Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Rhodes - Castle/Museum, Streets, Harbor, Beach

We spent the morning at the castle seeing the exhibits there. Rough Guide said they were good, and really they were, but also very much like so much we've already seen at other archeology museums this trip. They had some really fine mosaics from other islands though. And the marble windows were pretty cool.

From Rhodes


From Rhodes


From Rhodes


We also explored by day those same back alleys we'd seen by night. They weren't as romantic, but at least we were able to get some photos.

From Rhodes


From Rhodes


Compare with the famous and crowded Gothic Street of the Knights, which we found anything but appealing.

From Rhodes


Next up we walked down to the harbor to see where the Colossus supposedly stood, with one foot where each deer pillar now stands. It's not such a wide distance as we'd imagined. Perhaps he really did span them...

From Rhodes


We then walked the beach, and since we had nowhere safe to leave our cameras, took turns going in the water. First up at the unprotected area with big rough waves, then in the calmer area where Josh enjoyed the diving platform.

From Rhodes


From Rhodes


From Rhodes


From Rhodes


From Rhodes


We walked the town some more in the calm and cool of the evening.

From


From Rhodes


Overall, it was a nice relaxing day, but we wouldn't really have missed anything if we'd taken the early morning ferry to Turkey. It probably would have been more worthwhile to spend the day somewhere else. Rhodes was incredible by night, but one evening would have been enough.

From Rhodes

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Rhodes - Arrival

Spent the better part of the day (9am to 6pm) on the ferry from Sitia on Crete to Rhodes. We enjoyed the enforced rest time playing cards, reading (Josh on Kindle) and listening to (Mary from LibroVox on iPod), "The Scarlet Pimpernel." It is more than a little gratifying to recognize aspects of European history we learned on this trip in the story. Also, the flowery verbiage is fantastic. I love how when people get excited they ejaculate their remarks. Granted, I think it might be a little hard to follow if we didn't already know the story from watching the movie. We also did a bit of planning for what little remains of our trip.

From Rhodes


From Rhodes


Anyway, once we got to Rhodes we struggled to match the reality of the streets we saw on the ground with the ones in the map in the Rough Guide. You see, the Guide had assured us that all ferries dock at the middle port. It was wrong, ours came in at the southern port, which was just off the map. Once we figured this out we were quickly able to make it to the old town at around 7pm.

The Rhodes old town has got to be the most enchanting old town we've ever been to. It feels right out of a fairy tale with its crumbling stone walls, towers, and churches. The hotel we wanted to stay at was full, but they directed us around the corner to a nice little pension, which doesn't have all the amenities we might have hoped for (Internet, breakfast, kitchen), but was about 30% less than we expected to spend for any room at all.

From Rhodes


After checking in we wandered around the old town, walked through the old mote, went to dinner in the "new market," awwed at the kitties, and generally marveled at what an incredible little town this is. Oh, I'm sure it will be crawling with tourists tomorrow, but for tonight off the main drag we wandered the loveliest narrow allies under flowering shrubs and arching stone supports. Of course most of the nighttime pictures didn't come out that well, so you'll just have to stay tuned for tomorrow's photos of it.

From Rhodes


From Rhodes

Monday, June 28, 2010

Sitia (Crete) - Beach Day

Spent a relaxing morning at the Sitia beach. We did some sunbathing and some swimming, which was all very nice, although the small waves left a bit to be desired.

From Sitia


From Sitia


From Sitia


From Sitia


After swimming, we saw this one dead fish washed ashore. We were later assured that they sometimes fall off the fishing boats.

From Sitia


For lunch we had more gyros along with a Greek salad we made ourselves back at the hotel. The gyros were a bit disappointing, but there only seemed to be like one gyro guy open at midday on Monday.

We spent the afternoon at the hotel enjoying the Internet and working on the blog. We decided to go out to the Archeology Museum, which is supposed to be excellent, but found that it is also closed on Monday. We also went looking for the dot on our map that was marked "Pelican house," hoping for an explanation of the pelican from last night, but we found no sign of either the pelican or it's house.

From Sitia


Next we purchased our ferry tickets for our onward transit. Cute fish in the tank!

From Sitia


In the evening we took a nice long walk along the beach by moonlight. Sadly, we didn't see the pelican today.

Sunday, June 27, 2010

Travel Day - Rethymnon to Sitia (Crete)

Had a glorious sleep-in this morning, then went to the imposing Venetian Fortress where we explored the crumbling barracks, old churches, and so forth. There were nice views out over the water. On the way, we stopped at the cool lion fountain. In the fortress, it looked like they were busy making a replacement onion dome for their church.

From Rethymnon


From Rethymnon


From Rethymnon


We tried to go to the Folk Museum next, but it was closed. So we had some gyros back at the hostel, picked up the remainder of our laundry, and got on a bus to Iraklion. We'd intended to go from Iraklion up to the western plateau and see the cave where Zeus was born, but by the time we got there, the next bus was not until midday tomorrow, which doesn't work since we need to be on a morning ferry from Sitia to Rhodes (which only runs a few days per week) the next day. So instead we hopped a bus directly to Sitia, which the Rough Guide assured us was a nice beach resort town.

We showed up a bit before sundown and found ourselves a room in the home of a cute elderly couple. Our room opened out onto a big shared balcony with a small slice to sea view. And out on the balcony, we were able to snipe some WiFi from a nearby unsecured network. Internet access is expensive in Europe, like 3 Euros per hour or more, and free WiFi provided by your hotel seems to be unheard of in Greece. So we were pretty excited about it.

For dinner we wandered about until we found a good-looking gyro guy. He seemed a bit... I don't know, patronizing at first. But he was also friendly, talkative, and good natured. He was also clearly very proud of the food he served, which turned out to be superb.

