.

E-Ship 1

The port is dominated by the remains of the old city wall and fortress constructed by the Knights of Saint John and the next day we struck out for a tour. Before setting off, we had lunch at the Fikos Taverna, so named because of the huge fig tree under which it sat. It was there we noticed a strange looking ship in the harbour - the E-Ship 1, which we recognised as a wind turbine vessel with rotorsails to increase efficiency. A quick check on the web revealed the ship was constructed in Germany and had its maiden voyage in August this year.  It was delivering components for the construction of wind turbines in the Greek islands. We had seen many of these on Samos and Chios and also in Turkey and many of the islands we had passed along the way.