The Rhodes less traveled by
The trip started with an hour
and a half drive to the Jacksonville airport where we met some of our trip
mates for the very first time. We
boarded the plane and headed to Philly where our whole group met and finally
took off on an exhausting ten-hour flight to Athens. Everyone was beyond tired
because at that point, most of us had less than am hour of sleep for the
combined two days of travel. We zipped from the airport to our dorms at the
American college of Greece (known to the locals as Deree), where we had just
enough time to unpack some of our clothing, take a much needed twenty minute
nap, and walk around down town. Running on pure adrenaline alone, we grabbed
our carry-ons and boarded a bus that took all twenty of us to the ferry. For most of us, that Friday night was the
best sleep we had gotten in days. We
woke up to the sounds of alarms going off, grabbed a shower and reported to the
deck at 11 am just to find out that the ferry was running on “Greek time” and
we would no actually board for another hour or so.
On the ferry:
Rhodes took my breath away constantly. Although we all
thought it was a little odd that we had to pay 6 euros a night for air
conditioning, we could not have asked for a more beautiful spot to stay. Our hotel was right across the street from
one of the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen and came with a pool and one
of the most amazing people I have ever met.
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| By the pool |
Who would have known that one could learn so many life lessons in
Rhodes, sitting on a bar stool, in a hotel, listening to the bartender. Over the course of two days, this man went
from being a bartender to a true friend who would do anything for us. We stayed up late talking to him about his
hardships moving from America when he was twelve (because his father died), to
Greece where he practically had to raise himself. He told us about his years of being a
bartender and how they taught him how to understand people by looking into
their eyes and listening to them. He
told us over and over “Silence is Golden” and not to judge people. Although I had heard these bits of advice
from many others, I had never truly understood the importance of them. When it came time to say our final goodbyes,
some of us could not help but cry knowing that had met someone who was willing
to fly to any part of Greece to help us out.
He looked us all in the eye individually and said, “When ever you need
anything do not hesitate to call me.
Athens is only 40 minutes from Rhodes. If anyone gives you trouble I am
part of the national guard and have 200 bullets.” Then we all laughed and he
continued “ but seriously know that you have a true friend in Greece. Now get to bed”. It was moments like this that make the trip. Who would have guessed that me, a good
Christian girl would become so close and learn so much from a middle-aged bartender?
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| From left to right:Hannah, Corey, Mano, Me,Brianna, Charlie |
Our first excursion took us to Lindos. We hiked a solid half of a mile in the
scorching heat to the top of the Acropolis of Lindos. The views were unbelievable and indescribable
to say the least. The ruins were beautiful
and it was so awesome to see something so old with so much history in
person. I had never experienced
something so beautifully aged. Our small
group of friends ate atop a restraint that overlooked the city of Lindos. We ended our day wondering through the
various shops that lined the walkways surrounding the acropolis.
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| At the restaurant. Left to right: Jimmy, Brianna, Allison, Me, Corey, Shanna, Katy. |
We headed back to our hotel, enjoyed the pool, showered
and headed into town. We took Mano’s
recommendation, the bartender, and ate at a place called Mezaz for dinner. I had Lahmantzoun, which is spicy minced meat
on a type of pastry pie. I thought the
white stuff that was served on the pie was sour cream, but it turned out to be
a type of yogurt. The restaurant
generously gave us a dessert that was “on the house”, pronounced “sargli”.
It was probably one of the best tasting
things I had ever had. Later that night
we went to watch the Greece v. Russia game.
Chase wanted to witness the game in the Grecian “atmosphere” so we
headed to a bar down a lively street that we would later fondly name “scary
street”. Every bar had some attractive
man or women that would aggressively approach our huddled group to try and convince
us that their bar was the best, offering free shots and a good time. We dodged each person carefully as we elbowed
our way down scary street finally making it to the end where we found ourselves
in a quiet bar surrounded with TVs. It
was so amazing to see how the streets lit up with fire works and proud Greeks
as they pulled out an unexpected win.
The next day, Sunday June 17th, we walked to
old town. Again it was so beautiful and
crazy to think that we were walking down medieval streets that had seen so much
history throughout their existence.
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| The group in old town |
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| Where we got "lost" |
In
our attempt to get back to the hotel, Mary,
Charlie, Katie Anne, and I found ourselves
lost within the city walls of the castle.
We all agreed that if one was going to be lost, this was the way to do
it. That night for dinner we went to a
place called the “blue lagoon” which consisted of tacky pirate decorations, mediocre
food, and the best dancing experience I have ever had. If you know me, you know imp no dancer but
with a little encouragement from my friends I danced my heart out and could not
have had more fun doing so. We all
pulled out the lawn mower, sprinkler, and the beloved twist. Laughing and singing along with the most
random mash up of American songs I had ever heard. We wandered down scary street again to a
crepe place and finished a beautiful day with my first crepe that I filled with
novella and bananas.
Our last full day in Athens we spent visiting new town
ate the most inexpensive and delicious chicken pitas ever and had an impromptu
photo-shoot on a graffiti wall. It was
so relaxing and liberating to walk the streets of Rhodes with out an adult or
someone telling us where to go or what time to meet somewhere, but I guess that
college for you .
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| The delicious chicken gyros |
I shared this glorious day
with some fabulous people (Allison, Corey, and Brianna), and I'm so excited to
have these girls as my friends!
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| The Girls and the Grecian sunset! |
We walked
close to 10,000 steps all over Rhodes.
Although it was a perfect day, the sunset that night was my favorite
part of Rhodes. I am a sucker for
sunsets and this one was the most majestic thing I have ever witnessed. The perfect ending to a perfect day was
having yet another photo-shoot with these beautiful ladies. We found a rock out in the ocean and it
should come as no surprise that we took full advantage of its positioning. This is one of those moments in your life
that is hard to explain to someone who wasn’t there to witness it for him or
herself, but I can honestly say that I will never forget that moment for as
long as I live. God is truly good.
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| Archeological Museum |
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| Temple of Athena |
We hit the Archeological museum in old town first. It was full of recovered statues and monuments, pottery, and items from the Bronze Age. Next we went to the temple of Athena and the big cross. Our next stop was the ancient ruins of Kamiros. It was really amazing to see the outlines of the old houses that used to stand in the same spot we were. It was weird to thing that someone once lived on the opposite side of the wall I was sitting on. Lastly, we went to the valley of butterflies, which ironically is where a species of moths flock to because it is colder than surrounding areas. It was so beautiful! Sorry I keep using the same adjectives but its so hard to describe the beauty of the island Rhodes.
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| Kamiros |
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| The Big Cross |
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| Valley of the Butterflies |
Back to the ferry it was. We weren’t as exhausted as the first time but it was pretty close. Most of us fell asleep pretty quickly knowing that we had to get off the boat by six the next morning. As I am writing this now, I can still feel the boat moving. crazy to think that these experiences are all just
memories now, moments in the past that are never to be forgotten. I am excited to see what the coming weeks
have in store for us. I went to Rhodes
expecting to check one thing off my bucket list but checked so many unexpected
things off in the end, living out some of the most amazing moments in my life
this far. Delphi theater, you’re my next
check, here I come!
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