Rodos

Saturday afternoon we arrived in Rhodes to start our island vacation with the Gills. We had amazing rooms on the top floor of an ocean front hotel with views of the tip of the island where the Mediterranean Sea meets the Aegean Sea.

After a few hours in the sun we enjoyed our fresh fruit baskets, wine and yellow roses. In the evening we headed into Old Town for some shopping and an incredible seafood dinner. We took the waiters suggestion and enjoyed fresh clams, mussels and octopus for appetizers, a fresh green salad and fresh grilled fish for dinner that everybody (including Dad and Rich who aren't so fond of fish) enjoyed seconds of.

On Sunday we rented a car and were off for a drive down the south/east coast of Rhodes to the town of Lindos. When we got to the bottom of the Acropolis, we realized that there were hundreds of steps and hills to climb to get to the top. We decided to hitch a ride.

The only option other than our own two feet was our four legged friends the donkeys. You can see Dad and Meredith up ahead in the distance out running Mom and Rich!

Once we made it to the top, there were still another 200 steps to climb before we got to the Temple of Lindian Athena which sits on the peak of the Acropolis. We all made it and the trip was completely worth it for the views of the sea and small lagoon along the coast. We took our time walking down the Acropolis so that Mom and Meredith could shop for some hand woven lace table cloths. By the time we made it down we decided it was time for another swim. We drove down the coast a little further to a lovely beach were we could snorkel, lay in the sun and play some paddle ball.

On Monday we headed back into Old Town to tour the Street of the Knights and the Palace of the Grand Master. The Palace was filled with stone beautiful mosaics, traditional wooden furniture and tapestries. Even the regular streets and sidewalks of Old Town were filled with modern stone mosaics like the one below.

Mom just couldn't keep her hands off all of the Greek Gods.

After our trip to Symi (which we will talk about in the next blog post), we drove down the north/western coast of Rhodes to Petaloudes, or the Valley of the Butterflies.

It took us a while but Rich finally got a picture of one of the butterflies in flight. They were bright red and beautiful when flying but blended right into the trees with their brown and beige coats when they landed. It was early in the season but they were still everywhere. By the end of July, every tree is completely covered with the butterflies and they all fly away by the end of August.

Meredith took the easy way out and caught one that was drying its wings on the ground. We only got a couple of shots before it took off into the trees.

On Wednesday we headed to Ancient Kameiros to climb another huge hill in the heat of the day. Yes, we really got Mom and Dad to do full workouts on their vacations. Ancient Kameiros was a Doric city which thrived during the 5th century BC. The remains overlook the sea and you can even see the little island Alimia in the distance.

Finally, we spent our last morning in Rhodes relaxing under the sun by the pool at our hotel, Calypso. (Yes, this was a different hotel from where we stayed the first two nights but we still got top floor sea front rooms!!!! Gotta love coworkers with connections to hotels!


The one other thing that Meredith and Mom learned while on Rhodes was that the phallic looking pods that come out of the center of palm trees open into a whole new set of palms that uncurl (see the lighter green colored palms in the center).

In the middle of our vacation to Rhodes, we headed to Symi...