Frank's Christian Thoughts: Travel Biography Photo Extravaganza

Saturday, 24 January 2026

Travel Biography Photo Extravaganza - Week 58.

How the Greek Island of Kos has set the standard for modern life and health.

Last week, while posting the second half of our 2006 trip to Lanzarote in the Canaries, I was considering whether to make that the last of my Travel Biography and Extravaganza, and I even asked whether you would like to give your opinion.

On the comments, I received two. The first was from my beloved, who was keen for me to keep on posting our travel pics. The other was from a good Blogger friend who encouraged me to revert to my posts centred more on the Christian faith, as she was edified by what I have written and posted in the past.

However, one evening this week, I was driven home from a meeting by a good friend, one of the elders in our church who graduated from University, having studied ancient civilisations. This included a college trip to Naples to visit the excavations of Pompeii. As we talked in his car, the idea of posting photos of the ancient ruins in Kos came to mind, and I decided to go ahead and publish them. However, this will be the last of all the Extravaganza photos, as next week I wish to start on my testimony. If you think that I am just another middle-class graduate who grew up in a Christian home (yawn!), you have another think coming! Rather, my conversion story is more dramatic.

This week is the final of the Extravaganza. It's from the album of our 12th Wedding Anniversary in the Greek island of Kos, one of the Dodecanese. We flew there for a week in 2011 for a single-venue celebratory holiday. As such, it wasn't included in the main Biography, as it wasn't a backpacking trip. But for anyone interested in archaeology and ancient civilisations, Kos has much to offer. That was why I went ahead and published the photos I took of the sites while we were there.

There were three sites we visited. The first was the Agora, or the market, dating back to the 4th Century BC. The earthquake in 1933 turned the site into one resembling a scrapyard, but its entry is free to the public. Here, Alex and I wandered around at our free will.

The second was the Asklepion (also spelt as Asclepieion). This is the combined Temple of Healing and a hospital. It was the original source of modern medicine, and it was where the famous Greek physician, Hippocrates, treated his patients by administering herbs with healing properties as well as housing in-patients in wards, as does any present hospital. The site also had a Temple for patients with terminal illnesses to find peace with their deities before passing on. Hippocrates brought into being his Oath, known as the Hippocratic Oath, sworn by graduates into the medical profession to this day. In addition to all this, many psychologists credit the theory of the four humours to Hippocrates, who erroniously believed that each of the four temperaments was governed by one of the four body fluids. These were Blood, Yellow Bile (both extrovert), Black Bile, and Phlegm (both introvert). When considering all of these, I could help but believe that the Asklepion was the most important ancient site I have ever visited.

There are actually seven restored Roman columns.

Near the harbour is an ancient tree, still living, which legends say that Hippocates taught his students under its shade. For its protection, it's now within an enclosure.

The third site we visited was the Gymnasium. This is the proper Greek word for the exercise yard. The abbreviated version, the gym, is in the English language. However, the Romans called it the Palaestra in their Latin, and it was the word widely used throughout the Roman Empire, but never found its way into English. Among these ruins, there is a well-preserved Mosaic floor of Roman origin.

A few night photos are included. This includes the alfresco restaurant, where we dined on the evening of our anniversary before taking a stroll along the esplanade that circles the harbour. Our table was by the wall which separated us from the sea. As we dined, the waves lapped gently against the wall. It was the most romantic night I have known.

One morning, we decided to hire a bicycle each and ride along the main road to the Thermae. From our hotel, the distance was approximately 10 km or 6 miles. The coastline of the city of Kos faces Turkey, and the resort of Bodrum can be seen, with its white houses standing out clearly. However, during our ride out, the road turned in a different direction, and we were able to see the majestic mountains of Yarimadasi, a long, slender peninsula jutting out from the western coast of Turkey into the Aegean Sea. Eventually, we passed through the village of Ag Fokas on the southeast coast, and the main road narrowed into a footpath on the clifftop until we arrived at some steps leading to the pebble beach. Along the beach we walked, having locked up our bikes, until we arrived at the thermae.

The thermae is an artificial pool, or a miniature lagoon, holding hot water from a spring which issues from the cliff wall. The water was too hot by the cliff face, so we bathed at the far side. A breach in the enclosing wall allowed the warm water escape into the sea. In the middle of the pool, volcanic gas bubbles rose to the surface. Both Alex and I bathed in the spa before drying off by sunbathing.

As already mentioned, this is the final photo posting of this Extravaganza. Like with Lanzarote, there is no link to the main Biography. But for a while, I thought about writing my testimony, after giving it verbally at a church meeting exactly a year ago, and the audience wanted to hear more. It's not likely that I will get it all in just one week. At this point, I can't say how many weeks it would take, two, maybe three.

Also, to say that between the Biography and the Extravaganza, it took around three years to cover the entire travel section of my Blogger page. During that time, it is estimated that it has collected as many as 500,000 views, far more than all the Christian contemporary blogs I have written before starting on Travel. Furthermore, the writing of the Biography wasn't my original idea, but the result of suggestions posted by my readers.

Therefore, by returning to the original intention of writing, a fall in viewership numbers would not surprise me. However, one lesson I have learned is not to make my blogs too long. I was told several times that my previous long text had put readers off. Therefore, I feel it would be better for me to write in a series of short blogs rather than cram too much in a long one. However, one thing is guaranteed: that my entire Travel Biography and Photo Extravaganza are permanent features here. With the Index between the two, one can link a week's posting of the Extravaganza to the appropriate week of the Biography.

Finally, let me say a big thank you for your participation in this project. It's greatly appreciated!

You can access the Index by clicking here.

Photos of Kos. Photos of the Agora Archaeological Site.

The Agora, Kos, looks more like a junkyard.