Greek Heaven
Greece has been a long time favorite destination of my mother’s. Her love for this country is unmatched by any other place in Europe, especially during the summer months.
We decided to come to Rhodes not by any previous desire to come to this place specifically but by considering affordability along with our already established love for Greece and its islands. A different manner of travelling, where you do not choose your destination first but you try to find the best deal or most affordable option that inspires you. So in a way we don’t choose the destination but the destination is chosen for us. At least most of the time. And to be honest this way of traveling has been one of the most rewarding things I’ve embraced.
The holiday started after a three and a half hour flight when me and my mom picked up our car rental and began driving to the accomodation we had booked. After about 15 minutes of driving we couldn’t handle the wait and decided to stop somewhere and have a swim before continuing our journey.
I suggested we stop by a place I had previously saved on Google Maps called Anthony Quinn Bay. A gorgeous parasol and sunbed dotted beach with a bar and a restaurant. I appreciated the calm waters and the free shower to rinse off the salt and was the most perfect start to our trip.
After a refreshing swim, we continued our journey by car to Pefkos where the apartment we had booked was awaiting our arrival. The whole place was made up of six or seven apartments divided between two white houses surrounded by a beautiful dry garden with flowering bushes, sunbeds, parasols and a small swimming pool to share between all the guests. I was absolutely stunned by how perfect the place was. It was so tranquil and quiet, the view was amazing, and we even had a little terrace just in front of our apartment with a table and some chairs where we ate our breakfasts every single morning.
Later we walked down to the beach closest to us, which was about a 5 minute walk downhill and spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying the mediterranean sea.
For dinner we tried out the only restaurant in close proximity to the beach. We ordered a greek salad (of course) and a sea bass which both ended up being absolutely delicious. Especially the fish. For 24 euros they brought us a huge platter with a huge grilled fish, some lettuce and some grilled vegetables. Fresh, delicious and very very worth it.
On day two we decided to visit a small town called Laerma, located inland, that our host recommended if we wanted to see something more authentic and local. The road to the town was almost completely carless and the town itself also seemed quite deserted. Although the inhabitants were probably just hiding from the intense heat in their homes.
After walking around a little bit, we stopped by what seemed to be the only open cafe in town and drank a greek bottled lemonade or limonata.
We continued our journey a little more inland and ate lunch at a restaurant I had wanted to visit. To our surprise this restaurant turned out to be a local gem, where importance is being put on tradition and sustainability. Almost all the ingredients are sourced within the island and they try their best to support the community by providing jobs to the surrounding area and by supporting local manufacturers.
The food was fantastic. We ordered a greek salad (of course), a plate with different kinds of greek bread, tsatsiki, lamb meatballs, an aubergine spread and grilled lamb chops. It was so good that you could almost taste the years of family tradition. The aubergine spread really stood out for us. It’s texture was between a creamy sauce and a fresh salad. Considering I don’t usually like aubergines that spread really made me rethink the vegetable.
Our third day was spent at the beach. We wanted to completely relax and avoided doing anything very active, apart from swimming in the sea of course. I read my book, had some screen time on my phone, did my Duolingo, ate gyros for lunch and tanned a little too much apparently cause I ended up getting fully burned.
Because both me and mom got burned we decided to do something that would allow us to be in the shade or out of the sun on our fourth day. We visited Rhodes City which thankfully was dotted with trees and buildings that gave us excellent refuge from the sun. We visited the palace, the archeological museum and went shopping for some leather sandals as Greece is known for its long trandition of leatherwork.
On our way back we stopped by the Kallithea Springs, an old luxury spa turned beach club and event venue. Beatiful architecture, paved pathways through pretty gardens, a bar, a restaurant and masses of sunbeds and parasols. Thankfully we visited right before they were closing and got to enjoy the place and its beauty without the crowds.
Our fifth day day was another beach day where I made sure to spend most of my time in the shade to not get another sunburn. We went early enough to experience the first rays of sun and the silence of the morning hours.
In the afternoon we returned to Amfialos restaurant for a very late lunch, actually it was almost dinnertime. I tried the delicious Prawns Saganaki and my mom had a sea bream. Again, the food was amazing.
In the evening we visited the beautiful town of Lindos, probably the most picturesque town on the island of Rhodes, consisting of white houses around a mountain, a castle ruin on the top and gorgeous clear blue water beaches at the bottom of the mount. This town seemed a lot more touristic and was mainly made up of luxurious AirBnBs and shops. We enjoyed a crepe for dessert and ended our day with a nice drink at the beach.
On our last full day of this vacation we visisted Butterfly Valley, a beautiful gorge with a running river and thousands of “butterflies” (quotation marks because they were actually moths) with black and white striped wings with a beautiful orange colour popping out when flying.
We finished our day buying some fresh Greek salad ingredients to bring back home because the vegetables compared to back home in Belgium are like ten times more flavourful. Finally we ended our day by going to our beach and again ate at Amfialos restaurant because we really loved it and ended befriending the lovely waiters and the chef to whom we asked plenty of questions about life on the island. We learnt that people who work in tourism only work 6 months out of 12, and are financially supported by the government during low season. At least in Rhodes.
For our last dinner we ate moussaka and fried baby calamari.
The next day we woke up very early to get to have a last swim in the sea before heading to the airport to catch our flight and head back home.
I really appreciated this trip, especially after a stressful exam season, and one thing that really stood out for us about Rhodes was the people. We found the people on the island to be particularly kind, especially compared to other places in Greece that we had visited in the past. I highly recommend visiting the island and June seemed to be the perfect time to do so, the heat is still not at its peak (although it was already very hot) and the amount of tourists is still low enough to enjoy the calmness of the island.