Day 24 - Santorini
Caldera cruise to the volcano, swimming in the hot springs and dining in Oia (ee-ah)
We got to avoid the bus this morning and instead, rode the cable car down the steep cliffs of Fira to the port. It was a quick ride and my palms only sweated a little. We had some hot bevies and waited for our boat to leave. Once we boarded we met a Californian who told us about his vacation and vice versa. He gave us tidbits of info on Prague, Amsterdam and a few places we haven't decided to visit yet. We made a quick trip to the volcano where we easily hiked the well packed trails to the top only stopping long enough to take pictures of our surroundings. As we reached the peak, we were made aware of the last time it fully erupted spewing smoke and ash over the surface. It's still active, parts were puffing smoke and you could see the sulfur leaking out between cracks. We stayed at the top long enough to take more pictures of each other and the beautiful panoramic views. Our next stop was the hot springs on the other side. On this portion of the tiny expedition, we met a young couple from Ottawa and New York who had met last year in Greece. They regaled us with tales of their trip and stories of New York. I like New Yorkers, they are a no bullshit breed that stick their middle finger up at you if you don't take them for who they are. We all chatted, our New York friends, us and Mr. California, until it was time to plunge into the azure waters of the sea. We had to swim about 100 metres into the hot springs (lukewarm springs) where the water was a brownish colour that stained your clothes. I hit my shins 20 times on well hidden submerged rocks and thanked god I didn't decide to dive down head first. We spent a half an hour frolicking in the waters and returned to our ship to engage in more conversation with our new found friends. After pulling into the port of Fira, we saw that the cruise ship people had vacated the port and the cable car was readily available. We all entered, Mr. New York crossed himself as we were quickly pulled up the rock face and we discussed plane crashes. We exited the car, said goodbye and went in our different directions, us to our apartment, Mr. California to the bus stop and New York in search of food. We got home, ate our homemade gyros, cleaned up and got ready for our dinner in Oia.
We boarded yet another bus and wound our way along the side of Santorini to the beautiful town of Oia. We spent a few hours exploring the town, checking out the lovely art galleries and searching for our restaurant. While searching, we stumbled on a tiny cafe with a beautiful view of the caldera where we had a strudel and I had my first frappe. I'd seen everyone downing these in various locations around Greece but because I love my hot coffee, I never had the want or desire to try one. It was refreshing!! After our little break we went to our restaurant and started our dining experience (thanks I & J!!) at Ambrosia, a little restaurant nestled in the side of the cliffs. We had a lovely meal consisting of a mouth watering Santorini house white wine (a must try!) grilled octopus, sautéed shrimp, fillet of duck, accompanied by an almond and pistachio ice cream. The view was something out of a story book and the food was comparable to an Iron Chef episode, plated and cooked splendidly. We left our restaurant, purchased some local wine (again!) and took the bus back to our room where we enjoyed our last night on our balcony. Santorini is the most chill and gorgeous places on the face of the earth! Until you get the cruise ships and the hordes of people filling the streets, boo you.
Sunday, August 7, 2011
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Days 22 & 23 - Santorini
Day 22 - Rethymno to Santorini
We woke up at 5am to catch our 6:30 bus back to Heraklion. We were hoping we could go on a tour to Santorini straight from Rethymno but for 250 Euro... So we jumped on the bus and hit the ferry right on time. Since Rhodes everything has come up roses (cross fingers). We slept on the ferry and when we awoke, we were coming into the port of Santorini. We were then shuttled to the town of Fira, The bus hit switchback after switchback and ascended to the top. We got to the crowded bus station and left in search of Hotel Nemesis and without much problems, found it. It was perched overlooking the caldera and the people running it were super nice. She knew me right from the start, recognizing me from my twitter feed. She told us what not to miss, showed us to our room and gave us directions to a modest taverna called Ellis in Fira. We drank a litre of house white, ate some Greek tapas and met a couple who were here 25 years ago. We exchanged traveling stories and took photos of one another and told them our itinerary. They gave us tips in Prague and Amsterdam and went on their way. We finished our food, ordered more wine and took in the the panoramic view. After, we went back to our hotel and had a power nap...after only sleeping for 4 hours the previous night we needed this one.
