girly swot alert! have got 3 'A' grades for my first 3 assignments on my course! don't know if i flu...
girly swot alert! have got 3 'A' grades for my first 3 assignments on my course! don't know if i fluked it but we'll see.
Member since:20.04.2001
Reviews:57
Members who trust:15
Six years ago, I went to visit my brother and his family in Reigate and told my husband to book a holiday – I wasn’t bothered here we went. I arrived home on Friday evening and asked if he’d booked anything. “Yes “. When I asked where we were going, he said “it’s a Greek island that begins with ‘k’ but it isn’t Kos”. Fair enough. When I asked when we were going, it got better (considering it was 8pm Friday evening) “Wednesday afternoon”. Aaaaaaahhhhhhhh!!!!! We had 3 days to organise everything, which thankfully we managed.
Anyway, Wednesday arrived and we got to Birmingham International airport where we had to get our tickets since we’d got it on a last minute booking. It was here that I found we were going to Kalymnos. We checked in, booked our seats and decided to grab something to eat as the flight was delayed a bit. Our flight took off just after 2pm and we settled in. on this occasion, we flew with Monarch airways who were pretty good. Our experience of different airlines is very limited but these were just as good as any other we had been with. It was one of the smaller aircraft – 3 seats either side of one gangway – maybe if Dalesman reads this he can tell me what it was!
All in all, the flight took quite a while – approximately 4 and bit hours but since we had a film to watch it took
our minds off it. Firstly, we had to land at Rhodes for refuelling or whatever and if I never see that airport again, I’ll be a happy woman – it was an absolute nightmare! Crowds of people, totally inaudible tannoy system so we couldn’t hear when our flight was being called. In the end, we hovered by some people who were on our flight and followed them. Finally, we landed at Kos airport, got our cases and got on our coach. After a few drop offs on the island, we were dropped off at the port – our rep met us there and told us we’d got to get on the ferry to get to Kalymnos which would take 1 and a half hours. By then we were past caring about the travelling and put our feet up.
Once at the island we got in a taxi with the rep (who happened to be staying at the same hotel) and got to our hotel, which was quite small. There were us, the rep and around 4 other couples and that was it. The people who ran the place were extremely friendly.
After a good nights kip we had the usual talk from the rep who suggested different things to do and places to go. On exploring the area we found that on the island itself, there wasn’t really that much to do apart from eating n the various restaurants or drinking at the different pubs. This suited us fine as we aren’t really into the clubbing scene (been there, done that) so we knew we were in for a relaxing break. If you’re the sort of person who likes to party the night away, Kalymnos wouldn’t really be your type of place. It is totally uncommercialised and the ideal place to get away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life.
We stayed on a part of the island called Myrties – really quiet, no nightlife to speak of but loads of places to eat and drink. We soon found the places we liked to have a drink at and because of this, they got to know us and had a chat with us when we went in. most evenings, we went for a drink in a hotel where a mother and daughter ran the bar. On one occasion, they had a few members of their family with them and they sat down with a huge plate of fresh peaches, which we thought nothing of. That was, until the daughter came over with four of the said peaches on a plate and asked us to join them – no fear of that happening in the U.K is there?
When I say there wasn’t much to do, that wasn’t strictly true. There are a fair few trips you can go on ranging from going on a small boat to the other end of the island, another small boat to another small island this cost 50p and took about 1 minute! Then you get your more expensive trips – you could go to Kos for a day, but we decided to go to Turkey. This involved getting up at the crack of dawn (with the loan of an alarm clock) and getting to the port to get the boat at 6.30am. Once we got to Kos and had the rigmarole of going through customs, we got back on the boat and set off for Turkey. Once we were there, there wasn’t really that much time to find all of the landmarks that the rep said to look out for. However we did manage to find the local market and were mortified to find people selling live baby chicks!
Another place we went to was Patmos – another island that was a short boat trip away. The main attraction of this island is that it is apparently the place where St. John wrote his bible scriptures and you can actually visit the cave where he is said to have written them. Unfortunately, by the time we found the caves, they were closed but we did manage to visit the local monastery. Because of the deeply religious nature of the place, the reps do tell you to bring a long skirt or a pair of jeans to wear whilst in the monastery – bare legs are not allowed. Don’t worry if you don’t bring anything, as at the gates when you go in, there is someone handing out cloth sacks (for want of a better word) for you to wear for the duration of your visit. The monastery is well worth a visit – we were amazed at the decoration inside – absolutely fantastic – and ant certain times during the day, you can hear the monks doing their singing (no disrespect intended, but I don’t know what they call it) – this itself was worth listening to.
The last thing I can think of to say is that you definitely need LOADS of high factor cream – it is SO hot there. Our hotel had a thermometer by the door and on one day; it was hitting thirty degrees at 10am so you can imagine what it was like later on. The beaches, although few and far between, were the best I’ve seen in a long time – lovely soft sand, clear blue sea – what more could you ask for? Food wise, it is mainly Greek food that you get – I can’t remember seeing any restaurants or anything like that that sold English food. The only downside to the food is that it can be quite oily so be careful what you eat – I ate dolmades (mince in vine leaves) at one place and after I left, had to make a dash to the nearest pub just to use the loo. Thank god I’d brought the Imodium with us!!
So, if you’re looking for a quiet couple of weeks away with just you and your partner, Kalymnos is just the place to head for. It is a long time travelling but it is worth it – on the way back home, we timed it and from the time the taxi picked us up at the hotel to when we put the key in the door at home, it was a total of 13 hours and that included taking into account any time differences!
Sorry – another last thing to say! Because of the type of island that is and the lack of typical attractions such as water parks and the like, I wouldn’t recommend bringing children as they would get bored very easily. I don’t know if it is still the same now,as it is such a long time since we paid our visit but I would check with a travel agent first before booking your family holiday here
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Aug 1st, 2001
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