Wednesday--February 2 --Rhodes, Greece

Wednesday--February 2--Rhodes, Greece

Just stayed in town today.  Again I started my day at the Finn Cafe. 


Today I have a piece of spinach pie for breakfast today with my latte.  I hang out for a while writing then take my computer back to the hotel and walk to the old town.  It’s only about a 10 minute walk.  The hotel is in a good location; close to the water and not far from the main part of town.  

As I walk into the old town I see a group of kids down below playing soccer.  I wish I could upload video more easily but it’s just very slow and too frustrating.

Rhodes Old City entrance

When I walk into the old town I see great shadows from the tree lined street next to the castle.

First stop the museum of the Knights Castle.

The Palace of the Grand Master of the Knights of Rhodes is a palace in the town of Rhodes, on the island of Rhodes in Greece. The palace was built in the 14th century by the Knights of Rhodes, who occupied Rhodes from 1309 to 1522. After the island was captured by the Ottoman Empire, the palace was used as a fortress. 

The original palace was largely destroyed by an ammunition explosion in 1856. When the Kingdom of Italy occupied Rhodes in 1912, the Italians rebuilt the palace in a grandiose pseudo-medieval style as a holiday residence for Victor Emmanuel III of Italy, and later for Benito Mussolini, whose name can still be seen on a large plaque near the entrance.

On 10 February 1947, the Treaty of Peace with Italy, one of the Paris Peace Treaties, determined that the recently-established Italian Republic would transfer the Dodecanese to the Kingdom of Greece. In 1948, Rhodes and the rest of the Dodecanese were transferred as previously agreed. The Greeks converted the palace to a museum.

The Knights Castle was Gothic style and more Roman than Greek.  Lots of beautiful mosaics, mostly ones that came from Kos.  There were mosaics of what are either hearts or spades.  


Also I was drawn to a mosaic of a woman and then discovered it was Medea.  

Medea

Not suppose to look in her eyes or you’ll turn to stone.  

I also found I liked these heads that were on top of the chairs.  I’m not sure what their significance is but I really liked the detail. 

The castle was pretty big and took me a while to get through.  

After the castle I thought I would find the art gallery’s that the tourist woman had told me about.  I found the main street in the old town where one of them was suppose to be but a nice man told me nearly everything was closed.  

I continued walking through the old town, found a church and then a very interesting man in a byzantine icon workshop.  

He invited me in and I watched him do his work for a bit.  He explained how he painted and the importance of using egg yokes to set the all natural pigments that were used on the icons.  He told me that many of the old painted have survived because of the natural pigment and the use of egg yokes to set the paint.  I never knew that.  I was very fascinated by his work and realized he must have incredible patience because the large icons can take many months to complete.  

When I left the workshop I walked along the harbor.  I found a Dolphin sculpture that reminded me of Santa Barbara, it is a bit smaller than the one we have in Santa Barbara but none the less.  

I also saw the ferry that I had come to Rhodes on sitting in the harbor.  

Then as I continued walking around the wall of the harbor I found the Municipal Art Gallery of Contemporary Greek art.  

They had an interesting exhibit by a Greek artist whose name I cannot tell you.  The art was rather flat but what was interesting was the hair on many of his subjects flew out to the side of the head.  I’d never seen a style like this.

I was a bit hungry so I continued walking in the new part of town and found a nice little cafe.  I had a tuna sandwich and one of those fabulous Greek coffees.  Well the only thing left to do is go to the aquarium.  As I’m walking to the aquarium I realize I forgot to go to the Rhodes acropolis and stadium.  Oops, now I’m on the wrong side of town.  Guess I’ll have to miss it because it’s 3:30 and I think it closes at 4:00.  Not sure but not going.  

I continue walking along with water and find the aquarium.  Pretty sad not impressive at all.  I continued walking along the water and found many people on the beach. 

 Several men were playing paddle ball and lots of people were swimming.  The sun was out but the temperature was only about 11 or 12 degrees celsius maybe 55 or 60 degrees fahrenheit.   It was a lovely day and I knew that it was going to rain tomorrow so I was enjoying the sun.  

Dinner tonight was at the Italian restaurant across the street.  

I had a bruschetta that was more like a pizza it was a crusty piece of toast with melted cheese and tomatoes on top (one piece not several small pieces that I'm used to) and pasta with pesto.  All was delicious but way too much food. 

