The Greek Islands

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I was very excited to be landing in Rhodes, as Greece is a destination that had eluded me in my previous efforts to visit its shores. As I sat next to the genial taxi driver from the airport and was involved in discussions ranging from the perils of Sicily to the history of Rhodes and language, I couldn’t help but notice that he would twice motion the sign of the cross when he mentioned something that he hoped would never befall him. One of these feared fates was visiting Sicily! I loved observing this, as I was conversing with someone who was the epitome of the figures I had seen depicted in cartoons, movies and television shows over the years, yet he was entirely authentic. There was no mistaking that I was finally in Greece.

The walled Rhodes Town was a wonderful place to stroll around, as long as you could ignore the spruikers hailing you from their rooftop restaurants. This city dates back to the time of the Knights of Jerusalem who set up camp here, building many castles and this most impressive town. With minimal vehicle traffic, one can wander along the roads that are lined with the buildings once inhabited by the Knights, meandering along until you reach the crystal clear water of the harbour. With our first day there being one of glorious sunshine, we succumbed to one of the spruikers and sat upon the roof of a restaurant, taking in the view of the town and the harbour whilst steadily working our way through Greek beer that was served in two litre glasses shaped like a boot! This took some considerable time to accomplish and by the time we ventured to a wine merchant across the piazza, we were well and truly displaying a shade that wasn’t too far along the colour spectrum from that of the red wine we were about to drink. Needless to say, after drinking for hours in the sun, we were a trifle tipsy and in need of some sustenance - Gyros to the rescue! We found a cheap late night seller in the old town to procure some gyros from, then went and sat by the harbour under the darkening night sky, talking and eating as the lights of the harbour shimmered on the water in competition with a moon nearing its fullness.

Our next stop was the island of Kos, which another good friend had recommended to me earlier in the year. After an hour of walking in a directionless manner with our backpacks seeming to be gaining weight by the minute, it was with some relief that we finally found someone who could accurately explain how to reach our accommodation. This is not to say that the Kos locals are not a friendly and helpful lot, quite the opposite! Of the islands we visited, the people of Kos are the friendliest and warmest and due to this fact alone, I would happily stop on this island again. One day we hired a car to explore the island in full, which was a terrific decision. As it is not peak season, we virtually had many of the beaches to ourselves, one of which has water that is heated by thermal springs. Added to this, we were able to enjoy meals in restaurants amidst a convivial atmosphere with the owners and waiting staff, who were more than happy to spend time in discussion with us. Whilst Kos may not have the impressive structural presence of Rhodes Town, the people more than made up for this and ensured that I recall my time there very fondly.

The final isle we had planned to visit was Santorini, as people seem to mention this island rather effusively. Unfortunately, the weather was diabolical during our stay there, hindering our chance of seeing the sunsets over the caldera that it is renowned for; however, we still had some enjoyable experiences there. One particular day, we had planned to visit a wine museum, yet the bus driver decided not to stop in the town we had asked for and we ended up on the opposite side of the island at Perissa Beach. This turned out to be a happy accident, as the sun made a rare showing as we strolled along the beach and we spied a bar that was just begging for us to take a seat in and consume some Mythos Beer. This turned into many hours of drinking and conversation, not just with each other but with the bar tenders and the owners and by the time we made it back to our accommodation (after purchasing a bottle of wine on the stagger home from the bus stop), we were well and truly pickled and I woke up the following day with a slight ache in my head.

This slowness of my brain no doubt had an impact upon my cognitive ability, which would explain why neither of us picked up on the fact that we booked accommodation in the town of Oia for the very same night that we would be catching the ferry to Athens! Not to be outdone, we still caught the bus to Oia and checked in for a four hour stay, building up some sleep credits prior to the overnight ferry before walking along the delightful paths of the town at dusk, overlooking the quintessential white-washed buildings with their blue roofing and swimming pools. It really is a dramatic view, with the buildings seemingly built atop one another into the cliff of the caldera, just an earthquake away from tumbling into the sea below. In my opinion, Oia is the place to stay in Santorini, rather than the capital of Fira - too bad I didn’t get to do it!

I can’t finish without briefly stating how much I have loved the Greek food: Saganaki, feta, tzatziki, feta, moussaka, feta, meatballs, feta, halloumi, feta, gyros, feta, kebab meat and lastly, FETA! It all seems to be so easily accompanied with their local beer, wine and if you have a hankering for aniseed, some Ouzo is always readily available.

So, from here it’s off to Athens for the final port of call for this latest trip, spending a few days soaking up the immense history of this ancient city.

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Comments

[Jibba]

Love it
I was in Bodrum a few years back and noticed a day trip to Kos for 50 euro return.... I remebered how much I loved Gyros so forked out the 50 and spent the day wandering around Kos eating Gyros..... One of my more memorable days.