Kos is full of ancient ruins and whether you plan to do it or not you will come across some if you wander for any length of time through the main town on the island. This was the case for us after our planned visit to the impressive reconstructed villa of Casa Romana. Leaving that historical site it had been our intention to just walk straight back to the harbour area where we could get something to drink to quench our thirst (it was windy but very warm) but we’d only just crossed the road when we spotted a large, grassy area, sunken from the main level of the street, and with evidence of old walls and structures.
This turned out to be the Altar of Dionysus (or Temple of Dionysus), a public space that you’re free to wander around and through.
The original site dates from several centuries prior to the nearby villa – second and third centuries BCE – and explains the Greek name for the deity in use here as opposed to the Roman name of Bacchus that you might expect in later construction. As you might know, this is the God of Wine (amongst other things; your average god back then liked to branch out and try different things), but while post-classical representations of Bacchus or Dionysus emphasise a certain debauched and drunken slant the cults that worshipped Dionysus at this time would have practiced a more moderate approach to drinking, teaching the correct way to drink to release inhibitions without excess. Well, each to their own.
The Altar of Dionysus was in use for several hundred years but it suffered significant damage in a large earthquake in 142 CE and a few centuries later saw the rise of the Byzantine Empire which brought preferential status to Christian worship as the divine, political means of population-control, leading to substantially reduced need for the site.
The once-religious site existed in some reasonable form for another millennium until the Knights Hospitaller arrived on the island of Kos. During the construction of the castle that can be seen on the town’s waterfront they used stone and marble from the Altar of Dionysus as well as a long frieze depicting a battle with Amazons.
The site isn’t overly large, as you can see from the photos, and you can simply walk through from one end to the other in a couple of minutes. There are some nice ruins to see and because it’s located in a depression there’s protection from external noise and wind which lends the spot a sense of tranquility in addition to forming a lovely sun-trap if you fancy baking yourself. I was quite pleased to see some Greek wildlife in the forms of a dragonfly and a grasshopper. I was also pleased that they stayed still long enough for me to photograph as there’s nothing worse than cursing while your wife convulses with laughter nearby.
Directly north of the area we’d just looked around there were some more unearthed excavations to cast eyes over, although we couldn’t see a way down into them to look any closer.
With our interest in archaeology sated for the day we continued on our miniature quest to sate that need for liquid refreshment too. Our walk back towards Kos Harbour took us through the open space of Eleftherias Square once more and past the picturesque White Steps of Kos.
So, at last, drinks. We returned to Zero because we’d had such a lovely time there a couple of days earlier (see Exploring Kos Town for more historical sites and our account of the joys of this bar). My wife stuck with the local Greek ale she knew she liked while I proceeded with Mission Try Everything and, as before, drinks were accompanied by bowls of nibbles and a complimentary shot of ouzo after our second drink. It was so good to find a place that promoted and sold ales brewed in Greece and on the islands rather than just a national lager and the same old stuff you’d find all over the world that we’d expected before flying out. If you like craft or real ales then this is the place to visit if you find yourself on Kos.
Chatting with the owner of the bar we explained that our plan was to spend the following day around the hotel once again before coming back into Kos Town the day after (the last full day of our holiday) where we’d see what else we could drink. That’s when we learnt that this plan needed adjusting. We’d flown out to Kos just before the UK entered another of its string of lockdowns but there had been no restrictions on the Greek island thanks to its low infection rates other than to enforce mask-wearing in public spaces. A national announcement that we’d been sheltered from in the hotel meant that was about to change with all non-essential places ordered to close two days from this point in our holiday, and tourists would not be permitted to leave their hotels except for exercise and with written permission of the hotel. “Well, we’ll just have to come back here tomorrow instead,” I said, and that’s precisely what we would do.
We limited ourselves to three drinks because we had evening plans. The sun was getting lower in the sky and a thin layer of cloud was dropping the ambient temperature a couple of degrees as we left Zero and started on the walk back to the hotel.
The building below is an important landmark if you’re staying at the Blue Lagoon Resort and want to walk into or back from Kos Town. On our first wander in during this week abroad we’d taken the shoreline route into Kos which had lovely views of the sea across to Turkey but was slightly longer than the more direct route we’d taken on subsequent trips. Whichever way you go, if you stay on the road you first pick then you will almost certainly end up at this junction. North from the shopping mall building is the way towards the north shore which then curves around towards the hotel; east takes you to a long stretch of golden sand beach; south is the way to the centre of town and the harbour, and the direction we’d just come from; west is the way to walk to get to the hotel in the shortest amount of time, and west is the direction in which we turned now.
