Thursday, July 31, 2014
Wednesday, July 30, 2014
Lindos July 28, 2014
Another day of climbing and stairs. We went to the Lindos Acropolis today which requires either loads of stairs or a 5 euro donkey ride to get to the top.
The ruins at the top of course can't compare to Athens but they were beautiful. The views of Lindos and the surrounding area also made the hike up worthwhile. One aspect of the great view that you don't get from the Athens acropolis is of the sea. You are able to really appreciate the beautiful colors of the water from above.
As you climb down from the Acropolis you are filtered through the shopping section of Lindos. Most tourists really keep them in business but we didn't leave too much money behind. The Greek people do not like credit cards and very few places accept them so Americans who are used to using their credit card for every purchase have a choice between switching to cash or passing things by. Our group mostly passed things by.
The crowds are proof that it's tourist season here and no matter how early of a start we get there are still throngs of people at all the major attractions. I am happy that most of my trip has been spent in alternative locations. We have spent most of our time in untouristed places.
We didn't spend any extra time in Lindos after we were finished with the Acropolis and shopping. It's hard to appreciate the charm of a location with so many people milling about.
We went in search a taverna located on the seaside and ended up at Haraki Beach. We enjoyed a great lunch sitting in comfortable chairs and looking out over the Aegean Sea. Following our lunch it was steps down to the beach that we had been sitting and enjoying while we dined.
Following our afternoon at the beach we made a stop at Carre -fore to do a massive grocery shopping trip on the way home. Our departing friends needed a few culinary type souvenirs.
Petaloudes July 27, 2014
Butterfly Valley was something that intrigued us all from the moment we heard about it. We decided to add it to our must see list during the planning phase of our trip.
It is a valley in the interior of the island that Jersey Tiger moths migrate to in July and August each year in search of a humid climate.
It was so much more than what I expected. I always enjoy our visits to the butterfly exhibits at our local safari park and I guess I expected it to be something like that. Walk through, see/ photograph some pretty butterflies, move on. Instead, it was a beautiful nature walk (well, let's be honest... Hike... Everything is a hike around here). The first section was a rather gentle incline through a shady forest where you are surrounded by trees and rocks that are completely full of one type of butterfly (actually a moth). The butterflies rest on these surfaces, occasionally fluttering around you or suddenly bursting into the air in large groups. Throughout the valley there is a small river complete with waterfalls, and wooden bridges built over it. It was a very peaceful and serene way to commune with nature.
We enjoyed the first half so much we decided to continue on to see the second half. This second section was completely different in the fact that it included the climb out of the valley. While the scenery was still beautiful, the day was warming, the tourist crowds were appearing, and the stairs and the incline of the accent increased. After all that climbing and return, we were tired and ready for our Mesimeri.
After a short nap Carrie, Lauri, Gina and I were ready to hit the beach. We decided to go find a beach near Rhodes town. We had seen a number of possibilities on our way to old Rhodes town earlier in the week. The water was warm and the waves were not as choppy as some we had experienced on the west side of the island. We have found that we are enjoying an evening swim at the beach. The late evening sun is just beautiful on the water. The sea is warm and the air temperature is a delight after scorching day time temperatures.
Prasonissi Beach July 26, 2014
Today we drove to the southern most point of the island. Prassonisi is a windsurfer/kite boarder paradise. It is a highly windy beach where hundreds of waterspouts enthusiasts find their nirvana. There are experts (amazing to watch!) and novices alike.
This is also where the Aegean meets the Mediterranean in Greece. There is a Peninsula at the end of the island that during the winter becomes a Peninsula and an island, however during the summer the water is calmer and you can walk on the sand that is covered with water during the colder months. When you are on that sandy area, the Mediterranean is to one side of you and the Aegean is to the other. I have had this opportunity once before when in Tangier, Morocco.
While we enjoyed the sights and activity at Prasonissi, the wind was annoying so after a beach lunch we packed up and headed for a different beach that would be more relaxation friendly.
We ended up at Porto Antico, a developed beachfront with advertised free sunbeds (with a purchase, of course). Cocktails for the non DD's and "fresh" orange juice for the drivers (freshly made OJ/ sugar/ water mixture). Sun and swimming and then just as we began to contemplate dinner our cabana boy showed up with a delightful surprise!!!! Annelle was treating us all to Gyros (Greek salads for the veg crowd) and another round of drinks. Dinner solved!!! Thanks Annelle!!!!
The one dark side to our day was that Lauri and Gina had decided that they needed to go back home to be with dad/grandpa. We tried to make as many fun memories as we could in the time we had together.