We cleaned ourselves up and headed into town once again. We wondered the narrow, cobbled streets and window shopped until we came out to a viewing area. The town glistened in the night like an earthbound constellation, it was the most relaxing view in the world. We sat and stared in awe of this inspiring view we've on heard of in poems and seen in pictures. Traversing the serpentine corridors, we made it back to the hotel rather late and hit the hay.
Day 23 - Santorini
Akrotiri - The red beach
Hitting the well run bus again, we journeyed to the southern tip of Santorini where the red beach is located. Scurrying up and around rock faces, we popped out onto the beach. The wind was strong, the water was cool and the sun beat down upon us as we basked on the most unique I've ever been to. There it was quiet, peaceful and we read our books and oiled our bodies. We spent the day sunning ourselves until we couldn't take it anymore. Our skin was getting used to the sun and I think I even started to develop a tan!! We plodded back along the rock cliffs, took pics as we went along and made it to the bus stop just as the bus arrived. We scored a seat, watched the world go by and pulled into Fira's station where we headed to the nearest Gyro shack. Luckys Souvalaki is a fast food haven packed with locals and budget travelers alike. We inhaled our snacks and made for the local supermarket to pick up dinner and more booze for under 9 Euro! After the long beach day with no sun burns we got our drink on, made food and enjoyed our balcony. After that the night got a little hazy...
We woke up at 5am to catch our 6:30 bus back to Heraklion. We were hoping we could go on a tour to Santorini straight from Rethymno but for 250 Euro... So we jumped on the bus and hit the ferry right on time. Since Rhodes everything has come up roses (cross fingers). We slept on the ferry and when we awoke, we were coming into the port of Santorini. We were then shuttled to the town of Fira, The bus hit switchback after switchback and ascended to the top. We got to the crowded bus station and left in search of Hotel Nemesis and without much problems, found it. It was perched overlooking the caldera and the people running it were super nice. She knew me right from the start, recognizing me from my twitter feed. She told us what not to miss, showed us to our room and gave us directions to a modest taverna called Ellis in Fira. We drank a litre of house white, ate some Greek tapas and met a couple who were here 25 years ago. We exchanged traveling stories and took photos of one another and told them our itinerary. They gave us tips in Prague and Amsterdam and went on their way. We finished our food, ordered more wine and took in the the panoramic view. After, we went back to our hotel and had a power nap...after only sleeping for 4 hours the previous night we needed this one.
We cleaned ourselves up and headed into town once again. We wondered the narrow, cobbled streets and window shopped until we came out to a viewing area. The town glistened in the night like an earthbound constellation, it was the most relaxing view in the world. We sat and stared in awe of this inspiring view we've on heard of in poems and seen in pictures. Traversing the serpentine corridors, we made it back to the hotel rather late and hit the hay.
Day 23 - Santorini
Akrotiri - The red beach
Hitting the well run bus again, we journeyed to the southern tip of Santorini where the red beach is located. Scurrying up and around rock faces, we popped out onto the beach. The wind was strong, the water was cool and the sun beat down upon us as we basked on the most unique I've ever been to. There it was quiet, peaceful and we read our books and oiled our bodies. We spent the day sunning ourselves until we couldn't take it anymore. Our skin was getting used to the sun and I think I even started to develop a tan!! We plodded back along the rock cliffs, took pics as we went along and made it to the bus stop just as the bus arrived. We scored a seat, watched the world go by and pulled into Fira's station where we headed to the nearest Gyro shack. Luckys Souvalaki is a fast food haven packed with locals and budget travelers alike. We inhaled our snacks and made for the local supermarket to pick up dinner and more booze for under 9 Euro! After the long beach day with no sun burns we got our drink on, made food and enjoyed our balcony. After that the night got a little hazy...
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Days 20 & 21
Day 20 - Rethymno
We found our way to the Arkadi monastery 20 km outside of Rethymno. One of the most important sites in Crete or Greek history, was originally constructed in 500AD and later rebuilt in the 1500's. This was the site of a battle between the monks and their families against the Pashma of the Turkish Ottoman empire in 1866. The story goes the the Turks demanded surrender of the monastery on November 9, 1866 but the Greeks refused causing, what the Greeks call "the holocaust". Thousands of Turks besieged the monastery killing all but 150, but before the end of the battle the women, children and elderly locked themselves in the powdery. When the Turks penetrated the heavy Venetian doors, the Greeks lit the fuse igniting the powder killing over 1800 Turks. To this day one of the most celebrated holidays in Greece in November 9.