Back to my room another night of packing.

Tuesday--February 1--Rhodes, Greece

Tuesday--February 1--Rhodes, Greece

I begin my morning at the Finn Cafe.  

Finn Cafe

The breakfast is so bad at my hotel and I can have free internet at The Finn Cafe that I decide to walk over there for breakfast.  I have a wonderful smoked salmon sandwich with tomato, lettuce and cucumber and a latte.  I spend a little more than an hour writing trying to keep up with my blog and to get it posted I need to have internet access.  I want to get on the road to the other side of the island.

I also decide that I will fly to Athens and make a reservation to leave on Thursday on a 10:55 flight that costs me about $100.00.  I also made an arrangement to stay at a "five star" hotel thanks to my friend Mariella who is from Athens.

When I asked her for a recommendation she said I should contact the Divani Caravelle and ask for John, the manager, who is her ex-husband.  I phone him and he gives me a good rate from what I've seen on the internet.  Even though it's more than what I've budgeted I decide I could use a little luxury and book it.

My driving journey today begins around 10:30 and my first stop is the bee museum.  The woman at the rental office told me that the storm hit the eastern side of the island much harder than the western side and some roads may be closed.  She thought it would be a better idea if I started on the western side and crossed over in the middle thus avoiding the bad parts.  

The bee museum is on a road just before the airport.  Actually, the museum was quite interesting and a little creepy at the same time.  A lot of close up photos of bees was kind of creepy.  I don’t think I could be a bee keeper.  

They had a shop with all kinds of honey and other products made from honey and oil.  The woman told me they had a sample table and I could try the different honeys.  If I could only carry more I would have bought several jars.  The honey was so good.  I bought two sample size jars because I know I can carry those.  I also bought a hand cream that is made from honey and olive oil.  My hands are so dry and this cream is very smooth.

I continue on my journey up the same side as yesterday, past the airport and through the town of Paradis.  I turn off the road at the sign that points toward the butterfly park.  This road goes across the middle of the island and will get me to the other side.  My goal today is to get to Lindos where there is an acropolis.

climbing up the mountain

The road through the middle of the island has several little towns and lots of olive trees and vineyards.  I run into, rather see, many goats in the road and on the side of the road.  They think they own the road and cross whenever they want.  With no one around I guess they can do this.  There are black ones and white ones, big ones and little ones.  

just another lovely view

As I drive on the road I see many rocks and debris that has fallen down the hills from the storm so I drive extra carefully.  I don’t want to get stuck out here.  There are suppose to be “seven springs” on this road but when I get back to the main road to Lindos I realize I didn’t see them.  There was no sign.  Oh well.

self portrait in the rental car

I’m back on the main road on the eastern side of the island.  I see the sign to Lindos 28 kilometers, that’s only about 18 miles.

The beaches on this side of the island are much better than the western side.  They are wide, long and with smooth sand unlike the western side that is much rockier.  I can tell that this side of the island is more populated and probably popular in the summer with these great beaches.

coming up on Lindos

I start to see incredible views of the beaches as I approach Lindos.  

I follow the signs to the “Town Hall” and  “Ancient Theater”. 

This is a walled city so I have to park outside.  I park the car and take my camera to explore the town and see the acropolis.

Lindos (in Greek: Λίνδος) is a town and an archaeological site on the east coast of the Greek island of Rhodes, in the Dodecanese in southeastern Aegean Sea. It is about 55 km south of the town of Rhodes and its fine beaches make it a popular tourist and holiday destination. Lindos is situated in a large bay and faces the fishing village and small resort of Haraki.

Above the modern town rises the acropolis of Lindos, a natural citadel which was fortified successively by the Greeks, the Romans, the Byzantines, the Knights of St John and the Ottomans. This makes the site difficult to excavate and interpret archaeologically. The acropolis offers spectacular views of the surrounding harbours and coastline.

I enter the old town and find the “ancient theater”.  Another amphitheater that says it help approx. 2,000 people. 

Lindos Town

I walk through the deserted old town thinking this would be another cool place to be “in season”.  I see many people working on their stores and restaurants preparing for the season.  I find a store or two open but don’t see any restaurants open.  
























I walk around to the other side of town and see a deserted beach that I would like to be on (if the weather were a little bit warmer). 

