Day 3 of our journey found us on the island of Rhodes. It was Easter Sunday, so we knew that we needed to go to a place where we didn't need stores to be open. In fact the World Heritage-listed Old Town proved to be the perfect destination to celebrate Easter and to explore quiet stone alley-ways. Rhodes is the Eastern-most island of the Greek Dodecanese islands, and is only a short boat ride away from Turkey (We were tempted...). Because of its location, Rhodes has been ruled by different groups in its history - the Minoans, Mycenaeans, Dorians, Romans, Byzantine, Genoese, Knights of St. John, Ottomans, Italians. Rhodes only became part of Greece in 1947, with the end of the Italian occupation of the Dodecanese islands. All this translates to a great mosaic of cultures and influences in the architecture and the feel of the city.
Our morning began with an early flight out. Flying over the Aegean, we marveled at the blue-ness of it all, and only kept wishing we could visit all these mysterious islands out there.
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| Yes, Propellers! |
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| So much blue! |
We found our hotel nestled off the main streets of Old Town, hidden in a warren of stone-arched alleys. Already charmed!
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| Photo Credit: Dawn LX |
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| The charm was heightened with the closed doors, I thought. Or I could just be consoling myself. |
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| The Easter decorations with pictures of the Last Supper and palm frond-arches towards the back. These were removed the very next day. |
In stark contrast to the stone-coloured medieval surroundings, the hotel was bright and blue!
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| Hotel Isole |
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I was trying to convince Dawn that I had painted my nails pretty much the exact same colour as the hotel.
Should I say... NAILED IT!
Photo Credit: Dawn LX |
A quick dropping off of the bags, and we were ready for a long leisurely Easter Sunday lunch.
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We just looked for the most crowded place, and got ourselves a seat.
Photo Credit Dawn LX |
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| In a corner, watching the world go by.. and waiting for our meal. |
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| First to get here, the ubiquitous Greek salad! |
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| Feta cheese in Greece is like nothing else. |
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| Some kind of vegetable patty. Anything fried golden is good. |
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| Appetizer feast! |
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| The main meal - lamb, of course! |
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Lamb liver (?) wrapped in intestines. Yummm.
Photo Credit: Dawn LX |
We were joined by locals, and other tourists from all over the world. Very kumbaya moment. We were entertained by the interaction between these two children (who just met here) and a dog. Children and animals really are cute to watch!
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| Photo Credit: Dawn LX |
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| Photo Credit: Dawn LX |
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| Photo Credit: Dawn LX |
Four hours later, we finally peeled ourselves off our seats, and wandered the streets of old town Rhodes.
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| Photo Credit: Dawn LX |
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| Cats were everywhere! |
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The Central Square
Photo Credit: Dawn LX |
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| With squares, come pigeons. |
We soon found that there was life outside the Old Town walls as well.
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| Leaving the walls of the old-town - 12 meter thick walls |
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| Selling stuff from a boat |
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| The imposing walls in the background. How medieval. |
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| Exploring a little section of the walls. |
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| Photo Credit: Dawn LX |
We found a sandy beach where we plopped down to deal with food coma.
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| Photo Credit: Dawn LX |
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| Ahem, nail colour. |
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| Rocky beach |
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| I used to pick up rocks from all the beaches I visited. Then I realised that I usually forgot which stone came from which beach by the time I got home. So, now I just take photos. |
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The diving platform. Dawn remembers this from one of those motivational posters.
Photo Credit: Dawn LX |
Rested, we returned to the old city where we decided it was time for tea. Yes, we pride ourselves on really knowing how to take a vacation.
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| Sunset behind the walls. One of the rare times where the main street was empty-ish. |
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Coffee and Baklava for tea
Photo Credit: Dawn LX |
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| As light fell, suddenly the cramped alleyways felt a little more eerie. |
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| Remains of an old church. (We visited it in the light the following day) |
This was a magical day in Rhodes, a uniquely quiet day in this tourist attraction. We really only appreciated how wonderful the peace was when we saw the cruise-ship crowds swarm in the next day... but that's a story for the next post.
