Rhodes - The medieval city
The story of the most expensive holiday of my life to date. A trip to the beautiful island of Rhodes.
I’ve never really been a great diary keeper, or blogger (as I’m sure you all know) so I’m going to try and act all Travel Author for a little while just to document my experiences. This is partially for you guys to enjoy and also so when I’m old, I can look back and it saves me forgetting the details. I’m going to start small with this one holiday and then, perhaps it will become a more regular thing (or at least as regular as my travel).
###Day 1###
We arrived at the resort at 2am in the morning. We were greeted with sandwiches and a rose for Katrina, a nice touch. From what we could see the resort looked really nice, considering we had seen no pictures prior to arrival it was a pleasant surprise. Not much happened and it was straight to the room for the A/C and bed before exploring in the morning. (24 Degrees on arrival)
An easy start to the first day was needed after the late flights and transfers and so after a bit of a lie-in breakfast was first priority. This is where the joys of All-Inclusive were remembered, with a full attack on the breakfast buffet of pastries, cakes and fruit slices.
After letting breakfast settle a little and packing a day bag, it was off into Rhodes to explore. First we walked around the main part of the town, dipping in and out of Old Town taking a lot of photos along the way. Next we headed up to the Temple of Apollo (The Acropolis of Rhodes).
From here the views over town were amazing, the old stadium was something to see also but the Acropolis itself was the obvious highlight. The sites remains very simple with no information boards or any details and only the odd building name plaque to be seen. It was nice to see such an attraction not overly presented.
Having walked miles throughout the day in a heat that we, as British folks were not accustomed to we decided to go and retire to the one of the three pools for the afternoon. On the recommendation of the Rep we headed to the smallest of the pools which was also the quietest, empty in fact! It was for the duration of our stay, A pool to ourselves.
The evening consisted of another vicious attack on the buffet food before hitting the bar for free all night cocktails. The entertainment for the evening was a traditional Greek dancing troop which were quite interesting and fun.
###Day 2###
Having spent a lot of Monday walking, we decided that today would be a relaxing day, nothing too strenuous. We jumped onto the open top bus tour of Rhodes and explored more of the town from here, with the help of the audio guide.
The afternoon was an easy one too, we grabbed a lilo from the nearest store and spent the afternoon on the beach swimming in the sea, reading and sunbathing. Nothing overly exciting but a nice relaxing day, it was a holiday after all.
The Soul Sisters a quartet of English women impersonating classic soul singers was the evening’s entertainment.
###Day 3###
Not being one for too much relaxing we decided that we would investigate the Archaeology Museum for the day. We spent several hours here learning about the history and material culture of the island and to Dodecanese isles as a whole. We spent the rest of the afternoon further exploring the town, its walls and the markets which have taken up residence. Almost as they would have in the days when the town was first built. We also explored the docks and got some photos where the great Titan of Rhodes would have stood.
The early evening was spent in our pool again before grabbing some dinner and the evening entrainment of the typical quiz. Which worked not so well.
###Day 4###
A big day planned today. After a good early breakfast and a rush down to the docks we jumped on our day cruise to Lindos. The cruise took a couple of hours to sail around the coast from Rhodes to Lindos but the weather was lovely and the sea breeze was most welcome. On arrival in Lindos we decided that everyone would rush straight to the Acropolis so instead we explored the village and old stadium before settling for a bite for lunch.
After lunch we then headed up to the Acropolis, opting to travel on foot rather than the the Lindos “Taxis” (Donkeys). There was a lot more to see here than the Acropolis at Rhodes and the complex as a whole was much larger. There were a lot more boards and information points but the place was also a lot busier.
On the cruise back we stopped way offshore for a half hour dip in the mediteraen outside Tsambika beach, widly regarded as Rhodos’ nicest beach. I even managed to convince Katrina to swim in the sea!
Once back we made a quick change to head out for a meal on the town to try some traditional local delicacies. We had been recommended by the rep to try a place nearby called Tamam and to not be put off by the queue. Im glad we weren’t as the food was remarkable. From there I convinced Katrina that we should take a walk into Old Town to see it all lit up and check out the night sites. After a lot of walking, much more than intended we had arrived at the Gate D’Amboise. More by luck than judgement to be honest but that’s by the by.
It was at this point that I dropped to one knee, box and ring in hand to be answered with “Seriously?” but thankfully after a moments consideration a “Yes” followed which was a relief. From there we headed back for some celebratory cocktails, champagne based naturally.