RHODES - Part 2 - RHODES TOWN and SYMI

Day four of our trip to Rhodes, and a move from Lindos to Rhodes Town.

DAY FOUR

It was pretty easy to navigate our way to our new accommodation. 

Slightly further out than I was expecting but still a great choice....

.....and at only £36 a night, it was perfect.

We had our own balcony but there was also this courtyard, where you could get a coffee or food.

We were gifted a little bag of Easter hard boiled eggs for tapping and some traditional biscuits. She explained that the shops would close at 8pm and that the supermarket would be closed all day on Sunday and Monday for Easter. So we headed straight out to get water and.....

.....some traditional Easter bread to try.

"Tsoureki, Greek Easter bread, is a sweeter brioche-like bread that is enriched with eggs and butter--ingredients that are forbidden during the 48-day long Lenten season."

We then headed into the Old Town in search of a late lunch.

This place looked busy.....

....so we stayed here!

Gyros again. 

It's really delicious, really filling and only 4 euros, so a perfect lunch!

We have tried to embrace the Greek Orthodox Easter festivities whilst we have been here. It's a lot bigger than in England, I would say comparable to Christmas, time spent with family. In Lindos, there was a lot of activity around the church and bells ringing out. Here in the old town....

...... the Easter celebrations are focused around the church.

This was all set up for the midnight celebrations.

We spent the afternoon wandering around, getting our bearings. The place always feels huge when you first arrive but gets smaller as you familiarise yourself with the layout.

Like most walled towns, there are great buildings and thick stone walls and busy streets full of shops, aimed at the tourists.

We always try and find quieter corners, away from the crowds.

The Palace of the Grand Masters, in the background.

We end up walking miles but it's the only way to get a real feel and sense of a place.

And you happen upon beautiful things, you would have otherwise missed.

We wandered down to the port and the modern part of Rhodes Town but will explore more during our stay. It did feel very quiet. partly because it is still only April and with it being Easter, everything was closing up early.

Evening tea spot....

See how quiet it is!!

We were up on that balcony.

As it's the Greek Orthodox Easter whilst we were there, we headed out to the church for midnight. Crowds gathered, filed in then out of the church with candles. A lady came around and tapped some form of holy water in our hands. The priest came out, spoke, then candles were lit, the bells rang, people hugged and fireworks filled the sky. But the main event seemed to be teenage boys letting off the loudest firework bangs they could, randomly around the car park!!

I'm glad we got to see it.

DAY FIVE

With it being Easter Sunday and everywhere being closed, 

we decided to take a boat trip to the Island of Symi.

Tickets cost €34 each and it took just over an hour to get there.

As it was Easter, we were given a treat when boarding the boat!

It wasn't too bad, didn't feel too choppy, just blumin cold in the breeze!

First views of the colourful Symi

And the sun came out!

The harbour front was lined with spits, roasting lamb and pork for the towns Easter lunch.

Easter decorations in the square.

So pretty and again lovely to be able to wander calmly around, without swarms of people. Jeff and I have thought that when we retire, we would probably not even go away in the summer to avoid the crowds and extreme heat and the increased prices. Instead we would holiday late April-early May and late September-early October.

Beautiful, colourful Symi. 

Would definitely stay for a few days next time, more time to explore.

70 stairs to nowhere!!!! 

......but what a view! 

We climbed up to The Annunciation Church, the Greek Orthodox Church. 

Well worth it for the views and.....

..... more fabulous pebble floors! 

We found the perfect spot for lunch.

Around the corner, away from the crowds in the main harbour.

Lunch with the most perfect view.

And a choice of lamb or pork!! So we had one of each and shared.

There were so many lovely sets of painted stairs, loving the blue.

A fabulous day.

Bit breezy on the way back but well worth the trip.

Got tea on the walk back, then crashed!

DAY SIX

We found a bakery!!

A really delicious looking bakery.....

....with chocolate croissants the size of Jeff's head!!

We needed a good breakfast, the plan was to wander to the sea. The blue dot is where we were staying and we pretty much walked across to the other side, made our way up to the tip of the map and back down around the port on the right-hand side! 

Always walking!!!

What a spot to sit and take in the view!

Would he swim???

Of course he did!!!! 

We walked along the headland, away from the main strip of beach and found a cove.

The perfect spot to spend the afternoon....

.....relaxing.

Jeff swam, I paddled!

After a couple of hours sitting, we wandered further on down the path. If we came to Rhodes again, we would definitely spend our time down at this part of the beach, although I imagine it would get super busy in the main summer season.

 The beach was being prepared for the big hotels opening in May. Diggers were prepping the umbrella bases and men were measuring out the spaces for sun loungers. We think this section belonged to the hotels, as there is no way everyone could fit around the pool, they probably offered free beach loungers as an alternative.

