As you tour ruins along the southwestern Turkish coast, you get a clear sense of how thousands of years ago this part of the world was one. But Greece, today, is a world away – or, in this case, not more than a couple miles off the Turkish coast near our home base of Kas. So today we hopped a 20-minute ferry – the Meis Express – to spend the day in Greece.
Meis, also known as Kastellorizo, is a tiny village on one of Greece’s smallest islands. It’s somewhat standalone, with not much else nearby except Rhodes some distance to the northwest. But it’s a direct harbor-to-harbor shot from Kas, where we can see the lights at night and white houses glowing by day.
Over the years, the tiny island has had many rulers from Rhodes, Egypt, the Venetian Doge and the Ottoman Turks. In the 20th Century, it went through the hands of the French, Italians and British – and was reportedly bombed in World War II.
As tiny as it is, it comes alive each day as the ferry boats arrive from Kas and other Turkish ports, plus the huge Aegean ferries of Greece. Watching them turn the 300-foot long Proteus around in the tiny harbor after its five-hour cruise from Rhodes was a real treat!
It was a lazy day of walking the harbor, relaxing on the sun deck of the Megisti Hotel, swimming and snorkeling, enjoying a wonderful Greek lunch and a slice of locally made baklava before catching the ferry home.
Yet another stamp in the passport!
