Rhodes – 13th September

Tuesday 13th September was another wonderful day with a few surprises thrown in. We were up and about fairly early so we decided to check out and get an early bus to Lindos. We’d enjoyed staying at Summer Memories, although the WiFi wasn’t up to much, and would consider staying there again. The bus got very busy but by 10.30am we were in the super touristy town of Lindos. By complete coincidence an old school friend and her husband were going to be in Lindos today too so we arranged to meet up. Captain Caveman found us a nice little cafe called Eklekton and we went right up to the roof top terrace. I wasn’t feeling 100% so I just had an apple juice but Captain Caveman had something eggy on toast. Miraculously, Sam managed to find us easily and we caught up over a drink after almost 34 years. It was really lovely and of course there was lots to talk about – I bet Captain Caveman and Gerald, Sam’s husband, were in danger of having their ears start to bleed! Sam and Gerald didn’t have long to explore Lindos and we had to get to our next destination so we said our goodbyes and promised to meet up when I finally got back to Sheffield.

Captain Caveman and I had a short wander around the winding streets of Lindos with our backpacks on, and in midday sun, before stopping for a beverage. I had a grape smoothie (that’s not code for wine) and Captain Caveman had a Mythos beer at Pal’s.

We got a taxi from Lindos to Vlycha and ended up on the beach with our bags as the taxi driver didn’t know where our hotel was. Captain Caveman had very little cash on him so we didn’t get lunch at the beach bar, just a nice cold beer each. I’d spotted a turn off to our accommodation, Vlycha Beach studios and apartments, so we headed towards it. We checked in with the lady owner who was lovely, if not a little extraordinary. I had a dance with her on the balcony when she showed us our room and then she told Captain Caveman he had to walk to the top of a very steep hill for the nearest cash machine.

While Captain Caveman hiked in full sun, I relaxed at the hotel which was really lovely and one of my favourites of the trip so far.
When Captain Caveman returned we went for a wander to the small supermarket below then drank wine on the balcony until it got dark.
That evening, we walked a short distance to a new eatery called Gaea Beachfront restaurant and bar, part of the Lindos Aqua Terra resort, which looked fantastic. On the way we passed a working ATM machine which meant Captain Caveman needn’t have walked up the hill to the one further away. We ordered a bottle of the Cair Cabernet Sauvignon which was really good and decided to have a few dishes to share. The food was absolutely amazing and at a reasonable price, we even shared a dessert.

Rhodes – 11th & 12th September

I was feeling rather under the weather on Sunday 11th September and I couldn’t get out of bed. We’d left the party shortly after eating some birthday cake as I’d started to feel sick. I put it down to the gluten and dairy in the cake, at first, but as the morning went on I got worse. I got a message from Julio reminding me that I had drank a half bottle of white wine, 2 Proseccos and 2 large wine and sodas between 7pm and 1.30am. This was not that excessive for me, to be this ill, so I thought it was something else.
We were invited to a BBQ and pool afternoon for Steve’s birthday at a villa in the hills but I couldn’t go. Instead, I sent Captain Caveman off to party on with his newly acquired friends and I slept as much as I could. I had a high temperature, cramps and an excessive need to urinate. I kept going from hot to cold and didn’t like the light.
Captain Caveman came back in the evening to check on me and he had been having a great time. We sussed out that I was probably having an allergic reaction to something I’d eaten and we thought it could be whatever was in the sauce of the prawn dish that I shared. It was a similar reaction I had suffered on 2 separate occasions; one was caused by scallops, the other by clams in a lobster bisque.
Captain Caveman went back to the party and they had a lovely time, I went back to sleep hoping to be better tomorrow.

I woke up feeling weak but much better on Monday 12th September, we desperately needed to get some laundry done so we decided we would do that. Summer Memories hotel, where we were staying in Pefkos, didn’t offer a laundry service so we got a bus to nearby Lardos. After walking in the hot sun to the launderette and back, we met Michelle and Steve for lunch. I just had chips, Captain Caveman had a toastie, Michelle and Steve shared Gyros and a spring roll. The food was nice and not too expensive with a nice view of Lardos square. For dessert Captain Caveman and I went to the local bakery and ice-cream shop where I can’t recall seeing a happier Captain Caveman. He had 2 scoops of pistachio ice-cream in a cone, I had an apple sorbet.
We got the bus back and chilled at the hotel with a couple of glasses of our Lidl wine. It was actually really good for €3.50 but meant we didn’t have time to get in the swimming pool.