After visiting the monastery, we perused a small cretan village where we purchased some lavender oils and visited the local museum. Everything in the museum was donated by the families of the village, an entrance fee of 1.50 Euro was charged and all money goes to the village. We arrived back home in the late afternoon and set out in search of a market to buy food for dinner. Everything was closed on Sundays, so it was a little difficult to find food but we managed. We went back to the apartment, cooked dinner, drank more local wine and stayed in for the night. The first time in our entire vacation that we did so.
Day 21
This was the day that we were to take our cretan cooking workshop! We were picked up from a local cafe and taken to a part of Rethymno called Antsipopolous. We met with a family who owned a small taverna and the mother taught us how to cook a variety of authentic local cuisine. It was just us and a French woman who barely spoke English and Krista was able to translate in her broken French. After cooking a plethora of meals we sat down at 3pm and ate our accomplishments. It was a fun day, surrounded by a family of friendly Greek people. We were driven back to our apartment, cleaned ourselves up and headed for the beach. Still full from a very late lunch, we baked in the sun for an hour or so and retired to our room for another hour. The sun went down and we headed out to shop! Krista bought a beautiful dress, shoes and a local necklace while I hummed and hawed purchasing a Fred Perry windbreaker. Gotta love European clothes!
We found our way to the Arkadi monastery 20 km outside of Rethymno. One of the most important sites in Crete or Greek history, was originally constructed in 500AD and later rebuilt in the 1500's. This was the site of a battle between the monks and their families against the Pashma of the Turkish Ottoman empire in 1866. The story goes the the Turks demanded surrender of the monastery on November 9, 1866 but the Greeks refused causing, what the Greeks call "the holocaust". Thousands of Turks besieged the monastery killing all but 150, but before the end of the battle the women, children and elderly locked themselves in the powdery. When the Turks penetrated the heavy Venetian doors, the Greeks lit the fuse igniting the powder killing over 1800 Turks. To this day one of the most celebrated holidays in Greece in November 9.
After visiting the monastery, we perused a small cretan village where we purchased some lavender oils and visited the local museum. Everything in the museum was donated by the families of the village, an entrance fee of 1.50 Euro was charged and all money goes to the village. We arrived back home in the late afternoon and set out in search of a market to buy food for dinner. Everything was closed on Sundays, so it was a little difficult to find food but we managed. We went back to the apartment, cooked dinner, drank more local wine and stayed in for the night. The first time in our entire vacation that we did so.
Day 21
This was the day that we were to take our cretan cooking workshop! We were picked up from a local cafe and taken to a part of Rethymno called Antsipopolous. We met with a family who owned a small taverna and the mother taught us how to cook a variety of authentic local cuisine. It was just us and a French woman who barely spoke English and Krista was able to translate in her broken French. After cooking a plethora of meals we sat down at 3pm and ate our accomplishments. It was a fun day, surrounded by a family of friendly Greek people. We were driven back to our apartment, cleaned ourselves up and headed for the beach. Still full from a very late lunch, we baked in the sun for an hour or so and retired to our room for another hour. The sun went down and we headed out to shop! Krista bought a beautiful dress, shoes and a local necklace while I hummed and hawed purchasing a Fred Perry windbreaker. Gotta love European clothes!
Days 18 & 19
Day 18 - Heraklion
Today we went to the Palace of Knossos, home of the mythological Minotaur. We woke up late, after the lovely evening we had the night before, we wanted to take our time getting out and about. This place comes alive at night, but at around 3am gets eerily quiet. We slept with the window open last night and fell asleep to the sounds of the Heraklion nights: the chatter and laughter of the locals, the cars whizzing by on the streets below and music off in the distance.
