After a short flight (only an hour and five minutes, just enough for a sandwich and a drink) we landed at Rhodes airport. After we collected our luggage and stroller for Enna-Marie we got on the bus that took us to Rodos Palace. Rhodes looks a bit like Israel, except that it is more mountainous and less Middle Eastern...
Our hotel room on the eleventh floor was quite nice, overlooking the swimming pool and with a view of the mountain. Since we arrived quite late in the afternoon the swimming pool was already closed by the time we were ready for a dip, and so we decided to try the pool at the Sofitel Capsis hotel next door. Not a great success though as it was very windy outside, and already quite cold. So we decided to wait until the next day for a more relaxing swim.
In the evening, we missed the belly dancing entertainment, but we were just on time for the disco dancing.
Monday 14 August
This morning we took a taxi to the old town and had a wonderful time sightseeing (taxi costs 6 euros all over Ixia city, additional 1 euro if you call/request one). Rhodes old town looks a bit like Akko, except that it is much cleaner and much better maintained. Imagine if one day old Akko would look so pretty as well... We took lots of pictures, looked at different shops and enjoyed being tourists. We had a Mousaka and Gyros for lunch in the Rustico restaurant in the middle of the old town. Very nice atmosphere, and very good food!
In the afternoon we decided to just stay by the pool and relax. After Enna-Marie's first swim in the Medditerranean last week this was her first time in a pool. The water was of course a bit colder than in the sea, but after just a few objections she really enjoyed herself in the water.
In the evening, there was a show especially for the kids.
Tuesday 15 August
Today we joined an organized tour (a bus full of Israelis) to explore the east coast of the island. It was 38 degrees and so perhaps not the best day for such an outing, but we survived it, and also Enna-Marie did not seem to be too inconvenienced by it at all...
We started off at the valley of the butterflies. There is one kind of butterfly that is indigenous to Rhodes, and they're basically all in this valley. Apparently in the past people had complained that there were hardly any butterflies around, but that problem appears to have been resolved.
Afterwards, we drove to Lindos, a village half way down the island. Here we walked for just a bit in the narrow and crowded streets, bought a few souvenirs, and fled into a cafe to escape the scorching heat and enjoy a refreshing ice coffee... the best one we ever tasted!!
In the afternoon we visited an old fisherman village for lunch, got our feet wet at the beach, and ended the day visiting a ceramics factory where we bought few souvenirs to decorate our home.
We did go to the evening's entertainment although we were all exhausted from all day's trip, but we didn't stay long.
Wednesday 16 August
Today we decided to enjoy the hotel facilities, in particular the lobby area of the hotel, which was a wonderful playground for Enna-Marie - she made some new Greek friends Georgio and Georgina, and the swimming pool. We spent much of the afternoon just being lazy and just going in and out of the pool. We met a Dutch family (there were quite a lot of Dutch tourists in Rhodes esp. in our hotel). Late in the afternoon we visited Mrs. Ursula Muhlschlegel, the wife of the late Hand of the Cause of God Dr. Adelbert Muhlschlegel. The Muhlschlegels pioneered to Greece in the late 1970's and Mrs. Muhlschlegel has been living in Rhodes for the last twelve years or so. It was wonderful to see her, a very energetic, lively and hospitable lady, and also to meet a few friends who used to and are still pioneering in Rhodes, Vessal and Daniel Maani, and Bijan Rohani and his daughter Nura.
There was another cabaret-comedy show in the evening...the entertainers were Italians, it was just an okay show.
The Food in the Hotel
What we consider to be one of the highlights of our trip was the delicious food in the hotel! A great variety of meats, fish, pastas, rice, salads, soups, fruits, pastries and desserts.
