Rhodes

Rhodes is an island within spitting distance of Turkey. It has been a strategic location since forever because it is the crossroads between Asia, Africa, and Europe. I mainly wanted to go to it because of its more recent history, from the 13th century to the 15th. As crusaders would do their crusading, they would need hospitals and other assistance from time to time. Enter the Knights of St. John, who built up fortifications all over Rhodes, and a large walled city in Rhodes Town. 

Around Rhodes

I had two full days to explore. Since Rhodes is pretty big, I joined a full day tour that brought us to the highlights of the island in an air conditioned shuttle van. Here’s what I saw on this tour.

• Lindos: the ancient city of Lindos is a highlight of this island. Our wise tour guide opted to take us here first because this area gets very little wind and it was stinking hot. The buildings in town were painted white to help with the heat, but I can’t imagine how awful August is in this place. Due to the heat, I opted out of climbing the 300 steps up to the ancient Acropolis. I could still see the column ruins of Apollo’s temple on top of the hill. Some extremely friendly Norwegians befriended me and we walked down to a very pretty bay where people were swimming. The legend is that when Paul came to Rhodes to preach he arrived in this bay. We hit up a booth selling delicious fresh squeezed orange juice, a common thing on Rhodes. We then visited a really old Greek Orthodox Church. I couldn’t take pictures inside, but I wish I could because it was so different from the other churches I’ve been to. The walls were covered in colorful frescos/paintings telling different stories from the bible. It was a riot of color and gold. 

• Honey and olive oil sampling: we stopped at a little farm to store place to sample the local honey and olive oil. Others were sampling the local hootch, but that stuff was 70 proof! Some had lower alcohol content, a measly 25. I stuck with the honey and olive oil. I learned that extra virgin olive oil is only made from the green olives. I don’t know how they infused their flavors, but the lemon olive oil was really nice. On the honey side, my favorite was the pistachio butter, kinda like Nutella, only with pistachios. 
• Kamiros: we visited the archaeological site of the ancient town of Kamiros. This town is still being unearthed, because they don’t want to dig anything up if they don’t have a safe place to keep it. Seems smart to me, but it is funny to know that more stuff is lurking below the ancient rock houses and columns. 

• Lunch: I don’t know where we ate lunch, but it was really tasty. I am a big fan of Greek food and hope to incorporate it into my meals once I get back home. We had a typical greek salad, chicken skewers and rice, and for dessert some incredible watermelon. This town is known for watermelon and folks were setting up for a watermelon festival the following day. 

Old Town

I spent my other day exploring Rhodes Old Town. I had seen rave reviews on Google about a 9D history of Rhodes movie so I figured I should give it a whirl. It was a lot of fun! I’m not sure what some of the Ds were, but my seat moved, I got spritzed by water and bubbles, and blown by winds. I also learned how Rhodes was given to the Helios, the sun God. Ancient Greek civilizations came and went, then crusaders, then the Ottomans, then Italians, and finally the modern Greeks. A lot happened in that 30 minute movie!

Rhodes Ruminations

• The walls are so very cool. This was the biggest walled city I’ve been in. I got lost several times as I wandered, and came in and out of many gates to the city. 

• There are so many cats. At one point, I counted 13 in my line of sight. That’s a lot of cats. The tour guide tried to tell me they didn’t have a cat problem, but at some point, a place has too many cats. 
• There are so many tourists. My first impression of Rhodes wasn’t great. I was walking down a Main Street and everywhere I looked were throngs of tourists and store fronts and restaurants. It felt very commercial. However, I learned that if you take one of the infinite alleyways you will end up in places where no tourists are. It is really cool. 
• History, history, everywhere. When you aren’t admiring the buildings where the knights lived in the 1400s, you are stumbling upon the ruins of a temple dedicated to Aphrodite. I visited the Palace of the Magistrates (where the Knights did their work) and the Archaeological Museum. I saw where the Colossus of Rhodes stood (supposedly) before falling down after an earthquake. 

• I opted out of visiting beaches in Rhodes, but I was probably in the minority there. Near Rhodes Town there are lots of resorts with lots of people laying out. 

Seeya, Rhodes!

Overall, Rhodes was a very interesting stop for me. I really enjoyed the food and the history. Since beaches are boring to me, I am not sure I am the target audience for the Greek islands. However, I would totally come back in any time other than summer. It’s that pretty and the food is that good.