Beach Day in Rhodes, Greece
Hello! Happy Tuesday! I'm finally sharing photos today from Rhodes, Greece aka my fave place on Earth. Well, okay, that may be a bit of an extreme statement, but I did really, really love it there. I think it's my favorite trip to date.
How do I explain a place like Rhodes... Let's just say it wasn't what I was expecting, which is perhaps why I loved it so much.
While Adam and I were planning our honeymoon, we thought it'd be fun to split up the trip and focus on certain parts of it separately. In other words, our planning went like this: I booked our Airbnbs and activities in Athens, Milos, and London, and Adam focused on Rome, Rhodes, and Switzerland. (Switzerland was a bit up in the air though since we were staying with our friend Veronika and we basically did whatever she recommended we do... But it was somewhere Adam has wanted to visit forever, so I left most of those decisions up to him.) The surprises in each place were an added "hooray!" to our already awesome honeymoon. I loved the idea of arriving in Rhodes, not knowing what Adam had planned for us. I didn't even know what our Airbnb looked like!
Rhodes was the last place in Greece we visited. Athens was a crazy busy city, with lots of people everywhere, traffic, noise, etc. Then we arrived in Milos and it was the total opposite. Blue skies, hot weather, sandy beaches, and a slow way of life totally unlike Athens.
Rhodes, on the other hand, was a combination of the two, plus a little extra. We arrived at the airport in the evening and it was instant chaos. We found our cab driver and he was boisterous and chatting up all the other cab drivers, joking around in Greek, shaking hands, smoking, and taking Adam's phone around, asking each driver the best route to get to where we were going. The drive was intense. Fast, loud, with bustling streets on either side of us, and Greek music blasting from his speakers.
"The island of Rhodes is at a crossroads between Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. This has given the city and the island many different identities, cultures, architectures, and languages over its long history." (source)
The feel in Rhodes was so unique, unlike anywhere I've ever been. Lots of partying, graffiti, and wafts of cologne around every corner... But it's confusing because you're in this amazingly beautiful place full of ancient castles and cobblestone streets. When our driver dropped us at our Airbnb, all of these things were BOOM in our faces. It was sensory overload. Sort of like Vegas I guess, just not as many flashing lights, and way, way prettier. There was a strip club just up the road from where we were staying and a dance club on the street level of our building. BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM.
Disoriented, we walked through the crowd of people yelling at each other over the dance music and made our way in the dark up the winding hallway to our unit, using our phones as flashlights. There, we were greeted by... Not sure? Friends of the owner? We were told someone would be meeting us to hand over the key. A woman in her mid-fifties and a younger guy, perhaps in his early twenties. They were on speaker phone with the owner and asked for our passports so they could take pictures of them. They explained how to use the lock, briefly showed us around, and then they jetted out the door.
As soon as they left, Adam and I looked at each other wide-eyed and laughed, WOW okay, I guess we've arrived in Rhodes! We were definitely not in peaceful Milos anymore.
From our balcony, we could hear the BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM from the club, and we watched the waves crashing on the shore and the cars and scooters zipping around the roundabout on the road down below.
In the morning, we woke up to this view!! A much different scene than the night before. I highly recommend arriving at night when going to a totally new place. The surprises in the morning are so much fun!
This was the outside of our building. In typical Greek style, there were always lots of cats hanging around. Occasionally we'd see dogs, too. (Clearly well-fed.) *Ahem* Questionable graffiti on that wall...
Here's a photo of what the keys look like in Greece (and Italy). This is why she had to show us how to use it. I couldn't quite figure it out, so Adam was on key duty the entire time. Not quite as complicated as the keys in China, though! (There, a lock goes up into the ceiling. I locked myself in our apartment a few times...)
We rented a scooter for the duration of our trip, and the company we rented from delivered it right to our front door! I didn't feel as brave on the scooter as I did on the ATV in Milos, but I trusted Adam to get us around safely.
On our first morning in Rhodes, we ate breakfast at a restaurant called Dali Extraordinary Art Bistro. I'm a big Dali fan, so I was obsessed. The shop was beautiful! The pancakes I had were R - I - C - H, but so worth it! The lattes in Greece were delicious, too. My favorite Dali quote: "The only difference between me and a madman, is that I'm not mad!"After stuffing our faces, we scooted over to Elli Beach. Paradise! It was beyond gorgeous. Lines and lines of beach chairs, umbrellas, and outdoor bars are everywhere. I don't think I stopped smiling the entire time we were there.
After an hour or so of sunbathing, we thought we'd live it up some more and order a few drinks from the bar... Well, as you can see from the photo, I think we drank more water than anything else. Whoops. I'm just really not a big drinker! At least we tried...
There were quite a few people walking around the beach selling trinkets, snorkel gear, and jewelry. One guy approached Adam and tied this bracelet to his wrist. He didn't really have a choice, so he bought it. If I'm remembering correctly, he wore it for the remainder of our trip.
See the land behind us in the distance? That's Turkey! My friend Allison moved to Turkey last year, so I told her to keep her eyes peeled... We waved to her every now and then, lol. We definitely had a great first day in Rhodes!! As always, thanks for reading. xo