Old and New Town Rhodes July 25, 2014
Today's destination? Old Town Rhodes.
Deiann suggested a "buddy system" so we broke up into groups with similar interests and goals for the day, with an agreement to meet up mid day for lunch.
My group consisted of Carrie, Danielle and I. Our desire was to explore the backstreets and generally overlooked sections of town. Moments off the beaten path we began to discover the real Old Rhodes. At every intersection we would ask each other " which way"? and someone would speak up and choose for the three of us. We crawled through caves to the old castle moat, we peeked through keyholes and broken window slats. We explored the tunnels under the castle and stopped to chat with two locals at work on the Spanish Inn from the old times.
Panos and Nikos were doing some rock work when I stopped to put my head in the open doorway. Panos started chatting me up when Carrie and Danielle walked up. He seemed happy to put aside his work and have a conversation with us. I discovered that Nikos had worked in Germany for many years so another chance to speak German presented itself when I asked him a question in English and he told me he only spoke Greek and German. He explained what he was working on and we chatted for awhile in my basic German.
After a few hours of exploration we met the rest of our larger group at the appointed destination to find a lunch spot. Danielle led us back to an area somewhat on the outskirts of town and we had a beautiful outdoor table. Greek salad and tzatziki for the vegetarians and various seafood specialties for the rest of the group along with copious amounts of bottled water and Greek beer made for a happy group.
We broke up into our small groups following lunch with a designated time to meet back at the waterfront windmills at the end of the day. Our little group did some more exploring and then made our way to the beach for a little cooling off. We put our feet in the sea and searched for beach glass which happened to be a plentiful commodity in a rainbow of shades.
When departure time arrived we made our way to the windmills and stood waiting for the rest of the group to arrive. Suddenly Danielle asked "aren't we supposed to meet them at the windmills?" "Yes, here they are". Hmn... Wouldn't you know there were two sets of waterfront windmills. By the time we all showed up in the correct location, half the group needed gelato and the other half needed a Starbucks stop.
Back at home we all got prettied up because Elias, the owner of our home, had gotten us a table at a Greek meze (appetizer) place in Rhodes Town. You have to know someone to get a good table for the Mezedes and Greek music, so Elias took care of it for us. We enjoyed the food and the music but aa a group we were too exhausted from our long day to stay until the party really got started.
Soon after we arrived back at Grandma's House (our Rhodes home) Lauri received a call from home. She was told her father is critically ill and in the hospital back at home. Thank goodness for my tmobile service which offers 20 cents a minute phone calls internationally because Lauri was on the phone for hours trying to get information about the situation. At the end of the calls we were all so sad for her being so far away from the situation.
Monday, July 28, 2014
Mt. Filermos. July 24, 2014
With group members still adjusting to the time difference, and still shaking off jet lag, we had another easy morning,
Following a leisurely breakfast and more "getting to know you" chat we headed out in our two rental cars with Mt. Filermos as our destination.
I had a small bout with vertigo last night so I decided to be cautious and pass the car keys along. Lauri was next up on the driver list so she got to experience Greek driving firsthand. Fortunately the level of chaos here on Rhodes is much lower than other places we have been, and we were going in to the mountains which is a much less touristed area than the town and beaches. Lauri did great!
Mt. Filermos is a mountain with an ancient monastery at the top. It is also a sanctuary of sorts for a large number of wild peacocks.
Our group members wandered off and each of us investigated the aspects that interested us. Old ruins, buildings and great views of Rhodes were available to explore.
After a little Mesimeri Carrie, Annelle, Kim and I went to check out a new beach. We ended up at Paradisi Beach. The water was warm and the sun was low in the sky, causing the waves to glisten as they crashed to the shore. This particular beach is on the western, windward side of the island so although the waves aren't what they are at home, they do make the swimming interesting.
Saturday, July 26, 2014
Happy Birthday Carrie!!! July 23, 2014
Happy Birthday Carrie!!
When I woke up Carrie was already downstairs with a few of the newly arrived ladies. I wished her Happy Birthday and her response was " thank you... Is it really today? I'm not kidding.. Is today my actual birthday?" Hmn, she's maybe older than I thought!
Most of the rest of the ladies straggled in throughout the morning except for Gina who slept until noonish. Ten hours is a large time difference to overcome. We spent a lazy few hours chatting and bonding as a group.
Groceries were the order of the day so most of the group took a walk to the local Carre-fore to shop for food to fill the fridge. The walk helped us to become aquainted with our neighborhood.
