To get there we drove to the coastal city of Cesme and paid a mere 40 Euros for the return ticket for that one day.  The only frustrating thing was that we didn’t know to fight to get to the front of the passport control line and we were behind many Turks.  The Greeks have to hand-input all of the Turks’ information and this took up some of our precious time.

The rest of the island is well set up for a day trip.  We walked straight to a car rental place and rented one for the remainder of the day.  The lady even marked out the route we should take to get the most out of one day.  She was right, next time I would at least spend a weekend there.  One day really is not enough.

Our first stop was the Nea Moni Monastery, a UNESCO World Heritage Site (inscribed in 1990) along with two other monasteries from the same period and style.  It’s a good thing we started here, too, as the monastery closes at 1:00 PM each day.  We had about forty minutes to do the entire complex, which included the church and a small museum. 

I love hearing how the monks decided on where to build a new monastery.  For Nea Moni, three monks were looking for a new site to build upon when they discovered an icon of the Virgin Mary on a bush.  The icon is now located in the museum along with at least one copy.  Constantine, himself, footed the bill after he was named emperor according to one of the monk’s predictions.  Because of its lofty beginnings and favors, Nea Moni became one of the riches monasteries in Greece.

Evidence of this can be found inside the church where the background of the many mosaics is painted in gold. Some of the mosaics were very complete where others have been badly damaged, either from the Ottoman take-over or the earthquake that followed. 

Apparently the battle of Chios was extremely bloody.  One of the rooms inside the church has a glass cupboard displaying skulls and bones from some of the victims.

After the monastery, we drove to Lithio, where we ate lunch and swam in the warm water.  Along the beachfront were many restaurants, and we had our obligatory calamari.  Calamari, in Greece, is the whole squid cleaned and cut into slices, lightly battered and fried.  The tentacles are delicious, but you must remember to not swallow some of the cartilage, like the beak.

After swimming, we didn’t have much time, so we high-tailed it back to the rental car agency.  The girl had said she would be there to collect the car, but it was siesta time and the shop was closed up tight.  We had just a few minutes before our ferry was supposed to launch when she showed up, got in a fight with a parking policeman, and delivered us to the port.  A heart-pumping end to a relaxing day on just another Greek island.

As far as driving goes, we were impressed that lane lines were obeyed and there was minimal jockeying for position.  We did see a number of people speed through red lights, usually close to taking out a few pedestrians, and others honking for you to go at the end of a red light.  Other than that, the drivers seemed pretty well trained. 

The one oddity we noticed was on the highway.  For some reason, parts of the toll road go down to two lanes for two directions.  During these stretches, cars would drive on the shoulder in order to stay out of the way of faster traffic.  I think the country should add a couple of lanes, but it was awfully considerate of the drivers, don’t you think?

We drove from Delphi to Thessaloniki and on the way we pulled off for a swim and lunch at a random beach.  How did we choose where to stop? We pulled over to take a photo of an old fortress and followed the signs to the beach.  It all worked out beautifully, and we found a beach where I think we were the only foreigners.

Thessaloniki is a sprawling city, founded in 315 BC and named after Alexander the Great’s half-sister. Thankfully the road takes you right down to the water’s edge and an ocean promenade.  There are many cafes and bars, and a little inland the city plays host to many hotels and hostels.  We stayed at a pricey three star hotel that really isn’t worth mentioning, except that we just couldn’t seem to find anything better without cutting off an arm or two to throw into the cash register. 

There are two reasons that Thessaloniki was on our list.  The first is that Ataturk, the father of Turkey, was born here.  During Ottoman times, many Turks called Salonika their home.  Unfortunately, we were unable to visit his home as it is located within the Turkish Consulate which was closed.  After 1923, when Turkey won its independence, there was a migration of Greeks back to Greece, and Turks back to Turkey–I don’t know if there are many Turks left in the city today.  The other reason was the abundance of Byzantine churces, which I will write about in my next post.

As we walked around town, we immediately recognized the White Tower, the current day symbol of the city.  Built by the Ottomans in the early to mid-1400′s to help fortify the city, it was later used as a prison and was the scene of a bloody massacre.  After the massacre, it was called the Red Tower, but after the Greeks had an independent state, they white-washed it and changed its name.

