A true path follows no plan…

I had a weeks all inclusive holiday with my friend Nicola at The Golden Odyssey Hotel in Kolymbia, Rhodes. It had two nice pools, the food was usually decent, nice salads but sometimes hit and miss on the hot section. The hotel was a 20 min walk from the beach, about 10 from the bars and shops. It’s generally a nice place to use as a base.

While Nicola was here we went to Lindhos. We booked this through our Rep and somehow missed our 07.00 pickup…could it have been the late night partying and dancing and drinking until 04.30??!!!! It is well worth a look to Lindhos, the alleys and lane ways, with their shops and cafes and bars are lovely to meander around, but definitely make yourself do the walk up to the top of the hill and castle…you will not believe the feeling of awe until you are there. You are standing on grounds thousands and thousands of years old. I’m usually not one for history or museums but there was something extremely special about being up there with the Acropolis remains. We must have wandered around for a couple of hours and actually both agreed we were secretly happy to have missed the organised tour as we would never have had enough time to take it all in!

One thing Nicola missed at the hotel was the “famous” Fire Show with the entertainer and his partner. He did many things including walking on glass, lying on it with people standing on him, fire dancing with balls of fire on chains and of course, fire throwing….

Once I eventually made the decision to move on from the comfort and familiarity of the hotel, I had one night in Rhodes Old Town before catching the ferry to Tilos.  I stayed in a quaint little Bed & Breakfast, €40BB per night, at Minos Pension. I would recommend this to anyone. It is really clean and the owners are so friendly, and it has the best view in the town from their rooftop terrace. It was a bit of a hike and hard work getting there on foot with my totally over packed bag (yes, I am working on down sizing!) but well worth it.

Again, like many other parts of Greece and the Islands, this place is steeped in history, which only makes your head spin as to how old everything is. It’s wonderful how they live in, and around all the original architecture, even placing shops and bars inside old buildings. There is very little new and modern in this area, which is actually very refreshing!

After I left Rhodes the first time, to travel North, I had to pop back for one night before taking the ferry to Santorini. That time I stayed at a small, basic hotel called Via Via Hotel. It is literally a 2 minute walk up from the main old square, and was only a bargain €26 per night! Double bed, a/c, wifi, clean, decent bathroom, rooftop garden with a decent view and George the owner was really helpful too.

So, that was Rhodes! I am so pleased I’ve made the decision to stay on and visit more of the islands, there is just so much to see and take in!