Rhodes, Greece

So Wednesday to Sunday I was in Rhodes! I couldn't justify living in the Mediterranean and not exploring some more of the islands, so a friend and I booked tickets to Rhodes the night before we left for our ten day trip and left it at that. We arrived (after late taxis and delayed airplanes) late Wednesday night with no place to stay. We take a taxi to the city next to the ferry port, so he drops us off next to one of the entrances to the old city. Literally two huge, round pillars with the castle looking tops and a walk through gate, the ground made of rocks stuck into cement basically… even more intense than Italy! Baby Louie and I did not like the old city grounds but we managed.


(Neighbors)

We walked in, “ thud thud thud thud!” with baby Louie, but we get to the little square and our jaws just drop; the old city was incredible and our first view of the place was at night with everything lit up. One of my favorite memories comes from this night. We had nowhere to stay and one guy points us to a place but it was full. When then ask a guy closing up at his restaurant to point us in the right direction but being a typical Greek from Rhodes that just wouldn’t do, he had a sit down while he finished up so he could personally show us. It grabbed his bicycle, put my bag on it and off we went down the rocky little alley ways. We had no luck at about 3 places, then he asked a guy just getting home from directions but he insisted and joined out group. No luck turned into more people…. We had restaurant guy in full dress and bike, neighbor guy, two guys drinking beer and the bartender all helping us find a place to stay for the night. Long story shorter, bartender ensures us they will work it out because everyone knows everyone and they all help each other, so beer guy calls friend, we sit and have a beer and ten minutes later an older Greek lady comes to pick us up and take us to her hotel tucked into the old city. It was pretty incredible.



So next day we woke up early to check into ferries to Santorini but it was 13 hours each way = so not happening. No big, but my cold was killing me so I napped with the shutters open and the rain pouring down. That night we went out, found a travel agent and got the hook up. Friday = day trip via city bus to Lindos. Sat = ferry trip to Symi, a small island about 2 hrs away. Sun = bus trip to Valley of the Butterflies. She also suggested the old palace which was incredible and quite creepy on that dark, rainy & windy night. I took some great videos I’ll have to share later.


(Palace at night)


(Boat shop)

Lindos was incredible, sandy beach cove with white houses built into the hillside and Lindos’s acropolis overlooking the entire city. I swam, napped and chilled on the beach, then took an EPIC donkey ride up to the top of the acropolis, walked around there and saw some of the most stunning views and then headed back down into the city to catch a bus. The donkey ride was hilarious, for the first few minutes I couldn’t stop laughing. The streets were so small I was so concerned he was going to slam my knee into the walls but sure enough he knew what to do and it was awesome… One of my favorite days for sure.


(do I even have to say I was excited? on my donkey!)


(Bahahaha, aren't they cute!)


(Beach with the acropolis behind me)


(One of the many kitty cats!)


(Mom would have killed me if she knew what was to my right)


Symi was beautiful. So much of the small island was untouched. Wild goats everywhere! First port I saw a man “gut” an octopus for a lack of better word. It was CRAZY!!! I couldn’t pick up my jaw. He grabbed it and the octopus tried grabbing back, quickly cut out his eyes, sliced the head skin back and cut it off exposing just the white underneath and then threw the octopus as hard as possible against a rock. He kept hurling the octopus at the rock, over and over and over. 10 times was not enough, more like 40-50 with all his might. I was stunned and couldn’t move. It went from a curled up feisty little thing to a stretched out, dead limp dangly thing. I will not forget watching that!


(Awesome fisherman)


(Wild goat!)

At our second port it was typical Greece; white houses built into the hillside, boats of all shapes and sizes docked and restaurants playing typical Greek music. We basically walked around the entire city that consisted of one cove, ate lunch, walked, I almost stole a kitten! They were SO tiny, I’ve seen some of the cutest kittens ever on my trips and back in Cyprus. Then we had dessert, two bugs included! I was not going to be “that American” so I took them out, set them aside and enjoyed my banana split. Had a lot of those moments, which reminds me, I totally forgot to buy anti-itch medicine today! I’m covered in bug bits!




That night we went to a “fast food” gyro stand and it ended up being the best choice. We ordered, sat at their little bar that fits about 6 people in total and watched (America’s) Top Model, Greece with a local Greek! He was so cute, Josh and I were trying to figure out what was going on and he’s try to fill us in as we kept making comments about the show. We ended up coming back to this same place the next day before we flew out, I loved the couple working there and the food was great. I only ordered fries and Josh got a chicken gyros and then all of a sudden I saw the guy cutting pork… he had remembered us and he gave me a small plate a pork to eat while we waited for our food. The gesture was SO sweet and the pork was the best I’ve ever had.


(View from our place, our shutters to the left)

The last morning we checked out of our hostel and left our bags for the day. As we walked away a/their dog decided to join us on our walk to the bus stop, he even hung out as we got our morning sandwich. He just sat outside waiting for his buds. We crossed 5 lanes of traffic; he saw, yielded to oncoming traffic and then crossed to meet up with us. It was adorable. We then took a bus up into the mountains to hike around in the trees and along the stream running down the hillside. The best part was when we got to the top though. We got to the monastery and there were rolling hills covered in tall trees, then a valley with little white houses, the beach, the sea with ships and small islands a ways out. It was honestly breathtaking and I didn’t want to leave.


(Our puppy!)


(Hiking around)


(So beautiful)

I had such a great trip; this blog really doesn’t cover it. For me this trip wasn’t as much about the things I did and the places I saw but rather about the people, their way of living and connecting on a much smaller scale. For example, Sunday afternoon we were leaving with our bags in tow along the same walk way and all the restaurant workers were saying goodbye and waving and beyond that even the guests eating were waving saying bye. It was just incredible, every night we got the same treatment too. We went to Romeo’s the first night at midnight and shared a plate of tradition Greek food and from then on we were friends passing bye, always saying hello and goodnight. Rhodes and the old city of Rodos in particular were so delightful.