A day in Rhodes

Symi may not be magical... For us it came as close to that status as any destination could.... We leave with a touch of sadness on the 6:30 slow boat to Rhodes...

Still blearied eyed... Still without our early morning coffee... The ferry which rested it's weary bones in Symi overnight is practically bankrupt of human cargo... It's cavernous vehicle decks empty save for a lone motor cycle...

We share the passenger salon with three others... penguin number one orders coffees while penguin number two tries to encourage his being to accept that it is morning and that it really does need to shake off its slumber.... He comes to life with a pleasant surprise... Sometimes in life you meet people that you know are genuinely nice individuals... How do you recognise their inherent goodness... It is something to do with the way their soul radiates beyond the barriers of the body... One of the young waiters at Cafe Aris in Symi had a soul that had this ability to radiate... So why have I deviated to talk about this young Albanian waiter toiling away on a Greek Island... Because Penguin number one returns with her coffee in her hand.. No coffee for me .... A hand touches my shoulder from behind... A coffee appears in front of me... The Albanian waiter is having his once a fortnight day off and is heading to Rhodes for the day ... He has intercepted penguin number one... Taken the coffee and proceeded to serve me with a grin... It was a touching gesture...

The tourist season has begun... The port of Rhodes is unrecognisable from the one we left a week ago... Drop the bags at cava d'oro... Stroll the old town ... Starving... The orange bar looks ok .... The Greek woman tells Bernie... She lives in Sydney for 10 years.. Came back for a holiday... Never returned..


Watch the cobbled streets of the old walled town transform in the half hour before 9:00... The empty shuttered cobbled streets become centres of commercial endeavour... Street after Street...lane after lane... Hole in the wall after hole in the wall... This is how you preserve the largest medieval town in europe... Turn it into a huge continuous Sunday market.. Support the market with pensions.. Restraurants... Cafes... The medieval hospital turned into an archelogical museum... the ruins of churches and fortifications abundant... Wander and wander... Lane after lane... Be accosted by spruikers... Coffee... Tea... Beer... Wine....

We emerge from the old town ... A train tour of Rhodes... The new Town.... The acropolis... Past the Roman stadium... The beaches... The colours amazing... The sea blue... Blue... Dark blue... Light Blue... Blue... 125000 people.... Tourists... tourists... tourists and a few more tourists... The beaches still not full... The season has just begun says the café owner... First day open he says... We sense our timing is good...

 

A post siesta stroll into the centre of the old town ... That cafe looks ok for a drink... Wrong.... wrong... Wrong.... Cafe Moscow.... Looks good from a distance... Up close... Dirty... Cats... Birds... Expensive... These are apprentice for the Russian Mafia.... We escape...








Back to the entrance gate... restaurant clean ... Greek food... Fantastic... Butter beans... Gyros... Stiffado... Fantastic...fantastic...

Penguin number one loses control... she joins the spruiker... Singled handed she attracts in 12 customers... I offer your wife a contract for next year says the spruiker... She is rewarded with an apricot apperitife... She is engaged by the German, Austrian, Dutch and Danish customers she has shanghai'ed...where are you from... Where are you going... So far ... So far....

Pay the man Laurie... Penguin number one is assisted home by penguin number two...


The winner of the Symi "name the tourist" competition has been announced... The judges had great difficulty but come down on the side of the entry submitted by the Royal Family... Their entry.. "Miss best not to comment" was considered to embody all the aspects of good taste and decorum that could be expected of a family with such impeccable credentials...

Further to the subject of the Symi "name the tourist" competition while we are no closer to the true identity of Miss best not to comment I am now confident that she is in fact a stallholder from central square of old Rhodes Town on a day off in Symi ... This must be case since those that remain on duty in the square bear exactly the same physical appearance and are inclined to an identical form of dressing...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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