2022 World Tour – Rhodes, Greece
Hello from Rhodes, my 55th stop on the trip, as usual skipping the summary and history as I already did that in Thessaloniki.
The journey to Rhodes looks easy on the map, but I have a long stopover in Syros and then a nice overnight journey to the destination.
In Mykonos, I turned my beach towel in when I checked out and got my e10 deposit back, told the family they had one of the best places I’ve stayed on my trip. I rolled to the bus stop and bought two tickets to get me to Fabrika and then connect to the New Port. Turns out the leg to the New Port costs e0.70 more than the standard ticket and the girl was very confused when I handed her the difference in price to solve the problem, but we got it worked out in the end. The big ferry was waiting when I arrived at the dock so I walked on and put my roller bag in the ground floor luggage racks that I spotted when I walked off last time, this really saves lugging it up and down stairs to the passenger decks. We stopped in Tinos after a quick 45 minute run and then arrived in Syros after another half hour. I’m stuck on this little picturesque island for 6 hours, but it’s the only way to make a connection to Rhodes.
I put my bags in a locker and walked the harbourfront. I searched for a massage to pass some time and found a spa place close on Google Maps. I was told to come back in an hour and they can take me. I wandered through the town in cooling and very strong wind and had a huge cup of gelato. Back to the spa, turns out they do a lot of body and facial treatments here but not many massages, and still have strict COVID procedures in place. I laid down on a slippery plastic table and had an OK massage while wearing an uncomfortable mask and the lady was wearing rubber gloves. My card was again randomly rejected but luckily I had exactly the right amount of Euros on me. With 3 hours still to go, I was falling asleep in a chair in a cafe. When the ship pulled in, I got my bags and went on board, checked in at the reception desk and a man walked me to my cabin. It’s a decent size with a single bed, an overhead bunk and a good shower/toilet. I crashed hard.
We arrived in Rhodes at 10am, of course at the furthest pier in the harbour from where I’m staying. The city of Rhodes is in the northern tip of the quite large island of Rhodes and the old part of the town is surrounded by a massive stone wall and moat system, with only a few gates to let you in and out. Following Google Maps, I was led through a gate and into a maze of millennia-old buildings and painful rounded-stone paths, I had to carry my bag because it couldn’t handle the bouncing on the stones. There’s nobody at the tiny boutique hotel of course, so I called the number and the owner’s Italian mother comes to let me in. The room is whitewashed stone with a big bed, a fridge, good aircon, and the Wifi password is interestingly jbond007.
I rested a bit then went out for lunch to a nearby row of restaurants next to the Palace of the Grand Master of the Knights of Rhodes. The meal was good but vastly overpriced, need to scout out some other locations. I dropped off a load of laundry in a very highly-rated shop, the lady said come back in 3 hours. I did and it was ready as promised. Google Maps has a slight problem thinking you can’t walk through the Saint Athanasios Gate in the wall and it really wanted me to walk about 30 minutes and go around the long way, so I submitted an update.
The next day I had trouble finding the nearest stop on the Big Yellow bus because they strangely don’t have an actual route map on their web site and the description of the location of the stop doesn’t match the real name of the church and doesn’t say where in the very large area the bus actually stops, and there are no signs, ugh. I stood strategically near the center of the area and had to run to the arriving bus waving my arms at the driver to prevent him from driving away. We went through the government building areas from back in Ottoman times, way up and out to the mostly-gone Acropolis, down the beachfront with the big hotels and restaurants, to the port, past the place where the Colossus Of Rhodes once stood, around the Old City and then I did half the loop again and got off at the start of the beach hotel area. I walked all the way down the beachfront and stopped at one place for a local beer and a fried ring of cheese with honey on top. Back near my hotel I walked down the Street of the Knights of Rhodes, a long straight downhill road lined with hotels built in the 1500s for visiting knights, and each country had its own hotel for its own knights.
You may have heard of the Colossus of Rhodes. It’s one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World and was a statue of the Greek sun-god Helios, built in 280 BC. It was around 33 meters high, about the same height of the Statue of Liberty. It collapsed only 54 years later during an earthquake in 226 BC. It wasn’t rebuilt because the locals thought that they had offended Helios and didn’t want to risk further death and destruction. All that remains are the two piers jutting into the water and a pedestal with a stag where each of the feet stood. All small boat traffic in and out of the old harbour goes between these two statues. It must have been a weird sight to look up as you sailed underneath and between Heilos’ legs back in the day.
During my visit I had a foot massage and body massage at two different Thai massage shops, both with real Thai ladies. I ate my fill of pita, tzatziki, feta cheese, chicken kebabs, shrimp, calamari and similar local fare, all fresh and yummy. Got to hear a lot of live Greek music in a few restaurants and as you might imagine I had a hard time not shouting “SHUT THAT BLOODY BOUZOUKI OFF!” Bonus points to whoever gets that reference. I booked a sunset cruise in a pirate ship, but by the time we got out of the harbour clouds had completely obscured the sun. One of the crew played a little guitar and the wine and Ouzo was good, got off the boat a little tipsy.
Walking home late one night I stopped for a beer and got talking with a young Dutch couple, turns out the guy works for ASML and I just about lost my mind. You’ve never heard of ASML but their multi-multi-million Euro machines are the absolute key device in semiconductor manufacturing and they just can’t build them fast enough. They are subject to governmental regulations about who they can sell to, like the North Koreans and more recently a crackdown in exporting this critical technology to China.
On an editorial note, I’m at the end of my patience for smokers on this trip. If you see someone in Greece, or in fact all of Europe, not smoking, it means they just finished one and haven’t lit up the next one yet. Smoking in restaurants – which is completely illegal in the EU, on the beach, in shops, on the streets. When someone asks the question “If you could change one thing in the world what would it be”, it’s good to say “Kill baby Hitler” or “Stop all wars” or “Solve poverty” but some days I’m just like “Smoking doesn’t exist anymore” and the rest of the world can figure itself out.
Is it worth a visit? Rhodes is a huge island with lots of great beaches and things to do but I spent the whole time in the city and was content. Good food, great things to see, interesting walks, lots of possible boat trips. Just leave the bouzouki at home.
Next Stop: Marmaris, Turkey