We went back to the bus stop and found the Knossos bus, this place is so easy to get around in! The bus was marked "Knossos". We made the leisurely drive, stopping to pick up more passengers and had a brief tour of the city. It took us about 20 minutes to get there. We entered the palace and looked around, it was kinda cool. After seeing so many beautiful ruins, this was underwhelming. Although it was nice to be in a place that was over 5000 years old, the archeologist that uncovered this back in the late 1800's, restored it to his own imagination. You could still see the original stonework and layout of the building, but on top
he recreated it in pieces based on what he thought. He used concrete, wood and stone, he even recreated frescoes. The palace was huge and it was apparently situated between 2 streams and the sea was steps away. This made for a fertile growing area. We left Knossos, boarded the next bus and hit up the Fortezza. Crete been invaded by many different countries but they embrace this, unlike other islands. The Fortezza was built in the 1500's and was used to guard the port. It still stands as it were, buy we're unable to go inside. After the Fortezza it was time to hit the shops! We went up and down and around even finding a Fred Perry outlet, and
bought some things to take back home. Krista found some nice things while I went away empty handed (the Fred Perry outlet sizes were either too big or to small...boo!) and it was time to eat some mezes!
All that walking, bussing shopping and picture taking worked up an appetite! We were told that this place called Ippocambo (Seahorse) was the place to go, the other night we tried to find it, walked an hour in 2 directions only to see that it was just a block away from our hotel.
We took a seat across the busy road aand ordered our food. We had beets, calamari, meatballs, tzatziki, chick pea patties, bread and wine. It was great! I think the best thing about the experience was watching the servers play frogger with the food! Not one plate was dropped. They served us a complimentary desert of ice cream, strawberry cheesecake and chocolate. Mmmm! We paid our bill (to-la-gha-riaz-mo, para-kolo) the bill please, said thank you, that was delicious (ef-ha-ri-stow, i-tan-no-sti-mo-ta-to) and zig zagged back to our room at Kronos Hotel. We fell asleep soon after our heads hit the pillows, it was 11pm.
Day 19 Heraklion to Rethymno
We had an early morning breakfast at our hotel and zipped to the bus station. This country has the best busses and they are cheap! We were planning on taking taxis everywhere and budgeted accordingly, but now were saving money and traveling in comfort. We found our bus, met a 60 year old Irish woman who married a 30 year old Moroccan man, who proceeded to tell us all her troubles on our 90 minute ride. Dammit! I just got a new book I wanted to read. We made it to the station, strapped on our packs and headed in the general direction of our Afroditi
apartment rental. It used to be the French Embassy. We found it easily, asking locals on the way and checked it. We met the owner who showed us to our room and gave us some white wine, it was fantastic! Sadly, we just missed the 2 week wine festival but were still reaping the benefits. We settled in, and went out for some booze and salads, gotta eat your greens. We found a quiet place and enjoyed an inexpensive meal right on the sea front, it's all about the sea front. After all, isn't that why you come to the Med? We had lunch and explored the town a bit. We found a little travel agent, booked our remanding ferries and a Cretan cooking class! More later! We went back to the room and had a nap.
When we woke, we cleaned ourselves up and went out in search of dinner. We found a place, rather, the place found us. Maria's restaurant on the harbour. 10th best in Crete, so said a magazine article plastered on the outside podium. We were sold on it by it's charm and owner. I wanna call him peg leg the pirate Pete, but his name was Nico. The restaurant was picturesque. Located right on the Venetian harbour, they sat us on the second floor balcony overlooking everyone and the harbour. We ordered calamari, wine, prawns, white fish, seasonal greens, potatoes and......LOBSTER!!! The best (and most expensive) meal so far. Musicians played on the harbour, fish were jumpin and people filled the seats below. Very romantic.
We paid our bill and were off to stroll through the town, we found an outdoor cinema that was playing Transformers 3, said why not and enjoyed a movie under the stars. I love my wife and my life...what a superb night!
Today we went to the Palace of Knossos, home of the mythological Minotaur. We woke up late, after the lovely evening we had the night before, we wanted to take our time getting out and about. This place comes alive at night, but at around 3am gets eerily quiet. We slept with the window open last night and fell asleep to the sounds of the Heraklion nights: the chatter and laughter of the locals, the cars whizzing by on the streets below and music off in the distance.
