You can’t stay cross at Kos!
...an island that shines even in the rain and where stories and good food reel you in
Don’t do it, don’t it, you’ll regret it,’ I caution myself. I’m still in bed, barely awake, phone in hand and about to commit the cardinal sin of all holiday-goers. In the end I plough on and sure enough my heart sinks and I confirm the worst as my internet search reads ‘Dublin, 18C, chance of cloud’. ‘’Fan-freaking-tastic,’ I think to myself.
I mean, it would actually be great if I was in Dublin but, no, I’m on holiday in Greece with the rain spluttering against my window like some kind of infectious cough or cold, so forget Sleepless in Seattle, I’m officially Cross in Kos.
Fast-forward a day or so and it’s still raining but I’ve managed to contain my hissy fit and, hear me out on this one, I’m even actually kind of glad that it rained.
I’m standing in front of a camera in an impromptu TV interview with the mayor’s office and the question put to me is what I am enjoying about the trip.
Without hesitation and in a setting that would usually bring about a dry mouth, sweaty palms and complete mind blank or, more mundanely, an answer like ‘the breath-taking views’ or ‘the food’, my answer was, ‘The people we’ve met and their stories’. Not your typical holiday review, so let me explain.
Kos is very much an island in the sun, in fact in summer (when I visited) there are typically only three days of rain per month (there, I’ve done the maths, so you don’t have to).
Coming from a relatively sunstarved island, all many of us want from our annual getaway is the usual bone-warming heat, turquoise seas and silky sand combo, and Kos typically has that in spades. To position it as a kind of could-be-anywhere resort getaway, however, is simply to do it a disservice.
Kos, like Ireland is an island built around storytelling and family, both those born on the island and those who have found a home there. As I found, being strongarmed by the weather encourages you to tap into that sense of community and warm welcome that rivals even our céad míle fáilte.
The former category includes Giannis of the Papadimitriou Olive Oil factory, which presses and bottles the oil for local small farmers alongside its own production. It’s a third-generation business and Giannis trained as a chemist before taking up his position in it. Nothing goes to waste here, not even the waste which is turned into biofuel, fertiliser and more.
Swing by for the free and surprisingly absorbing tour and you’ll also get to sample some of the flavours that range from sweet orange to spicy chilli pepper. Be warned you’ll very likely have to make space in your suitcase for some take-homes.
Speaking of culinary delights, Krassotyri otherwise known as the diamond of Kos or ‘wine cheese’ to you and me, is a must-try.
Legend holds that cheese was traditionally preserved in oil but somewhere around 300BC there was a shortage in oil on the island and, necessity being the mother of invention, locals began preserving their cheese in wine.
Nowadays, Panagiotis Giannou of Giannou Dairy Products and his very proud mother are spearheading the campaign to put wine cheese on the map and you’ll find it in restaurants across the island and at the airport. As for the taste, think a soft, nutty flavour that goes down a treat with, well, wine. The dairy also makes a very delicious selection of ice cream that is available in the local cafe.
‘Honey is very important in our culture, for when we feel bad, for when we have a marriage we need honey to start a sweet life… and we are on Hippocrates island, who was the first doctor and used everything around him as medicine so for us honey is actually a kind of natural medicine,’ Dionysia of the aptly name Melissa Honey Factory tells us.
Apt not just because Melissa is the Greek word for bee but because in marrying into the third-generation business, Dionysia learned a valuable work ethic lesson.
‘In our business, it’s not possible for one person to do everything; we have to live and work as the bees do, one and the other. I think this is the most important thing that bees give to me. This is a family business, we built it with our three children, me and my husband, everybody works here and everybody knows almost everything,’ she explains.
At the Melissa factory, you’ll find
MAKE SPACE IN YOUR SUITCASE FOR SOME TAKE-HOMES
heather honey, which helps prevent infection, and pine honey, a natural cleanser with antioxidant properties. The star of the show, however, is thyme honey a local favourite for treating wounds and burns – and the taste isn’t half bad either.
Speaking of the natural medicine, it would be remiss to leave Kos without paying a house call to its most famous resident, Hippocrates.
The father of modern medicine is credited with being the first to expound that disease and illness weren’t a punishment from the Gods but rather a result of lifestyle factors.
Pass by the picturesque tree of Hippocrates in the heart of Kos town and you’ll find yourself gazing down the lens of history at the spot where the great man taught his students.
He learned his craft in the terraced now ruins of the Asklepion, which is worth the ticket price for the views (and selfie opportunities) of the Turkish coast alone.
It’s all the better though if you enlist the help of a gifted storyteller like Ioannis Sakavaras to bring the myths of the place to life and it seems that even in Hippocrates’s day (around 370BC) waiting times were a nightmare.
Patients passed through three main terraces, each dedicated to body, mind and spirit and faced a sometimes 15-hour wait spent reading glowing reviews of care, often off the back of a hefty donation. Disinfections, detox diets and sacrifices followed. Our lodgings incidentally were much more palatable, the fivestar Kipriotis Panorama Hotel & Suites comes with an impressive outdoor pool, private beach area and a top-notch buffet restaurant with a plentiful selection of European and traditional Greek dishes to try.
Food is as much an attraction on Kos as the crumbling ruins dotted around the place and if you can nab a table at Mylotopi to while away an afternoon with some tasty kleftiko a glass or two of rose and possibly the best views on the island, then don’t hesitate. Also don’t leave without taking a peek at the on-site windmill and historical house that gives a glimpse of Kos from days gone by.
Other menus that will have you reaching for seconds and potentially thirds (calories don’t count when the food is this good) includes those at the waterfront H2O and mountaintop Oromedon in Zia.
If Kos fills you up with sustenance in the rain, it more than tickles your tastebuds when the sun’s out and Oromedon is the place to be when that happens. The spellbinding views at the tavern are complemented by the mouth-watering dishes on offer, helpfully selected by Nikko, the owner.
The crowds come for the sunset but strolling through the whitewashed streets of Zia at any time of day is a moodboosting experience.
Here more stories abound this time of the romantic sort. Nanny Chavlis, the Dutch co-owner of The Spinning Wheel jewellery and handicraft store, met the love of her life while travelling on the island in the Nineties and has called it home ever since.
Heartwarmingly, it’s a story that endures to this day. Our trip that got off to a such slow start with the weather ended in a gallop, quite literally, at Erika’s Horse School where I became acquainted with Ocean who mercifully took it easy on me during a trot along the beach.
I also enjoyed a chat with Sophia who works on the farm and hails from Australia.
Like Nanny, her summer travelling turned into so much more when she met and fell for the owner and it’s fitting that the Greek for welcome literally translates to ‘well you came’ because Kos does not disappoint, even in the rain.