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Published: October 29th 2012
All roads led to Rhodes but nightfall had already set in as we skulked through the gates and into the safe confines of the Old City walls. Given the surroundings we almost expected a Knight of the Round Table to clank past in his gleaming suit of armour and sporting a jousting pole under the armpit. The skeleton of Rhodes Town is Medieval from head to toe.
It would have been more palatable had we not been toting backpacks and horribly disoriented. Trying futilely to locate our pension tucked into an obscure corner of this labyrinth was proving a challenge with sketchy directions and a map shy on detail. An aerial perspective would have looked like one of those mazes where the mouse tries to hunt down the piece of cheese. We eventually stumbled onto our digs but figured we mustn't be as smart as the average mouse.
By night this ancient city is an "A" list visual set piece. Dimly lit alleyways creep indiscriminately inside these walls. Amongst that were a smattering of end-of-season tourist stragglers loitering around as spruikers attempted to corral them into the dozens of eating and watering holes competing for the last of the
year's euro pickings.
Rhodes Town has justifiably earned its World Heritage status. The buffed up fortifications and the bones of its interior infrastructure are eye popping.That's by night. By day, an entirely different beast emerges. The shop front shutters rise and Rhodes Town's current day "raison d'être" is unmasked.
This Town's innocence was deflowered long ago, about the same time people like ourselves starting wandering in for a peek.There are hundreds of shops but you'll need to delve deep into the darkest back alleys to find any that cater to workaday locals. You need a butcher, a baker or a candlestick maker? Look elsewhere. But if you are seeking fridge magnets, snow shakers or "I Love Rhodes" t-shirts, you'll find them in spades. Tourist bric-a-brac are the hot items.
Down by the coastlines, the theme continues. Water parks, putt putt golf, peep shows, Texas 5 card hold-em rooms. It's like the back streets of Honolulu or Surfers Paradise.
It's even spread to the cuisine. You can still find "traditional" Greek dishes but they are invariably double double deep fried and come with chips. The big ticket items on menus are bangers, burgers, pizza and English continental
breakfasts of baked beans and fried eggs on toast. The final culinary insult, we came across a McDonalds, our first in Greece. We didn't poke our heads inside to see if McSouvlaki was on the board, by that time the prosecution had already rested its case.
Look, I know this ethos is servicing a demand but it's not the Greece we were looking for and it doesn't mean we have to like it.
That's a few paragraphs of whining so enough of the self pitying. There are still a raft of aspects to like about Rhodes and it was in reality an enigmatic way of rounding off the Greek experience. Most notably are the people working in and around the tourist industry, which is pretty much everybody. After a million or 3 visitors each year, it would be easy for them to slide to the contemptuous and don those "seen it all before, heard it all before" faces of boredom and disdain that plague many workers in other tourist ravaged locales around the world. Not here. They still manage to maintain an incredible warmth. Their honesty, patience and welcoming smiles are typical of what we've come across on
a couple visits now to this wonderful country.
Despite our few slight misgivings with Rhodes, Greece is neck and neck with France as our favourite country, perhaps even a nose in front, which is some sort of lead if you've seen the size of some Greek's noses.
With the weather on the turn, the fleshpots on the beaches have wound down. Sunshine has been interspersed with a blend of cloud, light drizzle and a couple of emphatic thunderstorms. Outdoorsy pursuits were bookended by a museum or two and the opportunity to catch up on some film.
It has been fun, but we're calling time on Greece, in fact on Europe, for the time being at least.50 klms across the strait is another chunk of land that is up for a second helping.
Yeatesy
Rhodes is one of the largest and most fertile of the Greek Islands, and is one of the most visited because of its combination of beaches, archaeological sites and extensive medieval town.
Travelling by bus along the highway stretching from the airport to Rhodes there was a constant stream of hotel chains, large supermarkets and endless tourist
A double pronged winner.
Recycle the plastic shopping bags AND save money on socks.souvenir shops. It's not until we reached the "old town" that we actually saw something that resembled Greek architecture.
The old town of Rhodes, within which no Christians were allowed to live during the Turkish period of 400 or so years, is surrounded by a 4klm long circuit of 15th and 16th century walls, with towers, bastions and a moat. It took us about 4 days before we finally worked out how to get down into the moat, and it then became our route when we wanted to avoid the large tourist groups in town.
The old town is particularly impressive. The shops within the walls have cracked to cater to the typical tourist and hence are boring at best, but having been here a week we uncovered a few gems free from tourists memorabilia. I enjoyed being able to call into our regular coffee shops, bars and taverna and be able to blend in like one of the locals.
For such a big island we have not come across homeless on the streets, drunks in a heap on the ground or gangs of men loitering the streets. There are no old people begging or gypsies trying
to make a quick buck. The Greeks frequent the bars and cafes but don't drink in excess. They enjoy a good life but don't drive flashy cars or have designer 'toys'. Their's is a good life.
But if you don't go to Greece for the food or the people, then the weather is an equal draw card. The climate in all of Greece is particularly good and Rhodes weather is typically sunny and mild.
I learnt that the two large industries here on Rhodes are tourism followed by Umbrella manufacturing. They are a popular "joke" souvenir - on an island with 300+ sunny days a year, these are rarely needed.
I have enjoyed Greece a lot, not just because of the great climate, the value for money with the strong Aussie dollar, but the Greeks themselves are darn nice people. Today is the final chapter of our Europe end of the trip. Tomorrow we are off to Turkey across the water for the next stage.
Penny
More images at:
www.colvinyeates.zenfolio.com
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D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley
We'd love to go back to Greece.
We made it to Crete, Mykonos and Santorini but Rhodes is still on our list. You've got to love a country that serves you olives every morning for breakfast. Seriously, it does not get much better than that. The color of the water always amazes. Happy and safe travels.