We went back to the bus stop and found the Knossos bus, this place is so easy to get around in! The bus was marked "Knossos". We made the leisurely drive, stopping to pick up more passengers and had a brief tour of the city. It took us about 20 minutes to get there. We entered the palace and looked around, it was kinda cool. After seeing so many beautiful ruins, this was underwhelming. Although it was nice to be in a place that was over 5000 years old, the archeologist that uncovered this back in the late 1800's, restored it to his own imagination. You could still see the original stonework and layout of the building, but on top
he recreated it in pieces based on what he thought. He used concrete, wood and stone, he even recreated frescoes. The palace was huge and it was apparently situated between 2 streams and the sea was steps away. This made for a fertile growing area. We left Knossos, boarded the next bus and hit up the Fortezza. Crete been invaded by many different countries but they embrace this, unlike other islands. The Fortezza was built in the 1500's and was used to guard the port. It still stands as it were, buy we're unable to go inside. After the Fortezza it was time to hit the shops! We went up and down and around even finding a Fred Perry outlet, and
bought some things to take back home. Krista found some nice things while I went away empty handed (the Fred Perry outlet sizes were either too big or to small...boo!) and it was time to eat some mezes!
All that walking, bussing shopping and picture taking worked up an appetite! We were told that this place called Ippocambo (Seahorse) was the place to go, the other night we tried to find it, walked an hour in 2 directions only to see that it was just a block away from our hotel.
We took a seat across the busy road aand ordered our food. We had beets, calamari, meatballs, tzatziki, chick pea patties, bread and wine. It was great! I think the best thing about the experience was watching the servers play frogger with the food! Not one plate was dropped. They served us a complimentary desert of ice cream, strawberry cheesecake and chocolate. Mmmm! We paid our bill (to-la-gha-riaz-mo, para-kolo) the bill please, said thank you, that was delicious (ef-ha-ri-stow, i-tan-no-sti-mo-ta-to) and zig zagged back to our room at Kronos Hotel. We fell asleep soon after our heads hit the pillows, it was 11pm.
Day 19 Heraklion to Rethymno
We had an early morning breakfast at our hotel and zipped to the bus station. This country has the best busses and they are cheap! We were planning on taking taxis everywhere and budgeted accordingly, but now were saving money and traveling in comfort. We found our bus, met a 60 year old Irish woman who married a 30 year old Moroccan man, who proceeded to tell us all her troubles on our 90 minute ride. Dammit! I just got a new book I wanted to read. We made it to the station, strapped on our packs and headed in the general direction of our Afroditi
apartment rental. It used to be the French Embassy. We found it easily, asking locals on the way and checked it. We met the owner who showed us to our room and gave us some white wine, it was fantastic! Sadly, we just missed the 2 week wine festival but were still reaping the benefits. We settled in, and went out for some booze and salads, gotta eat your greens. We found a quiet place and enjoyed an inexpensive meal right on the sea front, it's all about the sea front. After all, isn't that why you come to the Med? We had lunch and explored the town a bit. We found a little travel agent, booked our remanding ferries and a Cretan cooking class! More later! We went back to the room and had a nap.
When we woke, we cleaned ourselves up and went out in search of dinner. We found a place, rather, the place found us. Maria's restaurant on the harbour. 10th best in Crete, so said a magazine article plastered on the outside podium. We were sold on it by it's charm and owner. I wanna call him peg leg the pirate Pete, but his name was Nico. The restaurant was picturesque. Located right on the Venetian harbour, they sat us on the second floor balcony overlooking everyone and the harbour. We ordered calamari, wine, prawns, white fish, seasonal greens, potatoes and......LOBSTER!!! The best (and most expensive) meal so far. Musicians played on the harbour, fish were jumpin and people filled the seats below. Very romantic.
We paid our bill and were off to stroll through the town, we found an outdoor cinema that was playing Transformers 3, said why not and enjoyed a movie under the stars. I love my wife and my life...what a superb night!
