It’s a Small World

All good things must come to an end, and it was with heavy hearts that we travailed over our final packing. Travailed being the key word here. It was actually quite hilarious how much we had accumulated from here and there, and how tremendously hard it was to fit it all in. For anyone out there who plans to harvest and pack sea salt, ask Rob’s for packing tips. I think they would be full of wisdom. They were certainly full of salt! The bag had a bit of a leak, and the damp sea salt made its way all over. Avril spent the day with a crusty patch of white just below her waist where her backpack had rested. Rob’s and us four Tilton’s only had small carry on’s, so you would think we would have bought and gathered less. Zach C and Forrest just whipped their stuff together, and then finished the boat cleaning while chuckling at the struggles of the elders.

Heath had to finish up with the Istion crowd, paying for the new anchor, etc. Mid morning finally found us free to explore Kos. There’s an old castle, of course, the ancient harbor, and some absolutely ancient tree they call Hippocrates Plane Tree. According to legend, it was under this tree that Hippocrates taught his pupils about medicine. It is also believed that Apostle Paul taught there as well. I suppose it’s certainly possible. It was in the middle of the town square, had a water spring by it, and would definitely have been a gathering place. The tree there now is only about 500 yrs old, but perhaps a descendent of the original.

And then, as if we had totally forgotten our earlier struggles, we shopped a little. Unbelievable. But I really wanted to take home some spices, and they can squish in almost anywhere. And if they don’t fit, I can always wear another article of clothing.

Kos has a sort of restored/replicated/ruins of a Pompeian-style Roman Villa that we toured. It was sort of interesting, but maybe a little overrated. The most shocking thing was the laundry area, where it claimed they used a mix of human and animal urine to clean their clothes. They would stomp them in a bowl like thing in the ground, rinse them with water and hang them out to dry. Totally hideous. Definitely no Febreeze smell for them!

We all met for a final lunch at Gyro Grill in some town in the center of the island. Good food, good times. Kindi scared the poor restaurant cat with her eagerness, so it disappeared into the safety of the kitchen. I know that 15 years ago that would have horrified me. Now it actually seems perfectly normal and fine. Seems I’m growing up.

There is a gorgeous hike up to the top of Mt. Dikeos, and Rob’s and we decided we surely had time to do it yet. We were starting to second guess that decision as we attempted to get our gutless hatchbacks up the hill to the trail head. The roads were incredibly narrow and steep, and of course you can’t see around corners. Our little Toyota Aygo kept fizzling out, and we’d have to back down and get a run it. For you males, the car had 72hp and had 69fp/lb of torque. Sometimes it took one try, sometimes five or six. At the worst part, us passengers had to get out and walk. Our laughter rang over the hills as we watched Heath bucking and snorting up. Eventually we found the trailhead and proceeded up. I felt about like the car, and could hardly climb until someone dear to me said “what is with this senior citizen show”. That made me a bit mad, and from then on the climb was easy. And beautiful! The groves and vineyards of Kos laid below us, with its quaint little villages. Farther out was the sea with sail boats and ships, and then more Islands and Mainland Turkey. Just stunning. We could have gazed forever, but sadly we had a flight to catch.

Shockingly, Heaths massive bag of rocks triggered security. I suggested to the agent that maybe he should just confiscate the rocks, but he was quite appalled at that idea. “NO, I collect them too”. So much for that, and we were stuck hauling that weight all the way home. Once settled behind security, we soaked up the last hour of each other’s company, shared snacks and played with Kindi. Zach’s flight left 20 minutes before ours and the gates shared a sitting area, so that worked out great. They’re off to Zurich, and Rob’s and us go through Munich.

Heath and I truly got the worst seats on our flight. They were in the very back, were incredibly sat out, and our knees touched the seats in front. I had a window seat.

Otherwise, the flight was uneventful. We landed in Munich in time to catch the bus to take us to our hotel. That was a bit dumb, I had spent a long time researching transport options, and they claimed all busses had card readers on them so you could pay with Credit Card. In case they were wrong, I had gathered every tidbit of change from all our purses and pockets, and hoped for the best. Well what do you know, there was no card reader, and we didn’t have enough coin. Bless the bus driver, he just waved us back and indicated that we were three, not four. Everyone seemed so friendly in Germany! The people we encountered in Greece were almost all very reserved. Quite a few of the women even came across as scary. They acted like they were doing you a massive favor by talking to you, but then after awhile they usually warmed up. It must just be a culture thing. Even the 12 yr old boys were quiet and respectful. We’d dock our boat, leave it wide open with our valuables inside and stroll off. There could be kids fishing right next to us, and they never, ever harassed us or our stuff. I’d catch myself bracing for that inevitable cute/annoying boy behavior, jeering at our accents, asking for money, or trying to sell us something, and it never came. They might say Hi, but mostly we were flat ignored. Talk about nice!

Seems I went off on a rabbit trail there, but back in Germany we gratefully flopped into our hotel rooms in the Ramada. Of course I had to have tea, we had, after all, been forced to skip our afternoon tea. Heath went to find an ATM so we wouldn’t be caught flatfooted in the morning when it was time to board the bus. I wish we could have seen more of the area, but it was dark and late, and bed just seemed awfully inviting.

We gambled and took the later bus to the airport, and that worked out great. We still had 1/2 an hour or so to grab some breakfast and relax before our flight to Frankfurt. I don’t even really remember that flight, but I’m quite sure Heath and I both slept through take off. I had a true window this time, and occasionally watched Germany slide by below. Frankfurt wasn’t hectic at all, and I wondered where the US had gone wrong with their wild airports, full of delayed and canceled flights and harried passengers. The flight home was sheer luxury. Our plane was a newish 787-9, and Heath and I had 3 seats to ourselves and all the leg room we could want. Lovely!

And so it ended. One of our most favorite vacations of all time.