The Old City of Rhodes


Wednesday evening, October 3, 2018

I think we’ve begun the recovery from the trip here.  Everything went as scheduled,  but it was not easy.  We left Rochester Monday at 11:45 AM for JFK, connecting, after a 7-hour layover, to a non-stop to Berlin, connecting to a 3-hour flight to Rhodes.  We arrived Tuesday evening at 7 PM Rhodes time.  The Berlin airport was a surprise—old, not at all user-friendly, with surly police, a decrepit building, and a very unusual way of doing things.  It was explained to us that there are no check-in counters for any of the airlines!  Because Germania Airlines, which flies from Berlin to Rhodes, is not a Delta partner, we had to collect our checked bag and re-check in.  But with no counter, you need to check in at the gate when you go to board the plane.  OK, but there’s no waiting area, no seats for people who have three hours to wait between flights.  When, finally, the gate opens for check-in, two hours before flight time, there’s a line of a couple of hundred people trying to do the same, and there were only two people at the counter.  We stood on the line for an hour.  We will remember not to fly through Berlin again if we can avoid it.

We’re staying at an absolutely lovely inn within the walls of the old city.  Breakfast this morning was in the garden.



After breakfast we wandered the part of the old city which is the most touristy, with loads of shops.  This area is close to the docks where the cruise ships tie up, and the streets were packed with tourists.  


Just off of the main touristy roads, however, are the winding small streets and old buildings with quiet and charm.




We had lunch in a delightful vegetarian place recommended by Nikos, the proprietor of our inn, and then came back for a nap.  Mine was short, but maybe I should have slept longer—I aggravated myself by reading Woodward’s Fear in the lovely garden.

Dinner at a nearby restaurant was delicious.  Joyce had Pastahiuts with a Rhodian recipe, that is pasta, lamb, tomato puree, olives and Graviera cheese:


 Victor had another traditional Rhodes recipe of Lamb Kapamas—lamb with curry-flavored rice and finely chopped lamb liver:



Tomorrow, more exploration of the old city as well as some of the new city.

Comments

  1. Rwa442October 4, 2018 at 3:13 PM

    Old Rhodes look very interesting. Meals look wonderful. The trip over looked very daunting. Which airport in Berlin, Tagel?

    ReplyDelete
  2. xctravelerOctober 5, 2018 at 7:32 AM

    I'm tired already reading this post, and we don't leave until Saturday! I will take advice and avoid Berlin! Why would you read Fear while on a trip that ought to take you out of the fray for a bit. We just voted - absentee - Texas!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Victor PoleshuckOctober 5, 2018 at 8:33 AM

      Can't stop reading about the Supreme Court battles, either. Sometimes technology makes for greater anxiety. In the old days I was able to let a vacation be a vacation. Now, not so easy. Travel well, Paul.

      Delete

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