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Day 17 - Faliraki to Heraklion
Day 17- Faliraki beach to Heraklion
Finally we were outta here, unless you're 20, wanting syphilis, or a divorce, stay away from Faliraki Beach. We had some good experiences there, The Castellan Restaurant, the beach itself (Zorba the Greek with Anthony Quinn was filmed there!...Classic!) but we were glad to leave it behind. Starting at 7am we darted out of the White Palace Studios, boarded a bus and made it back into Rhodes town. We had a decent breakfast and boarded yet another bus to the airport. One thing I will say, the Greek bus system is cheap and very effective! We hit our enjoyable fights to Athens then on to Heraklion. We exited the airport and were directed by locals, which bus to take into town. This place was very chill! The streets were quiet, locals coming to and fro and no drunk Brits!
We found our hotel quite easily and checked in. The Hotel Kronos is just off the main strip, close to ferries and the bus station and a very quaint little place. The staff were uber friendly, it was ideally located, clean and secure. We cleaned the 8 hours of busses, airports and airplanes off our bodies and headed out to dinner.
This is the Greece we were looking for! We found a mom and pop restaurant with a huge square shared by 2 other restaurants. We shared some Greek tapas: greek salad, aubergine salad, snails, calamari, stuffed zucchini, pickled beets, bread and house white wine. We chased it with complimentary desert and Raki! The locals packed the square, musicians entered and the aromas of bread and garlic filled our nostrils. It was picturesque. Most come for crazy dancing and staying out all night, but this is what we were in search of! Everyone told us to avoid Crete, but I guess they never looked for what we found. Seaside eateries, serving fresh authentic cuisine, filled with charm and charisma. You can have Rhodes, I've only been on Crete for 6 hours and I'm in love...
Finally we were outta here, unless you're 20, wanting syphilis, or a divorce, stay away from Faliraki Beach. We had some good experiences there, The Castellan Restaurant, the beach itself (Zorba the Greek with Anthony Quinn was filmed there!...Classic!) but we were glad to leave it behind. Starting at 7am we darted out of the White Palace Studios, boarded a bus and made it back into Rhodes town. We had a decent breakfast and boarded yet another bus to the airport. One thing I will say, the Greek bus system is cheap and very effective! We hit our enjoyable fights to Athens then on to Heraklion. We exited the airport and were directed by locals, which bus to take into town. This place was very chill! The streets were quiet, locals coming to and fro and no drunk Brits!
We found our hotel quite easily and checked in. The Hotel Kronos is just off the main strip, close to ferries and the bus station and a very quaint little place. The staff were uber friendly, it was ideally located, clean and secure. We cleaned the 8 hours of busses, airports and airplanes off our bodies and headed out to dinner.
This is the Greece we were looking for! We found a mom and pop restaurant with a huge square shared by 2 other restaurants. We shared some Greek tapas: greek salad, aubergine salad, snails, calamari, stuffed zucchini, pickled beets, bread and house white wine. We chased it with complimentary desert and Raki! The locals packed the square, musicians entered and the aromas of bread and garlic filled our nostrils. It was picturesque. Most come for crazy dancing and staying out all night, but this is what we were in search of! Everyone told us to avoid Crete, but I guess they never looked for what we found. Seaside eateries, serving fresh authentic cuisine, filled with charm and charisma. You can have Rhodes, I've only been on Crete for 6 hours and I'm in love...
Day 16 - Faliraki Beach Rhodes
Day 16 - Faliraki Beach Rhodes
After our hellish day of travel from Fethiye to Faliraki, we decided to take it easy. We had a beach day! We staked out our claim at the quiet end of Faliraki, and soaked up the sun. Having acclimatized to the heat of Turkey, the 35 degrees of Rhodes was a nice change. We played in the cool, shallow waters and people watched from our loungers. This was a drastic change from the fully covered, muslim women who, it seemed, swam in vinyl track suits. Topless sunbathing was everywhere, you couldn't turn your head without seeing a young, attractive woman shedding their top.There were some playing paddleball in the water, joining water sports and just strolling. Even Krista joined in the fervor. The ones that went topless, received better service from beach and bar staff.
