Greece: Rhodes

Steve and I are professional ferry riders. I have calculated the time: we have spent over 50 hours of this trip on them.

We arrived back in Fethiye from Pummakle to catch the ferry to Rhodes. It was a small, capsule-shaped vessel named "The Flying Maiden", named for the fact it rises one meter out of the sea as it drives. We settled into seats and tried to get comfy. We decided that some tea would be just the thing. It seemed like a good idea, but the hot liquid in our hands made us keenly aware of how bumpy the boat was. Even though there was a small table in front of us, we could hardly hold the cups up to our mouths without it bouncing around. As we were struggling, a sweet elderly lady came to join us at our table. She was having a similar problem with her coffee and hoped a surface would help.

Her name was Melissa. She is an American-Britt who lives on the island of Rhodes, and had been visiting Turkey with friends; a trip she does often. Her life was fascinating. She moved to Rhodes in the 60s with her sister and began a fashion company, after discovering the island on a holiday with her then-boyfriend. The girls designed clothes and her sister and brother-in law opened a weaving factory. At that time there was no industry in Greece and people were desperate for work. She said her business was great for everyone. Over time their business became a success and she profited. She made her home there and raised three kids. Although the island is beautiful, she said the only thing to do for fun in Rhodes was visit the cinema, although the English movies were overdubbed with loud Greek speaking, and they would have to strain their ears to hear the low-volume English words. She said because of those field trips, her children fell in love with cinema. Her kids are both now involved in the industry: a son who writes screen plays in Hollywood and a daughter who is a casting director in England. She spoke about her life and we listened, drinking up her adventures of living in Greece before it changed for tourism. She invited us to come and see her house in Lindos, which we were excited about.

When we got to the ferry port, we looked out and saw a huge stone wall fenced around the city. Rhodes is famous for its medieval stone castle. It was breathtaking against the blue of the sea.

The first day in Rhodes was spent walking around the old city quarter. Melissa would say the old city has been overcome with cheap Taiwan souvenir hawkers, and is now "absolutely dreadful". But we loved it. To us, it was romantic and exciting, and we looked beyond the flashy stores at the beautiful walls of the city, and the old stone cannon balls littered around. We walked through an ancient moat, now filled with bright flowers and lush green grass. It was beautiful.

In terms of Greek culture, we were surprised at how European it feels. However, because we didn't plan on being in Greece for long, we stuck to the main tourist spots and therefore I can't speak for the rest of Greece, but from what we saw the culture is very modern and western. It sometimes felt like we could have been in Paris or London, except for the Greek food, which is spectacular.


After walking around the city for a day, the next day we decided to rent a scooter and drive to Lindos. We really wanted to visit Melissa. It was a bit of a gamble though, it was an hours drive and we had a ferry to catch in the early afternoon.

The scooter rental place was a small, decrepit looking outfit. Our bike looked even worse. There wasn't a smooth surface that wasn't scratched, and when we started it the engine whined loud, complaining as if we woke it up. We were assured it ran great and took its looks as a warning of the hazards of driving on the island with so many inexperienced tourists. With that we headed for the highway.

The drive to Lindos on the scooter was amazing. The view of the sea was stunning, and when we got further inland we rode over scorched hillsides dotted with green vines for wine making. The city of Lindos is a traditional Greek village spilling over a hillside, shaded by an amazing castle and lookout tower. The waters below dug out a serpentine shape into the coast and looked inviting on the edge of a dark sand beach. We walked around for a bit and then looked at our watches. It had taken us two hours to get there instead of one.... Whoops. We also had to find a phone to contact our sleeping arrangements for the night because our ferry was set to arrive in Santorini after midnight and we hadn't had any luck confirming there would be someone there to check us in after hours. With such poor planning, Murphy's law kicked in and we had to wrestle with the booking agency to get ahold of our hotel to confirm our plans. It ate up our time in Lindos and we decided we didn't have time to visit Melissa. So, grumpily we slumped onto the scooter and headed back. We didn't want to add insult to injury by missing our ferry on top of everything else.

The ride back was extremely windy. It was hard to stay positive after being so frustrated and the cold wind made it worse. Always knowing how to cheer me up, Steve let out a loud howl. In the side mirror I could tell he was making a silly face. It wasn't long until I couldn't help but crack a smile. We spent most of the drive back making strange noises into the wind, and butchering the lyrics to some old rap songs from our high school days. By the time we returned the scooter our bellies hurt from laughing so hard.

We ended up making our ferry by the skin of our teeth. Although we felt a bit rushed and were sad we missed Melissa, we felt we had seen quite a bit. We were just happy to be in Greece!

Next stop: Santorini. Yay for a seven hour ferry ride....

