1987, 1999 and 2006. (And
almost on a 2007 cruise!)
2009 Wonders of the Eastern Med.
We love the Greek people and the Greek Islands and Rhodes is the best
(in our opinion) that we have visited. Our visits have been total contrasts.
1987, Faliraki - Hotel B&B. I know what you're thinking,
"Faliraki, isn't that where the lager louts go?". Not in 1987,
and not now if you go out of season. In 1987 it was a LOT quieter and
we got the taste for Rhodes, even though we had earth tremors (as Britons,
these were like earthquakes to us. Not to the Greeks). We thought we'd
have a big story to tell back home with these but found that, while
we'd been away, Britain had suffered the Great Storm. Our tremors were
small fry! Stayed at a small Hotel on the main road (Antonios),
very friendly and the one thing that has stuck in our mind ever since
is that they would not give us our key unless we asked for it in Greek!
Nineteen years later we still remember that 106 is "ekaton exi"
(that may not be 100% right but it gets by). Visited Antonios
again in 2006, it was closed (too early in the season) but we got in
and met the family (Antonios
still there), had a couple of beers and were treated Royally (considering
we'd only stayed there for a couple of weeks 19 years ago!) Nice people
and worth a visit.
1999, Lindos - Villa Koki. Lindos is a jewel. A town
without cars (donkeys are the main transport, although scooters also
get about). The Acropolis is a must see and to eat in any of the rooftop
restaurants is magic.
2006, Afandou - Hotel self catering. Now we're talking!
The Hotel (the Golden Days) we wouldn't go to when it was busy (there
were 9 people resident in our first week) and had a lot of minus points
(as well as plus points) but the Village! It is one of the largest villages
on Rhodes and is a working as well as a Tourist village.
We were there at Easter (we didn't know when we booked, Greek Easter
is not the same as in Britain) and it was fabulous. ALL the village
turn out (Easter is big in Greece) and we joined the procession. At
midnight on Easter Saturday a Service AND fireworks in the main Square,
wonderful. The shops, tavernas and bars are run by local families (not
like most of the places in Lindos and Rhodes Town) and the people are
SO friendly. On our walk every morning into the village we could have
done with a recording saying "Kali mera" (Good day). We don't
speak to that many people in England! Of course we found our favourite
places, Mimis Taverna and the Acapulco Bar (both places made us feel
like friends rather than customers) but we didn't restrict ourselves
to these. We also met a couple (Diane and Ken) who have bought a place
to live there and they're going to become natives when they sell their
place in Wakefield. We'll go back.
Enough about these lovely places, what about tourism. Rhodes is (to
us) Rhodes Old Town and Lindos. There are lovely places to see on the
Island but these two places (and, now, Afandou!) make
it exceptional.
2007, QEII Cruise - The disappointment of our QEII cruise was
summed up by the fact that, due to 25 knot winds we couldn't go ashore
at Rhodes (the QEII has too deep a draft to dock)! As this was a main
contributory factor to our picking this Cruise you can imagine.....
Cruised around for the day. The Captain did say that he would try to
get one of the lecturers to tell us a few things about what we were
seeing as we cruised. He may have tried, he obviously didn't succeed!
2009, We managed to get ashore from the Saga Ruby! Had a stroll
around Rhodes City before getting a taxi to Afandou. Had a drink in
a bar (not the Acapulco which was closed) that we'd visited a few times
in 2006 and the same lady was running it AND she recognised us! Things
are not going too well with the recession, whether their business will
survive is a problem for them. Had lunch in Mimis Taverna (and a drink
on the house for old times sake), as good as ever - then caught the
bus back to the City. Nice pleasant day.
See the photos! 
|