After 3 hours in the sun with nary a burn, it was Heiny time! We found an inexpensive watering hole and sucked back a few bevies down the beach, closer to town. We returned to the hotel room, where we were told earlier that they had to switch our rooms (still choked about that) and our bags would be transferred. When we arrived to the front desk, there stood our bags! This place had the worst customer service we've experienced on our vacay so far. What do you expect from a cheap Pansiyon? We grumbled a bit, headed to our rooms and proceeded to have a disco nap. When we awoke, we showered and headed out looking for the fabled Desert Rose restaurant. Naturally, the place that was "easy to find" eluded us and we sought out another establishment. We decided on Porto Bello, had calamari, garlic mushrooms, lamb and fillet mingnon. It was delish!
After our late dinner we walked the gauntlet of the Faliraki Beach nightclub scene, it was PUMPIN! A mini Cancun, (the locals call it Little Britain) we powered through and made it back to our room by midnight. I kinda wished we avoided Rhodes, too busy and full of drunk teens, I'm glad we had it as a stop over. Don't get me wrong, what we saw of it was beautiful, it's just that after our laid back week in Calis beach, we didn't want anything to do with a part scene. We had a long day ahead of us the next day starting a 6am, so we conked out! Tomorrow: Heraklion!
After our hellish day of travel from Fethiye to Faliraki, we decided to take it easy. We had a beach day! We staked out our claim at the quiet end of Faliraki, and soaked up the sun. Having acclimatized to the heat of Turkey, the 35 degrees of Rhodes was a nice change. We played in the cool, shallow waters and people watched from our loungers. This was a drastic change from the fully covered, muslim women who, it seemed, swam in vinyl track suits. Topless sunbathing was everywhere, you couldn't turn your head without seeing a young, attractive woman shedding their top.There were some playing paddleball in the water, joining water sports and just strolling. Even Krista joined in the fervor. The ones that went topless, received better service from beach and bar staff.
After 3 hours in the sun with nary a burn, it was Heiny time! We found an inexpensive watering hole and sucked back a few bevies down the beach, closer to town. We returned to the hotel room, where we were told earlier that they had to switch our rooms (still choked about that) and our bags would be transferred. When we arrived to the front desk, there stood our bags! This place had the worst customer service we've experienced on our vacay so far. What do you expect from a cheap Pansiyon? We grumbled a bit, headed to our rooms and proceeded to have a disco nap. When we awoke, we showered and headed out looking for the fabled Desert Rose restaurant. Naturally, the place that was "easy to find" eluded us and we sought out another establishment. We decided on Porto Bello, had calamari, garlic mushrooms, lamb and fillet mingnon. It was delish!
After our late dinner we walked the gauntlet of the Faliraki Beach nightclub scene, it was PUMPIN! A mini Cancun, (the locals call it Little Britain) we powered through and made it back to our room by midnight. I kinda wished we avoided Rhodes, too busy and full of drunk teens, I'm glad we had it as a stop over. Don't get me wrong, what we saw of it was beautiful, it's just that after our laid back week in Calis beach, we didn't want anything to do with a part scene. We had a long day ahead of us the next day starting a 6am, so we conked out! Tomorrow: Heraklion!
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Day 15 - Fethiye to Rhodes
Day 15 - Last day in Calis Beach/off to Rhodes.
This was our last day in Turkey, all we had to do was finish some laundry and make our 4:30 ferry to Rhodes. We stayed up late last night watching Breaking Bad after all the action outside died down and slept in til 10. We woke, had coffee (Krista had tea) and ate a "traditional English breakfast" of beans on toast. We sat on our balcony and took in our last day in Turkey! Calis beach is a beautiful place to have stayed and I was a little sad to leave it behind, BUT Greece was ahead! Having little faith in others, I had to make sure that our transfer was going to come to our apartment. We walked down to Karakay Turizm and spoke to Serkec, the guy who booked our trip to Rhodes. He assured us the transfer would pick us up and get us to the boat on time.
We went back to the apartment, nibbled on some lunch, then decided to nap. We woke, cleaned the house up a bit and checked out. We walked down to the corner where we were told that our transfer would pick us up between 3:30-3:40. We waited and waited until 4pm. Our boat was to leave at 4:30 and it still would take us 15 min to get there!! We had to make the boat! Stupid transfer!! I quickly flagged down a Taksi (Turkish) and we made our boat. We would've lost our hotel in Rhodes, had to make the next ferry in the morning at 9am, needed to book another hotel last minute in Fethiye and a new one in Rhodes. Boooo Karakay Turizm! I sent them a nasty email demanding them to at least cover our Taksi. On top of it all, the ferry WAS supposed to be a fast track hydrofoil, but when we got there, it was just a regular ferry. Instead of an exhilarating 90 minute ride of epic-ness, it was a slow nauseating 3 hour crawl. Un stoked! Roll with the punches...