Lindos:

Mmmmm:

Turkey: Pummakle

Pummakle means "cotton falls". Somewhere in the pages of a national geographic I chanced upon this magical place. I saw an amazing picture of white terraces brimming with baby blue water cascading down a cliff face. The picture is what first put Turkey on my mind as a place to visit, so it was an excellent place to end it.

Our bus pulled into the small town, driving toward the mountain. Through the windshield we saw a large, white mountain; It was confusing to our Canadian brains; we had seen a white covered mountain many times, only this time it wasn't snow. It took actually touching the hard white shell to convince our eyes that it was something else.

The town of Pummakle reminded us of Cappadocia, in that although the town was a tourist destination the people there seemed to keep their own Turkish identity. As we walked down the main strip we saw people carrying trays of Turkish tea, clear hourglass shaped cups full of steaming brown liquid. and shop owners standing store front with plastic tokens to pay for their afternoon refreshment. We loved that about Turkey.

When we finally got settled in our hotel, a small but elegant family run business, we purchased our tickets and hiked up the white slope. We were amazed at the texture; it was like God thought the brown mountain needed a dental cap. Thick white calcium coated everything in rough patterns where the water carved out microscopic trails. When we got to the bottom of the travertine we had to take our shoes off. The water was tepid and ran down very slowly. We thought it would be slippery, but a chalky white mud coated everything and felt almost like watery drywall plaster.

We got to one of the pools (man made to preserve the natural ones) and waded on. Many tourists were rubbing the white mud all over their faces, hoping to absorb some minerals and get a free spa treatment. However, Steve had read the water is somewhat radioactive and we felt weird about rolling around in it. In the end I was glad we didn't because my hands and feet were really dried out from what I had touched.

At the top of the Pummakle hill was an ancient city. There was a preserved ancient Roman bath house and a hot spring you could swim in that actually had old roman pillars sunken in the bottom. We thought about swimming, but it was plus 35 and the water was plus 36, so we decided against it. We didn't need anymore heat!

We walked up to the ancient theatre and climbed the staircase seating. The Turks were working on restoring it, which looked like hard work. After the theatre we just got lost for hours. The grounds are beautifully kept and it was less crowded than Ephesus. It was really spectacular.

Pummakle was the perfect place to end our tour of Turkey. Although we both seen a great deal of it feeling sick, we left wanting to go back to explore the traditional hub of Konya, and the eastern cities. We hope to go back one day, Turkey was an incredible place to visit, so diverse and the breeding ground for many religions, traditions, and cultures.


Next stop: Greece !

Travertines:

Ancient bath:

Ancient city of hierapolis:

Turkey: Selcuk

When I was a kid, my parents got sick quite differently. My dad would ache, moan, and complain. My mom would suffer in silence; when she had to nap during the day we new it was serious. I have always thought I am alot more like my dad in the way I express my discomfort. I am hyper aware of every ache and pain-- google has become my pocket doctor. I love me a good excuse to tuck the covers over my head and hide from the day, although I have enough will power most times to get up and power through. And I did, mostly.

Then Steve got sick.

He gets sick alot differently than me. Generally he doesn't get sick. When he is does, he hunkers down and rests. And drinks a ton of water. All there is to do is sit and wait it out.

We holed up like bandits in our smokey hotel room and tried to wait it out. I walked to the supermarket and bought a candle to make our room smell better and to add a homey feel. I brushed up on some internet TV and Steve sweated and froze in long cycles. I think we were both ready for our moms at that point.

Although he was sick, we did manage to get out and visit Ephesus, the great biblical city, which is said to be where St. John wrote the book of revelation. The city, which began as an ancient greek city and later a roman one, is in a sunken valley that used to be on the bank of an ancient sea that served as a major harbour. Through the years the sea has dried up, and the city is landlocked.The city fell away and was lost until rediscovered and excavated.

When we walked up to the main gates we were amazed at the piles of huge rock, each cut into cubes that belong to a giant puzzle. Organizations are slowly fitting them back together to restore the city , and parts of it are completed. The Celcius library, built by the mathematician's son in honor of him, is the most famous reconstruction.

It was an amazing feeling to walk down an ancient street. I tried hard to imagine the early christians that lived there, beinging visited by St. John and Mother Mary, who is said to have lived her last days in a house on the mountain above. So much time has passed-- an entire sea has been soaked up.

In the city we walked up to the tomb of St. John and around the fort castle that was built. The temple of John has been rebuilt as a bascillica and church many times. His tomb lies in the centre and people used to pilgramage there. Legend has it the dust that collects on his tomb has healing powers.