We decided on a swim at our local beach before dinner so the eight of us suited up and walked the 20 minutes to the sea. Lauri questioned the safety of swimming in the area that we had chosen because of the size of the waves and lack of anyone else in the water. Her concern stopped me as I was about to dash into the water. After a few minutes a family 50 yards away began to swim so we moved closer to them and hobbled over the rocks to get in the water. We eventually swam back to where we would have originally entered and it was fine.
As we left the beach we decided that in honor of Carrie's birthday, and the fact that life is short, we would stop for gelato as a pre dinner treat. I imagine that the eight of us made quite a sight as we laughed our way down the street, stopping to toast our time together with our gelato raised in the air.
Wednesday, July 23, 2014
Goodbye Athens, hello Grandmas!!!! July 22, 2014
Today was an early rising morning. We had to get to the Athens airport via the metro, which we had to catch at 7 am.
Carrie and Annelle went to the terminal the night before and purchased our three person ticket for the trip. The only thing we didn't do was get a metro map. This came into play the next morning as we boarded the metro for the airport but were unaware of the need to switch trains. We asked some locals for assistance and they assured us that they would tell us when to get off the train and when to board the next one. They followed through on that promise and we arrived at the airport without incident.
We had planned the perfect amount of time to get through security, find our airline and board the bus that took us to our plane. We got lucky and the one empty seat on the plane was across the aisle from Carrie and Annelle. I switched seats and enjoyed their company on the hour long flight.
We met up with our car rental agent and picked up one of our rentals and drove straight to our rental house with the assistance of great directions from Elias, our host. He met just the house and spent the next 2.5 hours with us telling us all about everything there is to see and do on Rhodes. After showing us the house and perusing the map he jumped on his scooter and we got in our car and we followed him on a tour of the village around our house. He showed us a restaurant he recommends, where the town square, a grocery store, and finally a " local artisans" store. It is a fresh market that sells local produce, local pine honey, homemade Raki and Suma, olives, cheeses and homemade wines. He chatted with the shop owners while handing out samples of the cheeses, wines, Raki and Suma. We purchased farm fresh eggs, fresh veggies, olives and water to get us through breakfast once the rest of our group arrived.
Once back at Grandma's house ( the name of our traditional Greek stone house) we enjoyed a lazy afternoon, catching up on some rest after three weeks of full speed ahead.
Following dinner Carrie and I went in search of the grocery store to pick up a few necessities such as paper products and more water, along with coffee for the java drinking crowd that would arrive in an hour's time.
Off to the airport we went and waited on the other side of the glass doors as the ladies waited for their luggage. Kalispera!!!!! Welcome to Greece!!! Hugs of greeting and we took care of the paperwork on the car, divided up riders into cars and we were off to Grandmas.
We had a good ole' girl gabfest until the new arrivals started falling asleep where they sat. Eight females, two available showers.... We made it work and then we were off to dreamland.
Athens July 21, 2014
Athens, Day 2
The goal for the day was to be at the Acropolis entrance when it opened at 8 am. The days have been sweltering by 10 am so we wanted to have hiked up the hill and be finishing up by then.
I had mentally prepared myself for a huge climb up to the actual site, after the entrance so I was happily surprised when I arrived ready to purchase my ticket and I realized that the main climb up was already behind me. There are steep hills to be climbed getting to the entrance and I thought that was just the beginning when in actuality that was 85% of the climb. Yay!
We were pleasantly surprised at the lack of people with the same idea. It was more crowded than we would have preferred but as we left and the tour buses full of tourists arrived we realized what a great decision we had made.
The Acropolis site was amazing. Unfortunately the Parthenon is 50% under scaffolding but still amazing to see. The Caryatid statues are now my favorite sculptures. It's so amazing to see favorite works of art in their real life location. I felt lucky to be there. The 360 degree view wasn't bad either!
We went to the Acropolis museum to get information about the evening hours and their restaurant with the nighttime view of the lit up Acropolis. We were informed that it was Monday and they close early on Mondays. Of course. We neglected to consider the fact that that bit of information might be necessary.
We shopped our way back to our loft where we had a short Mesimeri (Greek siesta) and then we spent some time packing up our backpacks which had exploded all over the loft.
I found a restaurant, with availability, that had a nighttime view of the Acropolis and booked a table. It turned out to be a great choice. The food was great, although we paid for the view. They even had GF bread for Carrie and I! We arrived in time for a dramatic, fiery red and orange sunset. Post sunset we enjoyed our dinner while waiting for the lights to come on. Photographing the sight was difficult for a multitude of reasons.... Not looking like a total tourist being the main reason! I took the opportunity to (mostly!!!) just soak up the moments, taking in the sights, smells and sounds occurring around me.
Thank goodness the late evening walk back home was all downhill. It had been a long day of climbing.
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