Low sunlight in the early evening gives everything a warm glow.
At the entrances to the hotel resort we’d seen a lot of cacti, one of the few plants I’ve got any time for since they seem like they’d do well to survive my inevitable lack of care for them should I have one. I think these were a type of Echinocactus.
We arrived back at our room in the Blue Lagoon Resort in time for another spectacular sunset. I’ve heard someone say that once you’ve seen one sunset you’ve seen them all. That’s clearly not true. Those photons of light that have been emitted from the surface of the sun where they’ve been bubbling up from the centre of it for countless years just to hurtle off through the vacuum of space, refract through the atmosphere of the planet, absorb and reflect spectra of the elements they pass, just to splat against the back of your eyeballs are yours and yours alone. If you don’t take the time to gaze out at a sunset then those photons are going to be lost against the brick wall you should be standing in front of. That’s no life for a photon. We never tire of watching sunsets just like we never tire of looking out at the sea from the cruises we take.
The Blue Lagoon Resort is an all-inclusive hotel on the north coast of Kos. Food is generally pretty basic buffet fare – good, varied, different from home, but nothing spectacular, and that’s to be expected for a place catering for the number of people staying there – but there are opportunities to get something a little different too. A number of speciality restaurants are also attached to the resort – a Greek, an Italian, and a Chinese – and while the meals there are still included in the price of your stay, because they’re smaller they require reservations to be made. Advice here is to book as soon as you possibly can. We did it on the day we arrived and still had to wait four days to get a table.
The restaurant we dined at in the resort was the Golden Sun Chinese Restaurant. If we’d had a choice then we’d have probably selected the Greek or Italian options because their cuisines are more to our tastes but this was November, after the resort usually closes for the season, with reduced capacity all over, and only one option if you wanted something special.
The day before, we’d reconnoitred the area to find out just where the restaurant was and how long it would take to walk there from our room (see: A Windy Day At The Blue Lagoon Resort) so we arrived pretty much dead on time and were shown immediately to our table in the orange, black, and white-decorated building.
It’s worth remembering that drinks in the hotel are free (there are premium, additional-cost options too) but in the speciality restaurants you have to pay for them. We decided to continue with our theme of the day of trying locally-produced drinks and selected a bottle of red wine. The price was reasonable; the quality was okay but a little sweet for us. For our waitress for the evening it was the first time she’d ever uncorked a bottle for guests so she was quite excited.
The food was perfectly fine although my wife’s intolerance for spicy food led to us swapping main courses when we determined that mine had far less heat in it. Neither of us like spicy food – we’ve always felt there’s more pleasure to be had in eating food that doesn’t inflict pain on you – but I have a higher threshold for discomfort as I’m a man and us men are obliged to act manly, boasting about our testosterone and how tough it makes us at all times even when – and especially if – we’re sobbing inside and wishing we could just be open and honest with the world.
Desserts were interesting. Just like in the main resort and with the wine, it seems like Greek people really like sweet stuff.
It was like no Chinese meal we’ve had back home (or in China for that matter) but that’s to be expected and it was good to see the Greek take on Asian food; all part of the reason to travel. If you’re planning a stay at the Blue Lagoon Resort then there’s no reason not to book a table at one or more of their speciality restaurants if you can because the worst case scenario is you don’t like it, you head back to the hotel, you grab something to eat there, and all for no cost.
On the way back to the hotel at the conclusion of our meal (it took us a while to finish the wine off) we passed by the shop that’s part of the complex. We have a thing for buying soap when we travel and the weirder and more wonderful it is the better. If you’re looking at the photo below and thinking “Yeah, no shit!” then well done, you.
We finished off the evening listening to the entertainment in the domed tent from our balcony. The clouds that had helped to decorate the sunset of earlier had disappeared with the sun itself leaving a crystal clear sky filled with stars to gaze up on. Looking at the stars is something else we never get tired of but I’ll spare you the lengthy description of the journey of photons of light from the distant reaches of the galaxy avoiding interstellar dust just to splat on your eyeballs this time around.
