Kos

Hippocrates, the ca 400-300 B.C Greek physician widely considered the father of medicine, believed that humans need to strive for balance in their bodies and that their health was depending both on a sound mind as well as a sound body.

Well, today we attempted to attend to both the body and the mind when we visited the birthplace and former home of Hippocrates – the island of Kos.

The island is rather large and busy and is situated amongst the Dodecanese islands so far east that you can see turkey from its port. We started the day with some intellectual stimuli; a tour of Kos and some of its major sights. We first walked into town to get a quick glimpse and to visit the plane tree under which Hippocrates was said to have worked. Then we went on by bus to the famous Asklepion, a former curative centre where the theories of Hippocrates were put into use after his death. This was followed by a visit to the Roman ruins and Odeon and some free time in the busy town for shopping or simple people watching.

Our afternoon was slightly more geared towards the physical. After a good lunch we put the sails up and headed towards a sheltered bay not far from Kos. We took our small boats ashore and spent a few hours swimming, snorkeling and building sand castles. Thereafter we headed back to the Panorama for some jumping off the stern of the ship.

The day finished with a good Greek dinner and a movie about Alexander the Great.

All in all - a day that would have made Hippocrates proud!