Breaking In Barcelona

My first trip after leaving Barcelona was to Rhodes, Greece. I went to this particular island because one of my best friends, Jackie, has a boyfriend, Alex, doing a study abroad program there. So she met me in Barcelona and we hopped on over to Rodos. Here's what we saw along the way....

Pretty pretty, huh?

Upon arriving, Alex arranged for us to stay at a hotel out in the middle of nowhere with no hot water or functioning showers (only a faucet to bathe in...) that had been owned by the same old couple named Sam and Ellen, for the last thirty years. However, it was the best accommodation we could have asked for. There was a beautiful pool, Sam and Ellen were the nicest people ever (although they spoke no English we were able to communicate) and Ellen cooked breakfast and dinner for us every day and it was the best homemade food I've ever had!
This is Sam:

I wish he would have smiled showing his one tooth!

Jackie and Alex in our hotel pool:

The Countryside:

The town of Rhodes:

Giant beer boots!

Ancient Ruins:

We spent quite a few days at the beach...
These pictures are of the Lindos area of Rhodes, which had the most beautiful beach I've ever been to. Totally tops Kauai.


The above picture shows the whitewashed village above the beach, and the ancient Roman castle above that.

We also went to a beach called Tsampika and then drove up to a monastery on the top of a hill that overlooked the beach.
This is Jackie's eye reflecting our beach umbrella:

View from the monastery:


Tsampika Beach:

Classic Greek Church:

Finally, possibly the best part about Greece... the gyros at 4 a.m.:

Yummmmmm....

So to sum it all up, Greece was a really cool place, actually a lot cooler than I expected. I thought of the European version of Hawaii, I suppose, and thus awaited a completely Americanized party beach scene in all corners of the isles. Yet most of Rhodes seemed "untouched" and functioned probably really similar to how it did 100 years ago. In the smaller towns, the older men sit out in front of the cafes smoking cigarettes and drinking all day over a game of cards, and walking by them you can't help feeling like they look at you as though you've arrived out of a time warp.
Last but not least, did you know that the feta cheese we have in the States isn't even real? They use cow's milk (of course) instead of sheep's milk, the latter of which is the correct way to make it. That and the olives are untouchable in their deliciousness by anyone else but Greece, I believe.
Stay tuned for my next stop: Roma, Italia...
Until then,
xoxoxoxoxo