My beach

 I also pass an elementary school and think, wow these kids have this acropolis in their backyard.    Then I find the entrance to the acropolis.  As I approach I see two young girls and I ask them if it is open.  They say yes.  I ask them where they are from and they say, Israel.

“Really.  My daughter is there now and I was just visiting her.”

“Where is she,” they ask.

“Karmiel”, I tell them.

“We live near there in Haifa”, they say.

“Oh, I was there too.  Are you here with a group?” I ask.

“Yes.”

Then an older woman comes out from the bathroom. She must be the chaperone.  She tells me that they are here on a group trip but just the three of them came to Lindos.  I ask them if it is worth visiting the ruins.  The girls say it wasn’t so interesting but the woman says yes and that I should hurry because it closes at 2:30.  It was 1:30. 

I go to the ticket booth and the woman tells me I have one hour and that should be enough time to visit the site.

entrance to Lindos acropolis

There are lots of steps straight up to get to the top.  I’m glad I’m in decent shape.  I tell you getting to these sites on top of hills gets my heart rate up.  It’s very beautiful up here and again with breath taking views.  

In classical times the acropolis of Lindos was dominated by the massive temple of Athena Lindia, which attained its final form in around 300 BC. In Hellenistic and Roman times the temple precinct grew as more buildings were added. In early medieval times these buildings fell into disuse, and in the 14th century they were partly overlaid by a massive fortress built on the acropolis by the Knights of St John to defend the island against the Ottomans.

Well at least I got to see one of the three acropolis on Rhodes.  I’m hoping to see the main one in Rhodes town tomorrow.

My time is up as it is close to 2:30 and they are going to close the site.  I walk back through the deserted town to my car.

I drive back to town taking the main road thinking if it is really bad they will send me on a detour.  I make it all the way back into Rhodes with only one diversion.  I’m very brave and decide to drive into the town and see if I can find the hotel from this side.  I could have taken the road to the airport and returned on the road closer to the hotel but I through caution to the wind.  I figure if I stay by the harbor that is the road that leads to the hotel.  Well, all was o.k. except for the scooters that were on my ass.  I pulled over several times to get away from them.  I was in no hurry and certainly didn’t want an accident.

I found the road next to the harbor and followed it around and just as I thought it brought me back to the hotel.  Safe and sound and it was only 4:00 p.m.  I technically could have kept the car until 1 p.m. tomorrow but I was done.  I enjoyed having the car and seeing the island but I had enough.  They still take the siesta thing seriously here and everything closes from 2 - 5 then opens again from 5 - 9.  The rental agency wouldn’t be open again until 5 so I went back to the hotel and rested.

When I returned the car I asked the girl if she could recommend a restaurant in the area that she liked.  She told me about a sushi bar so I was excited.  I found it but guess what, closed.  

I ended up going back to the restaurant I ate at the first night Meses.  They didn’t have any fish tonight and I didn’t want shrimp so I just had a greek salad.  The waitress, I’m sure thought I was a bit nuts that that was all I was ordering.  But, what can I tell you.

I was too tired to go to the Finn Cafe and use the internet so I just went back to the hotel and went to sleep.

Monday--January 31--Rhodes, Greece

Monday--January 31--Rhodes, Greece

I had a pretty good sleep.  They have cozy comforters at this hotel and a TV that has the BBC news.  At least it’s something in English.  Too much about Egypt.  

I come down for breakfast and I can tell you it was horrible. Stale rolls and several different sweet cakes even baklava were the options.  Who eats Baklava for breakfast?  Oh they had two kinds of boxed cereal and milk.  No Yogurt, is this Greece?  Hard to believe no yogurt.  No tomatoes or cucumbers either and the coffee was out of a machine.  Another downside to travel in the winter.  More info to share on Trip Advisor.    

O.k. the sun is shining.  First I need to get some laundry done.  I was told that just a few blocks away there is a laundry place.  I take my bag of laundry and walk to “The Laundry Place”.  The man tells me it will be 6 euro for the entire bag and will be ready by 5:00 p.m.  Not bad I think, fluff and fold.  Yes, I am sick of my clothes.  I’ve already decided that when I get home all these clothes are going into the trash and I still have two months to go.  