We walked around the city just like its inhabitants and had snacks and drinks.  No one was having much else, because the people are still reeling from the horrible recession they have been living through.  We did try a snack that basically was a Mille Feuille or Napolean in a waffle cone.  It was a very sweet custard ladled into a cone, covered with a sugar glaze.

Lindos is famous for its acropolis. To get there you must walk or hire a donkey to go up the steep hill. As it was extremely warm, with the sun beating down on us, we decided to take the donkeys for 5 Euros each. They took us up in pairs, and our donkey handler was very talkative. I found out I was riding a pregnant donkey that the vet had said was overweight and she needed to work some of it off. That didn’t stop me from feeling really guilty as she climbed the stone steps to the acropolis.

The fortress and the view were absolutely stunning, but the acropolis columns were a bit disappointing. Everything was reconstructed, or in the process of being reconstructed and this took away a little of the wonder and awe we would normally have felt for the place. It was also overrun with tourists, so it was difficult to take a shot without people in it. (This always makes me a little grumpy!)

The village itself was beautiful. We thoroughly enjoyed wandering through the alleyways, perusing the shops, and visiting the Panagia Church of Lindos (Greek Orthodox). Inside were vivid frescoes depicting various scenes from the bible, and, as a sanctuary should be, it was a cool and welcoming change from the harsh sun outside.

Just 53 miles from Marmaris, Turkey, lays the largest of the Dodecanese Island, Rhodes.  Crawling with tourists, mostly from cruise ships, Rhodes is famous for its rich medieval history.  As you pull into port you are faced immediately with the formidable fortress walls built by the Knights Templar and Hospitaller (the Order of St. John).  

Long fought over, a wise, albeit greedy Genovese adventurer wanted Rhodes all to himself, so he convinced the Knights Templar that the Turkish infidels had to go.  Pope Clement V readily agreed with him, and in 1306 the Holy Wars of Rhodes began.  It took two long, hard years to wrest it from the Byzantine emperor Adronicus II’s grasp, but once won, the Knights built up the island and made it a major shipping port for the next couple hundred years.

We disembarked on a sultry June afternoon, ready to be wowed by this UNESCO World Heritage Site.  We were immediately impressed with the architecture and quaintness of the old town.  We had run into a snag at the Turkish port.  Even though we had paid in full, the port authorities had no record of this.  After a few panicked minutes, all was straightened out and we were allowed to board the ferry, but were implored upon to check our return tickets as soon as we arrived. 

We were met by Anne, an American-Greek woman who spoke Californian accented English, and she briskly set off to take care of us.  She loaded us into the oldest, most broken down jalopy of a car that I’ve seen in decades and whisked us off to our pension. 

There we were met by a French woman, named Celeste and given some ouzo as a welcome drink.  She proceeded to tell us where to go, what to see, where to eat, and much, much more on our grape-vine covered breezy terrace.  Already, I could feel the tension falling from my shoulders as we began to feel like this was truly a vacation.  We stayed at the Hotel Andreas right in the middle of the old town.  Delightful.

We soon headed out to see the fortress, St. John’s Gate, the archaeological museum, and just wander along the intermittently shaded or blazing hot alleyways of the old town.  We walked, we photographed, we feasted on Greek delicacies, we shopped, and we chatted with anyone who would talk to us.  In short, we had a blast.  It was wonderful not to have to have a car to see all the sights, and although jumping out of the way of the careening motor bikes added a bit of adventurism, we enjoyed the role of being a tourist and exploring someplace brand new.

One of the added benefits of being in Greece after a year in Muslim Turkey was….pork!  Oh how good it tasted at the local gyros stand.  We didn’t even mind having to sit on a curb while diving into the delectable pita covered tzatsiki, tomato, onion, and pork shavings.  Delicious!

Getting to Rhodes:  From Marmaris, there is a 45 minute catamaran that runs to Rhodes in the summer every day except Thursdays.  We booked on this website, but as I mentioned had a little trouble.  There were many people who just showed up at the dock and had room to go, so I’m not sure if pre-booking is even necessary.  The ferry leaves in the morning and returns in the evening, so we were able to see and do everything we wanted to do in just two days.