My September Adventure in Rhodes, Greece- Part 1

So here I go, my first foray into international travel writing. I hope you will enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it and by its conclusion, be tempted to visit the beautiful Greek island of Rhodes yourself.

Greece, the land of Myth, Odyssey, Gods and Goddesses involving themselves in the lives of us helpless mortals. There is a certain magic that comes to mind when we think of Greece. Swaying olive trees, sunshine and sea. In my mind I had never been to Greece “properly”.

I’d been to Kavos as a 19-year-old on the island of Corfu, the one trashy holiday all of us teenage Brits must have as a rite of passage. But that obviously wasn’t a cultural outing. It was promoters selling you drinks, glow sticks and debauchery. A bubble of intoxicated tourists looking to party by the sea. The opposite of class. The sort of place where I did enjoy a sunrise by the ocean but had to ignore the used condoms floating in the surf like disappointed jellyfish.

The second time I got a taste of Greece with more authenticity and exploration of the culture was after university. I was older and wiser and had an all-inclusive trip with my first serious boyfriend to the Greek side of Cyprus. However, as any Greek Cypriot will protest, Cyprus is different and separate to Greece.

So finally, I was to experience Greece in a mature way, with my best friend of well over a decade who had never been herself (I shall refer to her in this account as T). It was our first holiday together. We decided that our failed previous attempts were simply not meant to be, giving this trip even greater significance.

We've all heard of Santorini or Mykonos, the well known sweethearts of the Greek islands, but there are so many beautiful and less expensive ones to visit. Rhodes, we were soon to discover, is one such hidden gem steeped in its own rich, unique History and still offering an abundance of ocean views. I would definitely recommend booking for early September if you possibly can, still hot but without the exorbitant prices of the school Summer holidays (it averaged about 24 to 27 degrees Celsius).

We got a package deal on Booking.com through TUI for 5 nights including flights, transfer and hotel. It came to just over £600 each including the later baggage allowance we added on. The site also let us pay in instalments, which I’m sure anyone wanting to book their holiday here and now in advance, as opposed to last minute and expensive, would appreciate.

After a turbulent first half of the year, the day of our trip finally arrived. Luckily for me, T is also the kind of person who likes to arrive at the airport early, to be efficient and on time. We are both anxious travellers that cancel each other’s anxiety out to an extent, one always remaining calm, neither judging the anxiety of the other. I was so glad to be in the safe hands of my best friend as I reflected on the last time I flew from Gatwick. It was with the person who would shatter my faith in men into a million pieces. This fleeting reverie was broken by a well-known British tradition that brought me back to my seat. The clink of pre-flight glasses of subpar, acidic wine at an inappropriate time of the morning. “It’s 12 O’clock somewhere” as the Brits in holiday mode say.

The flight to Rhodes is about 4 hours. I spent much of this time diving in to a book I thought apt for the trip. It turned out to be one of the best books on Greek mythology I’ve read, focusing on the representation and crucially misrepresentation of the female figures in Greek myth that are often overlooked. “Pandora’s Jar” by Natalie Haynes, if you fancy diving in yourself.

When we finally landed in the humid heat of Rhodes airport, we managed to get through quickly and efficiently. We followed TUI’s clear signposting to the minivan that would take us to the Matoula Beach Hotel. The ride was punctuated by a mishmash of random 80s songs and flashing window lights.

As we were serenaded by the Ace of Base classic blasting out “all that she wants is another baby”, we passed quaint white walled buildings. This is a staple of hot countries that need to reflect the heat of the summer sun and often imagined when thinking of Greece. We passed several small churches on our way and a surprising amount of car rental dealerships with English titles but in fonts trying to imitate Greek letters. It would soon make sense. For tourists, who didn’t have their own cars, this particular area would turn out to be a place you couldn’t easily navigate on foot or via public transport. After a short drive, we reached the start of our adventure.

We were pleasantly surprised to find that it was, in fact, a four-star hotel. The desk clerk was incredibly attentive, explaining every possible detail of the hotel and our stay. Great customer service though maybe a little too detailed after a long flight. This is when we found out a piece of information you should be aware of. There is a tourist tax charged per room (as opposed to per person) which amounts to 0.5 to 4 euros per night depending on the hotel, It's paid directly to the hotel outside of the cost of your stay. So not an exorbitant amount but still good to be aware of. We would pay this in the morning, for now, it was time to relax.

To start off our Greek adventure, we decided to go poolside for a drink. This was when we felt that we had truly “arrived”. The hospitality of the bartender was warm and inviting, the drinks refreshing and the bar open till 1 am. I believe the bartender’s name was Panagiotis, with the nickname of Pan. I later found out that the full name was a Christian reference but Pan made me think of the Greek Myth of course. The mischievous Greek god of shepherds, in this case herding foreigners to the bar, as Pan was of course closely associated with Dionysus, the god of wine.

We lounged beneath giant palm trees that fluttered every so often with the nights breeze. A bright pink flamingo inflatable made a solo voyage across the brightly illuminated pool and a black and white cat comfortably lounged in the middle of the path as if he owned the place. The bartender cheerfully informed us that this proud, feline, hotel manager was aptly named Zorro.

*

*

Follow along and stay tuned for part 2 of my Greek adventure! Any hearts appreciated if you're enjoying my journey so far. Don't hesitate to let me know your thoughts in the comments as well as anything else you might like to see written about!

Next Posts in the Series: