Home from Rhodes

      Today I hopped on my bike in the sunshine but had to add a headband and gloves.  Now it is 50 degrees and they forecast freezing temps tonight.  Such a change from swimming suits, sandals and drinking beer to cool off (well I can still drink the beer, thirst has no temperature requirements).

  We are home from Rhodes and it was a great trip.  I think I was somewhat concerned that we would be going back to a place overrun with tourists and ruined by luxury hotels, kitsch and package tours with hoards of people following an umbrella carrying guide.  We did see all that but it didn't take long to get away and the small town we chose, and the small hotel we stayed in let us see some of the Greece we remember.
     It was an eventful start last Wed.  The tour company called us to tell us that there was a strike by the Greek transport workers and the airport would be closed until midnight.  So we left at 9:30 pm instead of 7 am.  All the flights from everywhere however landed at midnight and it was a zoo in the terminal, waiting an hour for our bags with lots of folks from the U.K., Prague, etc.  We got onto the bus to take us to the hotel.  We were the last ones to be dropped off, about an hour away from the airport.  We arrived at 5 am and the poolside bar was still open with other late arrivals having a drink.  A beer after our long flight didn't sound bad and we got to bed at 5:30am.   (When we arrived home yesterday, we found a check for $110 from the tour company apologizing for the delay and compensating us for a     missed day- wow, an even cheaper charter trip!)

     We walked a lot.  Our town had a couple of great beaches, excellent restaurants and bakeries and markets to check out.  We did our walk to Lindos, took the bus to Rhodes and one day rented a car and drove all over the southern part of the island.

 It was amazing how empty the landscape was, away from the coast.  Small groves of olive trees, vineyards, goats.  There we saw groups of old men sitting in front of the town taverna/ grocery store with glasses of ouzo, and coffee, talking animatedly--very!  The graveyards with wall-to-wall graves, adorned with plastic flowers, small shrines with photos and lit oil lamps.

A big storm blew in with torrential rain, the first since June 4th.  My last entry got cut short because of the downpour and I had to seek shelter.  This however, cancelled our day trip to Symi, which was very disappointing.  It would have been fun to see where we rented a house with 3 other Americans, a house which had been bombed and stood empty.  We lived like the box car children for a week, makeshift table and chairs, sleeping on the floor, inviting the neighbors down for a birthday dinner.
     Rhodes is a delightful place and Greece is definitely high on the list for more visits.
I may try my hand at Picassa to post photos.  Then only the very interested need look at the two of us standing by some ancient building or eating our grilled vegetables and haloumi cheese and pita bread.