Today I am leaving Kos for Kalymnos on the fast catamaran. I caught this boat from Rhodes to Nisyros and it's the only one so far that has made me feel sea sick. I was sitting in the cabin and it's more like an areoplane - seats all facing forwards, but with big windows out the side as it powers along. It was a little rough that day and a few of the stomach churning slappings that you get when the boat hits a void were a little too stomach churning. But I held on (had sip of some wine hehe) and felt better after a while. Today I might try and sit up top in the air. Other than that I have actually been really good and haven't felt sea sick at any other time (I think this summer's boating has helped, thanks Dad :))
Going back now - OK, after Santorini I went to Crete, or more specifically the city of Heraklio which is the 5th largest city in Greee, and according to some locals the second best city in Greece (after Thessaloniki). It was an interesting place - like most of Greece, most of it was looking pretty run down and horrible. But there a little pockets of interesting things, like the two streets of cafe/bars that are absolutely decked out and full of people (even on Monday/Tuesday nights ie even after midnight). It really suits the Greek culture of just hanging around, though I really wonder what time these people go to work the next day? I guess they either don't (sure a lot were students) or they just have some boring job where it doesn't matter if they haven't slept (though afternoon siestas help for sure, once you get used to the pattern). I stayed with Julie for the two nights I was there and we checked out the city sites, had some crepes, and had dinner one night a cool little ouzerie where we had mezedhes for dinner (ie between us four meze plates - like the Greek version of tapas) and some ouzo. Actually it was one of the best dinners I've had. The next day went to Knossos which is an archeological site of great importance (aren't they all in Greece? sheesh) but it was crawling with bus loads of tourists and was HOT. The weather has warmed a LOT in the last week or so. Anyway, I saw the site and took the photos and for the rest of the two days didn't get up to a lot else, apart from a marathon session on the internet (luckily picked up some open WiFi) and figured out the rest of my island hopping itinerary (listed under 'Destinations' on the right of this page).
Said bye to Julie (we shared some retsina for the last time! we both loved it) and I left for Rhodes early in the morning for my 18 hour ferry ride that lasted all day (it was productive at least - see my previous post). I am really glad I made it over to the Dodecanese islands, because they are different to the Cyclades. Rhodes has a World Heritage listed Old Town, which is fully contained by fortified walls with awesome crenellations (I really like the inverted 'v' shape, very interesting compared to plain old rectangular crenellations). The Dodecanese in general have had a different past to the Cyclades - they are much closer to Turkey, but actually were under Italian rule until 1947 or something like that (dates, pfft). Most Greek islands have some Venetian architecture but Rhodes, Kos, etc have castles built by knights and the style is totally unexpected (at least for me, and my severe lack of history knowledge ;))
On Rhodes I checked out the Old Town, the town beach (packed already, I'd hate to be there in July/August!) and also had a night out (unintentionally it turned out to be a big night out). I started by going to the Old Town, but it was rather dead, so I headed out into the New Town (built on the head of the peninsula outside the Old Town walls - I was stayed in the New Town) and there is a cool strip of bars and clubs. I ended up at a British pub though, because it had only one other person and by this stage I really couldn't be assed with the noisy bars. So I got chatting to the bartender (who had a mohawk, but was really nice) and then to some other 'regulars' (as in each year they visit Rhodes) and it was a really nice place. The owner was a Greek guy who told me that Thessaloniki, aside from admittedly being a cool place if you're young, is also overrun by Russian mafia, and probably Albanians and all other sorts. But he said it is safe so long as you stick to the designated areas and don't go wandering off too much (yikes). Anyway, long story short, had a few too many beers and headed out with this English guy David (I think that was his name *shrug*) to one of the clubs and ended up dancing till 4am, at which point I stumbled home a little worse for wear (maybe not the best move) and woke up with only a few vague recollections, but strangely just in time to catch the end of breakfast at the hotel (which was included and I was so going to have it).
Outside the Old Town walls.
Interesting crenellations on the towers and walls.
Both Christian and Muslim architecture is always around, as the islands get taken over by both sides over the years.
Palace of the Grand Masters - really awesome place, restored for (but never used by) Mussolini. Now a museum.
Town beach - packed out.
Bartender at the Red Lion, Rhodes.
Drinking up. This old guy had the worst stutter I've ever heard, but he was nice and bought me a beer (I told him that was the price for me to be in his photo hahaha!)
and the night starts to go downhill....
Gotta run and catch the ferry - will post on Nisyros and Kos soon. Leave me comments if you're reading this (and leave your name so I know who wrote it!)
1 comment:
Hi Tam! I'm reading!! I forget for a while and then have to do a big catch up! :)
Post a Comment