There was more to see around the city, but we were anxious to keep moving forward. We were coming to the end of Turkey and had to plan our trip to Greece. The hotel owner, a nosey gatekeeper who was always aware of our coming and goings, said he would give us the ferry timetables so we could figure out where we needed to go. We met with him, and before we knew it were whisked off to a travel office. The agent who helped us called the ferry and mapped out our ports. We had tired to research them before but the websites are all in Greek and Turkish, so we needed a locals help. "340 Euros" He said, looking pleased. "ughhh......" Steve said. He was slumped over in his chair, looking green from his flu and annoyed at getting duped into the whole visit. " We will have to think about it" I said. 680 Euros seemed impossible for just bus and transportation. At that point we were ready to skip Greece and fly straight to Italy.

"Ok, what is your max. I give you discount" He said.

The magic words. Discount. Whenever there is a bargain willing to happen you can bet you're not getting a good deal.

We left the office and went back to the hotel. The owner grilled us, hoping to collect a cut of the profit. "Still thinking about it" I said. We were happy to get out of there the next day, and even happier when we found legit ferry tickets for 30Euros a person. Gee whiz.

From Selcuk the last stop in Turkey is......Pummakle! One of our favorite stops. We had great weather, good health, and amazing sights.

Stay tuned!


Church of Mary:

Fountain of Savanah:

Theatre of Steve:

Celsius library:

Public toilets: (very public)

Cool rocks:

Tomb of st.john:

Turtles for lunch:

Tea for lunch:

Dutch facial hair:

Turkey: Fethiye

"Your husband Steve makes conversation easily." Said Agnes, a Dutch woman we met at our hotel in Fethiye.

We looked over at him. Surrounded by retirees, he was fishing off the back of a boat, small string in hand, wound around a plastic disk with a small weight and hook bated with a ball of bread at the end. He was the centre of attention, as usual. It made me smile.

We arrived in Fethiye and wasted no time making plans. Our host Ahmed was organizing a boat trip for a price we couldn't refuse. When we boarded, we looked around and noticed we were the youngest aboard, with an exception.

As the boat left port Steve and I spread out our towels on the bottom deck and settled in for some sun. It lasted about five minutes; a cute blonde Dutch girl came bounding over and cuddled right up next to me. She spread out her pink towel, put on her shades, and tried to do what I did. Before long we were fast friends and spent the day playing games on my iPad, eating dropies, and swimming in the freezing sea-- which I was reluctant to do at first, but her face was not a thing I could easily say no to!

Her name is Janika, and she was there with her mother and Oma on a girls trip. Oma had been coming to our hotel for 10 years with her husband, and this was her first without him. He passed away a few months ago.

Janika was a bright star. I was just beginning to feel better and her energy was contagious. Her mom Agnes noticed she wad similar to Steve-- she was outgoing, made friends and conversation easily. Her mom said if she was feeling shy all she had to do was set Jammica loose and they would make friends in no time. Agnes and I are similar in that way too.

After the boat trip we had many new friends and settled easily into retired life back at the hotel. Fethiye is a popular snowbird destination for retired Europeans-- the weather is warm, accommodation and food are cheap, and the town is quiet. At night Steve played guitar with Ahmed's 15 year old son, and I played cards with Oma and Janika. It made me miss the easiness of hanging out with my own family at home, but it was nice to spend time with new friends.

On our third day our friends left, so Steve and I decided it was time to leave the retirement compound and explore the city. We went to a large outdoor farmers market, and saw heaps of amazing produce grown in the fertile mountain valleys above Fetiya, where the majority of food for Turkey is grown.

We also took a Dolomus (local bus) to Oludeniz, a beach that is supposedly on the top five list for beautiful beaches. It's name means "dead sea" which is given to it because the water remains very calm in the bay all year, no matter how stormy it gets. The beach was not a disappointment-- it was amazing.

On the way home from the beach we stopped in Kayakoy which means "ghost town". It was originally the ancient greek of Carmylessus. Later, it became a Greek settlement. Throughout the years there was growing strife from the greco-turkish wars until 1923 when the countires decalred a truce. To create peace within their own countries the governments of Greece and Turkey decided on a population exchange. In Turkey there were greek christians who didn't want to assimilate as turkish muslims and in greece, turkish muslims who didn't want to assimilate as christians. Millions of people were exchanged between the two countries over a period of 4 years. The city of Kayaoku was abandoned and the government tried to settle a population of Turkish farmers there, but they refused to inhabit the houses because they needed to be in the flats to farm. Plus, there were rumors the Greeks poisoned the wells. Roots were never laid in the mountain city, so the houses and churches crumbled over time. It was a fascinating place. My imagination ran wild thinking of the lives of the people who came and left. Great songwriting material!

We finished our visit with more relaxation at the hotel, which had an amazing pool-- especially for the cheap price. We left relaxed and excited to see Selcuc, the modern situated beside the biblical city of Ephasis. More to come!



Farmers market

Farmers market

Turkish flag

Tomb Rock Carvings

Janika and me

Chalis Beach, two minutes from our hotel.

Oludeniz

Kayaoku

Kayaoku Models

Chalis Beach

Random hilarious dog.