I walk into town to find the tourist office.  They have a very large one and an extremely helpful woman.  She gets maps out and starts to tell me all about what there is to see in Rhodes town and on the island.  Unfortunately it’s Monday and most everything is closed, except the Aquarium.  I also talk with her about my options for boats and other islands to visit.  When she shows me the ferry schedule I see there is only one option to get to Santorini and that is tomorrow and all the other ones to Pireus (near Athens) make 4-5 stops along the way all going back through Kos and arriving at 6:00 a.m.  I know from my experience with Johanne that getting a single cabin from Kos was 130 euro so I can’t imagine what it is from here.  I decide to investigate what the cost of flying would be.  I talk with this woman for a while and she tells me I should rent a car that it is very easy to drive around the island and many places to visit.  She tells me there are three acropolis on the island.  Given that most everything is closed today I’m thinking maybe the car isn’t a bad idea.  I ask the woman where the old city is and she directs me to walk down the street and around to the left.  

Inside the Old City of Rhodes

It’s around 10:30 when I enter one of the gates of the old city.  I’m walking and walking and yes everything is closed.  It looks like a movie set with cobble stone streets and signs for restaurants and shops.  Every now and then there is something open.  








I come upon a “square” with a nice little fountain. 

 There is an open restaurant with a few humans sitting outside.  I think I’ll have a coffee and something to eat.   I had a piece of spinach pie (spanokopeda) and a “greek” coffee.  Greek coffee is similar to Turkish coffee.  I can’t really tell what the difference is.  I learned from Johanne to ask for “medium” coffee, which is the sweetness level.  I love it.  

After my rest I continue my walk through the town and find a sign for the Jewish Synagogue.  

The front door of the synagogue

I walk down the street and find the synagogue with a note that says the synagogue is closed since November 2010 and if you want a tour to call this number.   Somehow I don’t think this is going to happen during the winter.  I go back to the main street and find a memorial to the jews who were killed in the concentration camps. 

memorial to the Jewish community of Rhodes

 I know there was a strong  Jewish community once in Rhodes but after the war there are very few left.  It’s a bit chilly and I didn’t dress properly so I decide to walk back to the hotel.

When I get close to the hotel I see a car rental office and go in to ask about the rates.  I figured if it was $100. I would do it.  She tells me it’s 30 euro for one day but 25 euro for two days.  It’s 12:30 and she tells me they will close from 2-5 so either I take it now or later.  I go back to the hotel to get my coat.  I decide I will rent the car.  What else do I have to do.  I can drive one side of the island today and the other side tomorrow and visit the sites of old Rhodes town on Wednesday.  

The car rental office is also a travel agency.  I ask the woman how much it would be to fly to Athens on Thursday.  She tells me around 88 euro.  That’s not bad but I say that I will check on the internet, thinking I can do better.

So I rent the car.  50 Euro with insurance and everything for two days.  It’s a cute little 5 speed Peugeot.  That’s manual transmission, not automatic.  At least I know how to drive a manual now.  When I was 20 and first came to Europe, Gina and I bought a van with a manual transmission and I had no clue how to drive it.  

I had a map from the tourist office and another one from the rental agency and off I went.  I could tell from the map that it would be very difficult to get lost on this island.  The only problem could be some of the roads from the storm last Friday really caused problems and I might not be able to drive on some.  I took the side of the island that had the least amount of damage first.

I went up the west side of the island.  I turn off the main road toward Filerimos.  The road gets steeping and I'm climbing a bit of a mountain.  


The first thing I see is a church and it's open so I stop to check it out.  


There is no marking in English as to what church this is.  If I could read Greek I could tell you what it was.  

inside of church

Then I continued up the mountain to the monestery at Filerimos, and surprise surprise the acropolis was closed.

Fifteen km/9mi south of Rhodes town (bus service) rises Mt Filérimos (267m/876ft; view), with the remains of the acropolis of Ialysos, one of the three ancient cities on the island. The hill was occupied by a series of strongholds from Mycenaean times (C. 1400 B.C.) onwards. In 1308 it was a base for the Knights of St John during their siege of Rhodes


As I was standing in front of the gate I hear strange noises.  I discover the noise is coming from peacocks.  

There were so many of them.  They make the oddest noise.  
I tried to photograph them but it was quite difficult.   I was able to get one.  Their feathers are so beautiful.   