Well we putted into Rhodes and arrived at the ferry port. We went through the port where it is said that the Colossus of Rhodes once stood. One of the seven wonders of the ancient world, it was made out of bronze and greeted all who travelled to Rhodes. In 500AD it collapsed due to an earthquake and fell into pieces where it lay, it was ignored for another 4 centuries. Story has it that a Jewish merchant bought it and had to use several caravans to take it away. It was then melted down and used for coin currency.
We got off the terminal, went through customs and were officially in Greece! When we went to find a taxi to Faliraki beach, we were told that a nationwide taxi strike had occurred a few days ago. Oh mios duo, It just keeps piling on!
Walking through the old town of Rhodes, we went in search of a bus station. We asked many people along the way, but all was not lost, I got to practice my Greek! We finally found the bus station, it was filled with locals and tourists. We were herded onto to busses, and made the journey to Faliraki Beach. What a hopping joint! Half naked people everywhere! We checked in to our modest Pansiyon and found a delightful dinner where I sucked down a few Heinekens and we shared a Greek plate. A peaceful end to an otherwise, turbulent day
This was our last day in Turkey, all we had to do was finish some laundry and make our 4:30 ferry to Rhodes. We stayed up late last night watching Breaking Bad after all the action outside died down and slept in til 10. We woke, had coffee (Krista had tea) and ate a "traditional English breakfast" of beans on toast. We sat on our balcony and took in our last day in Turkey! Calis beach is a beautiful place to have stayed and I was a little sad to leave it behind, BUT Greece was ahead! Having little faith in others, I had to make sure that our transfer was going to come to our apartment. We walked down to Karakay Turizm and spoke to Serkec, the guy who booked our trip to Rhodes. He assured us the transfer would pick us up and get us to the boat on time.
We went back to the apartment, nibbled on some lunch, then decided to nap. We woke, cleaned the house up a bit and checked out. We walked down to the corner where we were told that our transfer would pick us up between 3:30-3:40. We waited and waited until 4pm. Our boat was to leave at 4:30 and it still would take us 15 min to get there!! We had to make the boat! Stupid transfer!! I quickly flagged down a Taksi (Turkish) and we made our boat. We would've lost our hotel in Rhodes, had to make the next ferry in the morning at 9am, needed to book another hotel last minute in Fethiye and a new one in Rhodes. Boooo Karakay Turizm! I sent them a nasty email demanding them to at least cover our Taksi. On top of it all, the ferry WAS supposed to be a fast track hydrofoil, but when we got there, it was just a regular ferry. Instead of an exhilarating 90 minute ride of epic-ness, it was a slow nauseating 3 hour crawl. Un stoked! Roll with the punches...
Well we putted into Rhodes and arrived at the ferry port. We went through the port where it is said that the Colossus of Rhodes once stood. One of the seven wonders of the ancient world, it was made out of bronze and greeted all who travelled to Rhodes. In 500AD it collapsed due to an earthquake and fell into pieces where it lay, it was ignored for another 4 centuries. Story has it that a Jewish merchant bought it and had to use several caravans to take it away. It was then melted down and used for coin currency.
We got off the terminal, went through customs and were officially in Greece! When we went to find a taxi to Faliraki beach, we were told that a nationwide taxi strike had occurred a few days ago. Oh mios duo, It just keeps piling on!
Walking through the old town of Rhodes, we went in search of a bus station. We asked many people along the way, but all was not lost, I got to practice my Greek! We finally found the bus station, it was filled with locals and tourists. We were herded onto to busses, and made the journey to Faliraki Beach. What a hopping joint! Half naked people everywhere! We checked in to our modest Pansiyon and found a delightful dinner where I sucked down a few Heinekens and we shared a Greek plate. A peaceful end to an otherwise, turbulent day
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