Greece part 1: Rhodes

I have wanted to travel to Greece for many years, long before I ever wrote down my first Bucket List. I think it may have been provoked by Lena’s trip to Greece in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. Regardless, the opportunity arose last year, and after a lot hesitation, I took the chance!

Rhodes, or Rhodos, is a large island in Southeast Greece. I had the absolute pleasure of spending almost a month in Greece, and nearly three weeks on this island. My trip was through Paideia, a study abroad program run by Greek native and professor at the University of Connecticut, Illias Tomazos. Illias is one of the most kindhearted people I have ever encountered and single-handedly made this trip unforgettable – taking us to every secret treasure and local hot spot one could imagine.

Flying from Athens to Rhodes over these darling little Greek islands was like a dream.

After nearly two full days of flying and napping in airports (here), I arrived in Rhodes late Saturday morning. The sun was out and there was a beautiful rainbow, but I was so jet lagged all I wanted to do was check into the hotel  and sleep. I intended to take a short nap, but three hours later I woke up to this – no more sun, and no more rainbows, but it was okay because I was in GREECE! I wandered from the hotel three minutes to this beach, and then along the boardwalk to find some food. When I returned to the hotel, three more students had arrived, and by the end of the night all 12 of us were checked into the hotel.

On my first morning in Rhodes, my new friend Nancy and I went to see the sunrise. We walked all along the ocean, with Turkey just across the way!!

The Colossus of Rhodes

On our walk back, we stopped at one of the piers. The color of this water was unlike anything I had ever seen!

In Greece, there are stray cats everywhere. I had never seen so many cats in my whole life.

The Paideia program covered our dinners, but we were on our own for breakfast and lunch. Some mornings, such as this one, we would go to the breakfast buffet at the hotel; other mornings we would venture out to other little cafes. Since was our first morning in Rhodes we got a bit of everything. However, after this, I got a large serving of Greek yogurt with honey almost every morning – it is everything you can imagine and more. Packaged Greek yogurt in US grocery stores simply cannot compare.

We were all enrolled in a Greek Culture, History, and Language class while in Rhodes. The walk to the classroom was about fifteen minutes and there were a few different routes. This one included a wonderful little stroll through the old city. We literally walked through what looked like an old castle to get to class. Life was rough.

More info about the Old City, here

Greece in January is warmer than New Hampshire, but it was still only in the 50’s for most of the trip. Despite the chilly temperatures, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity for a sunset swim with some of the other students. Swimming in the Mediterranean is an experience I will never forget.

Gyros – delicious and addicting.

Walking through the Old City is unlike anything in the US. There is SO much history, it can’t all be protected in a museum. Old cannonballs like these are scattered throughout the walled city!

One afternoon Seth, Vanessa, Nancy, and I all were all lounging in the hotel lobby. Seth convinced us to go on our own mini adventure, and it was the best decision ever! After winding through (and up) streets, we came around the corner, to this beautiful view.

BLUE BLUE BLUE!

One of the most beautiful sites I have seen. I’m not sure what it was about this, but it felt like God was reaching down and touching the water with the sun.

As we got closer to the Acropolis of Rhodes, it started to sprinkle little rain drops. BUT THEN! The sun was shining directly on the Acropolis, making for a perfect little photo op.

That’s right…2nd Century B.C. !!

More stray cats

By this point in the trip, I had become good friends with Vanessa, Seth, and Nancy.  We all had the chance to get to know Kostas, Illias’ middle aged son who helps with Paideia and lives in Greece. While everyone else rode in an oversized van with Ilias, the four of us had the good fortune to be escorted via Kostas’ wifi capable (!!) Mercedes. Luckily, I jotted down some of the funniest things Kostas said, for my future entertainment, and now, all of yours too.

So, without further ado, in this particular circumstance, Kosta informed us, “In Greece, when a car has the emergency blinkers on, it can go everywhere. Park anywhere, including sidewalks, and even run into people.”

New Year’s Eve in Maritsa, a little village outside of Rhodes Town. It rained almost all night, but the streets were still filled with locals celebrating the new year!

New Year’s Day at one of my favorite little bakeries near the hotel, Avant Garde including fresh orange juice and a traditional Greek bread

Ilias took us to a few different places with traditional nativity scenes. They each had little stands with (free!) food, beautiful views, live animals, and unique nativity scenes.

Our last week in Rhodes, we took day trips around the island, which is much bigger than just the city of Rhodes Town. Each day, we set off driving by this beautiful blue water.

Kameiros, the oldest ancient city in Rhodes

THEN! One of my favorite places! The Castle of Kritinia where you walk through this door to breathtaking ocean views. On the other side was an expansive mountain covered in olive trees and layered with fog. This place was magic.

From there, we went to a small town called Emponas for lunch, where we had a Greek version of kabobs. Right down the street was a winery, where I first discovered my love for red wine. A dangerous day, indeed.

On this day, I captured the first picture of the elusive, Kostas

Breakfast

“He’ll [Illias] be like, Paideia, why you talk and no study? Okay you want to sing? Group photo!” – Kostas, reminding us how much Illias loved to insist on taking group photos.

The day I went to Lindos is surely one I will never forget. We were driving along a winding road, and then we saw the village on the hill in the distance. Kostas and Illias each pulled over so we could all take our touristy photos.

When we got to the town, we walked along these narrow streets and up a lot of stairs, to the the Acropolis of Lindos.

View from the top of the Acropolis

The next day, we set off for another mini road trip, this time to the southern part of the island.

After twisting through the mountains, we came to this clearing, and could see nearly a dozen little islands!

On another note, Illias was quite concerned about Kostas not being married yet. Kostas was constantly making jokes about it. One afternoon, we visited a remote monastery, which provoked Kostas to insist “I’m going to start telling him I’ll become a monk. I don’t know what he’ll think of that. It’s uncharted territory.”

Where the Aegean and Mediterranean Seas meet

Monolithos Castle

One afternoon Kostas insisted on bringing us to McDonalds in Rhodes Town because he had not “been there in over 48 hours, and [he] needed some McDonalds grease in [his] bloodstream.” I opted for ice cream, and can’t deny the little taste of home was satisfying.

Palace / Museum  in Rhodes Town

The archaeological museum had dozens of these massive hand laid mosaics on the walls, floors, and ceilings.

Nearly every night we were in Rhodes all 12 of us ate at Mezes. They would always serve bread (with oil and vinegar) but the entrees would rotate every night. It was like a big mystery buffet, and always delicious. I may or may not have eaten this much bread every night…

On one of our last days in Rhodes, Kostas kindly brought us on a special trip to Filerimos. As we walked down the gravel path toward the cross (and the view) the sunlight was dreamy.

First and only picture of the five of us

I LOVE peacocks. Their beautiful colors have always made them one of my favorite animals. When we first walked up to the gated monastery, there were several wandering around inside the gate. When we came back down from the cross, one peacock had snuck out and was roaming freely. The child inside of me was ecstatic.

SO EXCITED.

On Friday, Nancy set off for a weekend in Italy! Vanessa, Seth, and I had a relaxed weekend, before setting off for the mainland/Athens Monday morning where we were reunited with Nancy. We decided to get up early on Sunday to watch the rising sun. That early morning wake up call is ALWAYS worth it.

And then that night, on our last night in Rhodes, we sat on the pier and watched the sunset.

One of the best decisions I have made in my life is to go on this trip. For those of you that read all the way through, thank you, xoxo! Stay tuned for Greece part 2!