We went back in to town by bus, only €1.80 for both of us each way. We decided to eat at Valantina’s in Lardos which looked really nice. I got a table and ordered water and wine while Captain Caveman walked to get the laundry (€10 for a big bag full). I was surprised to see that there was a girl with a bikini top on and a guy without a shirt eating dinner behind me – it wasn’t that warm! I had a steak and Captain Caveman had a lamb shank which were both lovely and the pomegranate flavoured ouzo went down well.
Captain Caveman even had another pistachio flavoured ice-cream from the same bakery to finish off the night while I had an amaretto sour at Memories bar. The bar man let Captain Caveman bring his ice-cream in but then he had a beer to finish the night off. We got a taxi back, although it was tricky to flag one down, we were in bed before 11pm as we had a busy day tomorrow!

Rhodes – 10th September

We landed at Rhodes airport a bit later than scheduled so it was only minutes in to Saturday 10th September that we were in a pre-booked taxi. Our friends, Michelle and Steve, had recommended a nice little boutique hotel in Rhodes Town so we had booked in to there. We arrived at the old town taxi rank, by the port, at 12.30am and walked up the hill and winding cobbled streets to Evdokia where we had booked a double room. It seemed a tad frivolous to have spent €95 on a double room with breakfast but we had heard that Rhodes Town was expensive.
The room was upstairs and had the key in the door and a note with our names on because there wasn’t 24 hour reception. Our room was quite small and my first impression of Rhodes Town was that it was pretty but not great for disabled people. We had no running water so were unable to take a shower after a long journey and there was nowhere to get any drinking water. We put the AC on and went to bed around 1am, after getting messages from the owner to apologise about the water.
We were of the first up for breakfast at 8.30am and we met the lovely owner, Savvas. His omelettes are well known so Captain Caveman ordered one while I just had bread and jams, there were lots of different jams on offer. We checked out about 10.30am and went off to meet Michelle and Steve as planned, at the fountain down the road.

Steve & Michelle are the couple I met at Deep Blue Bar in Fethiye on a trip with my parents, Julio, Vanessa & Matt, Mark & Kate and have since been members of the Deep Blue Leg-ends (DBL) after Steve broke his ankle that night, on the dance floor. Captain Caveman was about to meet them for the first time as we had been invited for a meal tonight in Pefkos for Steve’s 40th birthday.
While Michelle waited for Julio at the port, Steve came to meet us at the fountain and it was great to see he was walking without crutches, albeit with a limp and still a bit of pain. It was great to meet up again and introduce him to my other half, he walked us through the cobbled streets and down to the ferry port. Here, we met up with Michelle and I was pleased to see Captain Caveman getting on with my friends straight away. We waited a while for Julio, the Turkish looking Italian Welshman from Fethiye, who was in the queue to be let in to Greece. He arrived a little disgruntled at the lengthy wait but happy to see everyone again and to meet Captain Caveman. We all walked to Michelle’s car where she had very kindly offered to give us a lift to Pefkos, we were even given a bottle of water which was needed after standing in the hot sun.
Our first stop was an absolute treat; Rhodes has a Lidl where our friends needed to call in to. It’s no understatement of how excited Julio, Captain Caveman and I were to see the prices of wine in there and we bought as much as we could carry. The most expensive bottle of Merlot was under €6 and the others spotted warm sausage rolls, which they ate by the car. Captain Caveman even went back in to price up and check on the cuts of pork, thinking we would take some back to Turkey.
Michelle dropped us off at our hotel, Summer Memories, which was basic but very nice while Julio carried on with them. We were a bit knackered and wanted to unpack and get ready for tonight as we knew it might be a late one! The birthday meal was booked for 7pm so we decided we had better scrub up and look lively. Michelle, Steve & Julio came to pick us back up at 6.30pm and we drove a short way to meet the rest of the party.

Philosophia Beach Restaurant in Pefkos was a gorgeous place for a birthday meal. We arrived in time to watch the sunset and meet the rest of the party over a refreshing drink. I ordered a bottle of white wine and some soda water while Captain Caveman had a beer. We took some photos but it didn’t do it justice, really. For dinner Captain Caveman had pâté, I had garlic mushrooms and we both had the pork for main. The food was lovely and I even did a little sharing with a guest to my right who had a prawn dish.
After the meal we had a champagne toast, of which I had two because Julio gave me his.

Our next venue was a lovely pub, near to where we were staying, called Pal’s. Here we had a wonderful birthday celebration with drinking, dancing and singing to the live act, who were absolutely brilliant. Most of us joined in with the frivolities, including Steve getting on the dance floor. It was a very merry night and we had a right old laugh – I even had some birthday cake which was so good and we were still there after midnight.