Rhodes -- A fascinating and beautiful island

After the last posting about the Traveler's Century Club, I have to admit that I chose Rhodes purely because it added to my "country count" and it was very convenient to access from southwest Turkey. And now, I have to say that Rhodes was one of the most memorable and enjoyable parts of the trip. It was beshert -- or meant to be -- as they say in Yiddish.

Rhodes is a Greek island in the Agean Sea just an hour or two from Turkey by ferry depending on whether you catch the slow or fast ferry on a given day. On the day I left the Turkish port of Marmaris the slow ferry was running. Let's just say that the trip felt very authentic. As we boarded and I was looking around, I thought that it might have been a converted fishing vessel -- and it had a whiff of one, too. But all that was soon forgotten as I was surrounded by a large group of boisterous Greek travelers who had been on holiday in Turkey and were returning from a chorus competition of some sort. As soon as everyone had settled down and gotten some tea, the group broke into a chorus of Greek folk songs (and others) to pass the time on our 2 1/2 hour journey. Talk about atmosphere. They were having a grand time and I was right in the midst of it all. I couldn't think of a better way to return to Greece for the first time since 1980 when I had a one day layover in Athens on my way to a semester in Israel.

Rhodes itself turned out to be a delightful island with an Old Town that is very well preserved and a new part of the city which is laid back, warm (in every respect) and friendly. (There is also a rich Jewish history on the island but I will save that for another post.)

I lucked into a well situated hotel I had found on the internet for 30 Euro per night that even had a view of the sea from my deck. And the front desk manager, George, was a font of knowledge which he eagerly shared with me in his near perfect English. So everything about the experience was enjoyable. The island is slow paced yet there is plenty to do and the blue green color of the water is just spectacular. If you ever have the opportunity to include Rhodes in your travel itinerary, I highly recommend it. I gave it only 3 days due to other scheduling pressures but I would suggest at least 5 days on the island.

To learn more about the island, check out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhodes

And for a day trip into the countryside to the spectacular seaside town of Lindos, please check out:

http://www.lindoseye.com/

And for a map of the Aegean so you can see where Rhodes is situated (closer to Turkey than Greece) go to:

http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/europe/greece_rel_1984.gif


Next posting: the Jewish experience on Rhodes.