Then I saw a tree lined path that looked like it led to something.  I remembered the tourist office lady told me there was an incredible view from here so I wanted to see if this was the view.  Not only is the sight closed there wasn't a sole around.  It did feel a bit strange but I think it’s o.k and start walking on the path.  Along the path there are copper plate reliefs of the story of the people who were here?  Don't really know.

At the end of the path is a huge cross and an incredible view.  I’m glad I’m the only one here no one to get in my photo. 

I walk back to the car and continue on my journey.  

Next stop Ancient Kamiros.  


As I’m winding up the road to the entrance there is a man on a scooter that makes a hand sign to me.  I’m not sure what this gesture is until I get close and realize he was trying to tell me, Yep, closed.  Wow, two for two.  I thought only the sights in the old town were closed I guess I wasn’t paying close enough attention to the tourist office lady.  Did she tell me these sights were closed today too?  Oh well it’s nice to be out doing something and the views are incredible. 

The water and the sky are a blue you don’t see many places in the world.  I'm able to see several other islands.  I'm in the Dodecanese chain of Greece.

I get back on the main road and find the airport.  Wow, it’s a ways out of town.  I’m not sure how long it really takes to get here but it is outside of town.

I continue driving not knowing what I will find.  They is a butterfly place but of course there are no butterflies now.  I just drive.  I go through tiny villages and streets that you can’t imagine are really streets they are so narrow.  

You can’t believe how deserted this island is. However, I drive through places where I can see “in season” must be very crowded.  There are stores, car rental offices, “tourist” offices, restaurants.  Every once in a while I see something open and real people sitting outside at a cafe.  

I see a sign for Kristina’s Castle or church and go up the road.  Wow, it’s open.  

The cats are sitting in the parking lot waiting for me.  There isn’t really anything here but an old building and a marvelous view.  

Location was everything then (as it is now) and they built everything up on the hill to stay safe from the enemies. 

Entrance to Kristina's Castle

Kristina's Castle

I don’t know who this Kirstina was but she lived well.  Need to look her up.

I see on the map there is a town that is known for their “honey”.  I think I can make it there and back before dark.  I’m back on the road and so far the signs have been good to get to the places I’ve wanted to see.  

a view of Kristina's Castle further down the road

Now though I’m in a town and the direction sign  doesn’t have the name of the town I’m looking for on it.  It’s 3:30 and I don’t want to drive back in the dark.  Since I left around 1:00 and had been driving for several hours I wasn’t sure how long it would take me to get back to town so I turned around.   

It was nice to drive and just stop when I wanted to to take in the views.  I’m sure it’s nice to be here when there are people.  I don’t know if I would want to live here though.

One thing Johanne asked me was what my favorite place/country is that I have visited.  

“in my life”, I ask

“yes”, she says.

I couldn't answer right away.  The more I thought about it I told her probably Australia is a place that I really enjoyed and could see living.

On my way back to town I remembered seeing a bakery that was called Vanilla and Chocolate and looked like it would be good place to get something to eat.

I stopped.  I looked in the case and asked the girl what was in the pan.  She said cheese and spinach so I said I would take one.  Turns out she gave me one of each cheese and spinach.  Oh well.  Then I said I wanted one of the twisted things that had sesame seeds on it.  She said it was sweet.  That’s o.k. I’ll have it.  I also asked if they had Greek coffee.  


"Of course we do", she said.  
She made a fresh cup for me using a bunsen burner to heat up the little tin pot that the Greeks use to make their special coffee.  She put it in a to go cup and told me to be careful while drinking it as it was very hot.  OMG.  This was the best cheese and spinach pie so far.  The twisted sweet thing was also very good but a bit too sweet for me.

I got back to town easy enough.  I only had a bit of trouble with the one way streets trying to figure out how to get the car back in front of the rental agency.  I went around the round about a few times and finally discovered the one street I had to use.

I parked the car and walked to the hotel.  

A great day.

I decide I’m going to the Finn Cafe to use their “free” wireless internet.  It’s very close and they have a outlet for a plug.  Unfortunately I brought the plug but not the converter.  I sit there until the battery on my computer is just about dead.  I can’t believe how fast the internet is here.  Something is wrong at the hotel for sure.

I’m not too hungry but I order a beer.  I figure I can’t sit here without getting something.   

Another full day.  Tomorrow the other side of the island.