We walked further on. Coincidentally, I was going to book accommodation here, close to the sea for Jeff to swim, a sunset view but it was more expensive. Maybe, if we came again we would look to book in this area, as it was closer to everything!

We just had a coffee but ...

......planned to return to eat the following day.

We walked right to the end, the tip of Rhodes Town, home to the aquarium. 

Then walked back along the port, under the arches....

.....over to the Windmills of Mandraki.

"The most famous 3 mills on the whole island of Rhodes are located on the east mole of Mandraki harbour. They are standing next to St Nicholas Fortress"

St Nicholas Fortress

The Street of the Knights

One of the best-preserved medieval streets in Europe. The street runs from the square in front of the Knights' Hospital to the Palace of the Grand Master.

We did go back to our accommodation to change, then wandered back along the seafront in search of somewhere to eat.

The evening light.

I promised to try and capture the sunset the following evening.

We ended up eating here, as it looked busy, always a good sign.

The portions were huge, with complimentary frozen Greek yogurt and honey dessert.

Delicious!!

Love the Greek hospitality, so friendly and welcoming.

DAY SEVEN

Our last full day. 

The forecast was for rain, but other than the odd heavy spot, we got away with it being an okay day. Lots more open today and it seemed busier.

Another day full of walking!!

Hug anyone!?!

First up was a walk around the Medieval Moat. We've walked over bridges and looked down over it the past few days, finally time to walk it. It's pretty impressive just how wide it was. A beautiful walk, which again in the height of summer, wouldn't have been so enjoyable and once you started, you were committed to walking the whole thing, no exit points along the route.

Daisy, daisy, daisy....

.....again, at this time of year we've seen so many beautiful flowers, 

which I doubt would still be about in summer

We then walked a further kilometer up on the city walls. 

It was only open that day, from 12 midday, for 3 hours and it was free. 

Well worth it for a different view, a nosy into people's gardens and 

just appreciate the sheer skill back in the day. 

We wandered back down through the town....

....you see so much more just by walking and we've walked loads again. 

The art work, pebbled floors, painted stairs, have all been a joy to see.

As has a dandelion, the size of Jeff's head!!!!

Gorgeous colour combo!

We spent our final afternoon back in our little cove, waiting for the sun to come out!

 And it did eventually. 

We paddled and we just chilled for a couple of hours

Jeff had a final swim..... 

....then we walked back down along the seafront.

Back to yesterday's coffee spot, for tea!

Jeff made a good choice!

The food has been delicious. Glad to report that I only put on half a pound!! 

That'll have been all the walking and no snacking!!
Now we're home, time to seriously refocus and try to lose a stone or two,

 before my Uni reunion in just 9 weeks time and our family holiday in 11 weeks time. 

We hung around long enough to see the sun set, over Turkey in the far distance.

And walked back along the waterfront, to see the 3 windmills reflections.

DAY EIGHT

It was about a 20 minute walk to the bus station. 

Beautiful views along the way.

Got there early, so had a final Greek coffee and bit of breakfast. 

We got the bus to the airport €5 for us both, compared to €27 if we got a taxi. 

Had plenty of time and the bus went every 30 minutes......

......plus we got to enjoy the final views of the sea along the way.

Would happily return one day.

Had a good flight back, found the car!! and had a good drive back. 

We're lucky that Bristol airport is only about an hour away, so makes travelling so much easier. 

HOME SWEET HOME!

And we didn't miss the tulips in full flower, out the front of the house.

Woke up on Thursday to beautiful blue skies and sunshine but a very cold wind!

Perfect washing and drying weather though (always a positive!!)

Have tried to keep the Greek feels going, with a Greek salad starter for tea!

So a wonderful week. 

Felt like two mini holidays, staying in the two different resorts and felt longer than a week, 

as we packed in so much during our time there.

It's always nice having some concentrated time together. In term time Jeff is so busy. He works 6 days a week, having just Sundays off and I work Sundays..... so we don't really spend that much time together. Maybe that's the secret of a happy marriage!!! 

Yamas!!

Greece, you were as wonderful as always and we will be back!

It's back to work for me tomorrow (Sunday) can't say I'm really looking forward to it. My back pain has gone back a few steps. I saw my chiropractor on Thursday - not disastrous, back to basics - icing, marching, exercises, ibuprofen, painkillers, rest etc. Hard to do though during an 8 hour shift!! I see him again on Thursday to see how things are going! I may need to see if I can reduce my hours on a Sunday and do 3 x 4hr shifts!?! Not sure they'll let me though, as Sundays are so hard to staff.

Anyway I won't dwell on work, enjoy the rest of my afternoon off. It was forecast to rain, should've got out and walked, gone on a hunt for bluebells. The forecast for the week ahead isn't great but I'm sure in the next week or so, I will hunt some down!

Have a good week xx