day 2 Rhodes and Lindos

Thursday Sept 15^th

A rather late rise was followed by an average European breakfast at the hotel. Mostly cold meats and cheese accompanied by coagulated eggs (scrambled did not really describe the texture) and bacon that was definitely not part of a Weightwatchers diet..

 Heading for the downtown, we passed the bus station where a bus to Lindos was about to pull out. On a whim we hopped on the bus, making a sudden change of the days plans which until then were pretty unspecific.

 Lindos is a small village about 45km south of Rhodes along the east coast of the island

Lindos Bay as seen from Acropolis

  [ by way of an aside, the island of Rhodes might best be said to resemble a spearhead pointing north. The city of Rhodes would be a triangular tip to the spear. The island is approx 75km long and about 34km wide]

  The trip lasted about 80 minutes and passed through or near several of the eastern towns that are geared to the tourist trade.

 With a population of about 1000 people, Lindos is a collection of small white houses scattered across the side of a hill. Narrow winding streets restrict traffic to either foot or donkey. Dominating the town and several hundred feet above it is a fortified plateau or Acropolis surrounded by the heavy walls of the Knights’ Templar castle from around 1390 AD. The walk to the top is up a variety of steep cobbled and rough stone pathways, several of which served as the routes by which donkeys ferried people to the top. Travelling these paths required the artful technique of avoiding the numerous IED,s deposited by the terEeHawists!!

yours truly in front of restored temple-Lindos

 Arriving at the entrance to the site, I was able to negotiate a seniors discount on the admission charge. A steep staircase led up to the main plateau where ruins of several eras were displayed, some in various stages of restoration. A temple to Athena, from around 300 BC had been restored badly in the early 19^th century and was again being restored to correct the earlier damages. Other ruins included a Byzantine Church, Roman Temple and the fortifications of the Knights Templar The view of the surrounding bays and beaches was spectacular. One could also see the whole of the whitewashed village below.

 Returning by way of the one Donkey deposit free path down to the village, we passed women offering lace and embroidered table cloths for sale. Further down the winding path we re-entered the maze of streets which rarely measured more than 2 meters wide.

Shops,bars and restaurants offered a variety of enticements to the tourists returning from the Acropolis.

Lindos Village-Mostly white! watch your step!

 

 Following a quick meal of seafood pasta, octopus, mussels and shrimp, we hiked back up to the main road where we had a short wait for our bus back to Rhodes.

  A short wait, but a rather longer ride than the one there, as the bus entered many smaller villages that had been omitted on the way going.

 Arriving back at the hotel we completed the daily obligatory ritual- shower off all the road grime, sunscreen and salt then wash out the days clothing, setting it to dry on the balcony.

  Supper this evening was a buffet of more or less overcooked mystery meats and what at first looked like shepherds’ pie but turned out to be mousaka or as I prefer to call it mouse cacka!!! Convincing people that eggplant is an edible substance is, in my opinion the Greek way of playing a joke on the rest of the world.

 After consuming enough calories to ensure I wouldn’t die during the night, we set off for a brief walk in a westerly direction and discovered a warren of backstreets bustling with activity. People jammed sidewalks onto which fronted dozens of bars, restaurants and shops which seemed to have no lack of clientele. Menus in 5 or 6 languages promoted daily specials, cheap beer and chips, pizza and chips, various greek dishes and chips obviously we had stumbled into what might be described as Brit Town. Strangely, not a Curry takeout to be seen anywhere!!