We sailed on an overnight ferry from Santorini to Rhodes. It was immense & carried a lot of cars and trucks. It was inconvenient that it left at midnight. We had come in on a Jet boat from Paros at 5 p.m. to catch this large ferry and were confused about what to do for so many long hours. While trying to leave our luggage at the left luggage places at the docks, an older man offered to take us to his hotel on the south point of Santorini and about 15 minutes from the docks, rent us a room for 20 Euros & he would return us to the dock at 11 p.m. Our costs for busses etc would have been more than that and this seemed a nice alternative, so we went with him. He had a large, shabby and seemingly highly unsuccessful motel sort of place on a really noisy highway. But it was ok for a few hours and we walked into town and spent some time there. Once on the ship, we were dead tired & slept at once. The cabin was pretty and clean, but incredibly tiny.
We arrived then in Rhodes at 7 a.m., found a really nice and new hotel for a reasonable sum, and spent the day walking the old and new towns - both of which are truly pleasant. The historical part is quite overwhelming and fascinating. The following morning we rented a car and set out on a circle tour of the whole island following exactly a route set down in my Michelin guide - something I have never tried before. It was a great idea as it kept us on a good route and well informed.
The 1st major stop was Mount Filerimos. This is a monastery on a high peak covering a lot of space and really beautiful. From it, you can see Rhodes city (the white stuff at the top of one picture of the ocean and land above) far away. The whole place was wonderful, but there was one funny thing I enjoyed a lot. There were a lot of peacocks there and I came upon one family unit of dad, mom and their pre-teen kid. The kid managed - barley - to get up into a tree of lovely purple blossoms and was eating them like Homer Simpson at a buffet. The adults were irritated that they could not reach the blossoms. Dad started to jump up and grab leaves, branch or blossoms as he could which also upset the kid who had trouble balancing when dad was jerking it around. If you look closely one photo, you will see dad's straightened legs right off the ground while the kid's feather are ruffled as it tries to balance. It was such a precious sight.
The next stop was "Valley of the butterflies." You drive part way up a mountain and come upon a parking lot, pay your admission and begin to climb stairs and a mostly steeply inclined pathway which probably goes on half a kilometer. It is the most Alice in Wonderland valley with a stream flowing down the middle between steep valley walls with such beautiful trees everywhere. I have never seen such a valley anywhere else. In the middle of it are millions of odd looking butterflies laying eggs on the damp side of trees and rocks. When their wings are closed, they are the shape of a stealth bomber & have odd markings so odd that you might initally not realize you are looking at a butterfly. I doubt that they will seem visible in this format, but what you will see are the attachments on the trees. Take my word for it, they are butterflies. Some fly around and when their wings are open, they have a v. bright orange part of their wings. They only appear in this location and only July, August and September. It is one of the prettiest sights I have seen and a highlight of the trip.
Greece is now, and in my own time, always has been a destination of the young. It is essentially a series of islands with thousands of great beaches and a lot of antiquities. Rhodes seemed to have a somewhat older and more affluent (I have nothing at all bad to say about the young people we saw and met - they were all great), but it is still a great place for beach lovers. The island itself has a great deal of natural beauty and is easy to drive around without hurry in one long day - although we took two. It does not seemed overwhelmed by cruise ships as is the case in Santorini and Mykonos.
No comments:
Post a Comment