After dinner we walked down to the beach. Along the way, walking through the square by the waterfront was a man and an enormous tame pelican. The pelican didn't seem all that friendly and would occasionally take a moment away from following its master to frighten the children, whom it was bigger than. It was a little unreal. And, of course, both cameras were locked away in the hotel room.

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Rethymnon (Crete) - Samaria Gorge Hike

Got up shortly after 5am to go hike Samaria Gorge. It was a lovely hike through a tall narrow gorge down to the sea.

From Rethymnon


From Rethymnon


From Rethymnon


From Rethymnon


From Rethymnon


From Rethymnon


From Rethymnon


From Rethymnon


From Rethymnon


Unfortunately, we didn't realize that they only ferry out of the town on the far end was at 5:30, where as we finished the hike at 3:30. It was basically your standard tourist town nightmare, and we didn't have our swimsuits with us. The beach was thick pebbles, almost impossible to walk on barefoot, but the swimming looked good with a fast fall off and decent waves. We considered going in wearing our clothes, but after not being allowed on the bus in the morning with a cup of coffee (some people have no mercy!), we didn't want to find out what they'd think of wet clothes. The swimsuits are going in day pack in the future!

From Rethymnon


The bus timing back was also kind of lousy and we didn't get back until around 9:30, and the sunset we wanted to see over the fortress was basically over. We walked around the fortress anyway though, it was nicely illuminated.

From Rethymnon


From Rethymnon


From Rethymnon

Friday, June 25, 2010

Iraklion (Crete) - Knossos, Archaeological Museum, City; Rethymnon - Beach

Arrived in Iraklion on Crete sometime before 6am and were off the boat around 6:30am. The long distance bus station was conveniently located right across the street from the docks. We left our big bag at the left luggage and got some yogurt and coffee for breakfast. Then we crossed the other street to the city bus station and caught the bus to Knossos.

Knossos is the mythological home of the Minotaur and the labyrinth where two young Athenians were sent for sacrifice each year. We arrived a good 20 minutes before opening, providing us lots of time to read the Rough Guide description, which was exceedingly harsh. Like at Delphi, little survived and most of what you see is reconstruction. However, unlike Delphi, what you see today is more the product of Evans' imagination than sound archeology. It was, however, pretty cool nevertheless. Unlike so many other romantics of his era, Evens apparently did not subscribe to the notion that classical building should consist of bare gray stone, and his "reconstruction" is full of color. In this sense, it may be more authentic than other sites we've seen, even if the details are large made up.

From Iraklion


From Iraklion


From Iraklion


The question is also raised for me, how much of what we've seen is authentic, and how much is questionable (or even well-supported) reconstruction? Is it my new brand of guidebook being brutally honest with me, or is Greece really into rebuilding its old sites more than other countries are. Are other things I've seen and marveled over their ability to hold up to the test of time actually just reconstructions? Stone Henge and the Pyramids have always been there, right? And only ever in better shape than today, right? Or have I been had?

Next up we went to the Iraklion Archaeological Museum, just as the rain really got going. Actually, the body of the museum has been closed for years for renovations, but they had their best stuff--including that famous fresco of the bull jumper!--on display in a single large room. Small, but great.

From Iraklion


From Iraklion


This is a board game.

From Iraklion


After the museum and the rain stopped, we made our way to the Platia Venizelou (Fountain Square) where we admired the fountain, then on to the Loggia where Josh hoped to find art, but instead found the Courthouse.

We then dropped briefly into the church of Ayios Titos, which was a mosque for a while in between being a church and being a church.

From Iraklion


Finally we wandered around El Greco Park looking for the cheap souvlaki places the Rough Guide promised, to no avail. Eventually we gave up and got lunch from a bakery. We got way too many sweets though. In a fit of excitement, Josh got 4 pieces of baklava for us to share, and Mary picked out a big piece of carrot cake which seemed upon eating it to have been soaked in honey. There is such a thing as too much of a good thing!

After lunch we walked down to the Venetian fortress on the water. Unlike so many other places we've been, this one felt like a genuine fortress. Not a palace, not a ruin, not a museum, just a plain honest fortress. With lots of canon balls.

From Iraklion


From Iraklion


From Iraklion


From Iraklion


We walked by what is left of the Venetian arsenals on our way to the bus station, where we retrieved our stuff and got on the 2:30pm bus for Rethymnon. Left luggage is a beautiful thing.

When we arrived in Rethymnon we went straight for the Youth Hostel, but the reception was closed to reopen in a half hour at 5pm. We got some gyros and waited around, then checked into a dorm. It's not one of the nicer hostels we've stayed in. It was the first without lockers. The owner just expected us to trust that no one would take our stuff because he only checks in cool people. And while I'm sure that most other travelers are honest, from everything we've read the person most likely to steal your stuff is another traveler, and the most likely place is from a dorm. Normally this wouldn't be a problem, it's not a big deal to carry all the valuables, but that doesn't work when you want to go swimming! Anyway, he did agree to lock them up for us, though from the size of the locker, this clearly isn't something he normally does.

We enjoyed swimming at the beach, although there wasn't much surf. On the way back we bought supplies to make ourselves Greek salad back at the hostel. We had planned to go down to the Venetian Fort by the water to see the sunset, but time got away from us and we didn't realize until a jogger staying at the hostel got back from her jog and told us all about what an amazing sunset it was and to be sure to see it tomorrow.

Turned in shortly after this with plans for an early morning, only to be awoken by loud conversation in the next dorm. The walls here seem to be paper thin. Also, we weren't able to charge anything since there was no plug in the dorm we were in. Like I said, not one of our better hostel experiences.