Rhodes, Greece

Arrived in Rhodes Town on the overnight ferry from Santorini on February 28th.  The ferry ride was very comfortable.  It made many, many stops along the way and we thoroughly enjoyed watching the goings and comings at each port that we were awake for.  It must have stopped at least 4 or 5 more times overnight while we were in our berth.

Our cozy berth on the ferry

Entering Rhodes Town by ferry

Three windmills

The harbour area

Entry into the harbour

We enjoyed entering the port of Rhodes Town at sunrise.  It felt much warmer here than in Santorini.  Rhodes Town is a walled medieval UNESCO city.

We stayed in the old town.  It was pretty quiet at this time of year and at times felt like a ghost town.  It was challenging finding a restaurant even in the new town (where people actually live) just a short walk on the other side of the wall of the old town.  The only places we could fine were either tavernas where only men hung out, or young people bars.  They only smoked (and did they ever smoke) and drink – not much eating going on.  We were so intrigued (and grossed out since we had to inhale it all of the time) by the number of people smoking – just about everyone (we were pretty much the only non-smokers) – that we did a search about Greeks smoking.  And guess what!  They are at the top of the list in the world for the most smoking.   Just to give you an idea, 40% of the Greek population smokes whereas only 15% of Canadians smoke.

Rhodes is a lovely town to walk around in with the old cobblestones, the Grand Masters Palace, Street of Knights, and all of the lovely historical buildings.

We loved our apartment!

View from our first apartment

Street of Knights

The Library

Archaeological Museum of Rhodes

Archaeological Museum of Rhodes

We rented a car for a day and drove to Lindos where 30 years ago our good friends Christine and Paul had spent some time, and it was great fun sending them photos so that they could reminisce.  We especially enjoyed the challenge that Paul imposed on us to find the exact spot that they had stayed at and the steps just down from them (Paul had provided us with photos from 30 some years prior), and believe it or not we found the place and we took photos with the same poses as they had in the photos.  Great fun!  Lindos sits in a beautiful setting and has its own acropolis up on a hill overlooking the town and the ocean.  And on the way back to Rhodes Town we stopped off at Anthony Quinn’s beach.  We could see why the former actor chose to have a house there.

Lindos

View from the Acropolis

Lindos with Acropolis on the hill

Anthony Quinn’s Bay

Lovely rainbow on our drive between Rhodes Town and Lindos

We left Rhodes on a jet plane on March 4 and headed to Istanbul, Turkey.  We’ll be writing about that very soon.  Stay tuned.

We really enjoyed Greece!