"The experience of this sweet life..."
Dante's Divine Comedy
The day started in ruins. Well, adjacent to ruins: The ruins of the ancient acropolis of Rhodes and the nearby stadium that has been partially restored for continued use by the community. ( I never quite realized how massive such stadiums were until we walked this one which we were told was not actually that large.)
We were to drive the area with Costas and Stelios to see a few of the interesting points of Rhodes. ( Insert fact that the latter has a Jack Russel terrier and his name went by so quickly that we were either going to be calling him Stale Toast or Russel. He chose Russel.)
We wound through the island hearing history and lore and stopped briefly to take a moment with a view of a tiny, tiny church on a steep, steep hill seemingly in the middle of nowhere...but isn't it always seemingly in the middle of nowhere that one generally finds God because there is less competition? This church is a site of pilgrimage that is walked by women experiencing difficulties in pregnancy.
They come here to pray to the Worthy Mother that they have a child or that they have a healthy child or that they experience fewer difficulties in their pregnancies. It is sometimes comforting just to know one is heard, but it is said that every woman who makes the pilgrimage has her prayers not only heard, but answered; this makes the long, difficult climb worth the effort.
After more bends and hills we topped a rise in the land that gave us a view straight out of a story book: The acropolis of Lindos rises like a jewel held in place by the close-gathered white houses at its base and the whole arrangement is set in rocky, rolling hills that give way to the blue sea.
This was about the time that Liberty announced she was not climbing another endless set of stairs to see a ruin.Period. When Russel suggested we could be carried up by donkeys, Lib relented and - accompanied by the strange sounds the donkey herds made harassing us up the acropolis - we were free to watch the landscape unfold below us until we reached the top of the acropolis to explore the ruins and only be able to grin at the beauty below us.
The walk down from he acropolis took us through narrow, winding, sometimes-covered streets lined with houses and shops and paved in elaborate patterns of smooth pebbles standing on end.
After the fashion of every wonderful thing in Greece, a meal awaited us:
Abanthe is a fish tavern near Lindos with a crisp, sleek white-and-blue design (the blue and red fish indicating the mens' and womens' rooms caused a chuckle) and a reputation for excellent fish.
We were allowed to the cooler to choose our lunch which was so fresh their eyes were still plump and clear and they were still slick from the sea. We had a fish called Rofos that lives among rocks and must be shot to be killed making it scarce. The flesh of the Rofos was tender, mildly flavored and bright white with a network of delicate black veins. The fish was prepared by bringing a stock of greens and vegetables to a boil, dropping the fish in to steam and taking the water off boil letting the heat slowly cook the fish for an hour.
As we waited for our fish, we had chick-pea fritters, hot freshly grated garlic on green beans, grilled sun-dried octopus with a balsamic reduction, a large salt-cured fish grilled and wonderful with ouzo, fired potatoes, dolmades (different here in being cooked with dill and lemon and stuffed with rice and mincemeat) and a salad of peppery roquette, cured peppers and olives unique to this village.
When the fish for the main course arrived we were all quite mellow with food and drink (Costas did say, "Here in Greece you are a little dizzy all day.") and Costas and Russel decided that TJ and I should have the delicacy of the fish eyes. It was not just like chicken and had a bit of a crunchy collar from the socket, but the taste was interesting enough and the Rofos was incredible.
A swim in the sea after lunch guaranteed that we didn't sink into a nap (Lib and I having a bonding moment in the changing hut). On the drive home - with Tonya, Liberty and Russel in that order in the middle seat of the vehicle - Liberty suddenly perked up looked sharply at Russel and asked (regarding a smell):
"Is that your gum?!"
Russel: (Looking frightened and rapidly spitting out the open window) "No!"
Amid roars of laughter we were pulled over by a policeman proving a point: One in one million speeding drivers in Greece does, indeed, get a reprimand.
All in all, a very memorable day.
(Steven Magstadt)
Dante's Divine Comedy
The day started in ruins. Well, adjacent to ruins: The ruins of the ancient acropolis of Rhodes and the nearby stadium that has been partially restored for continued use by the community. ( I never quite realized how massive such stadiums were until we walked this one which we were told was not actually that large.)
We were to drive the area with Costas and Stelios to see a few of the interesting points of Rhodes. ( Insert fact that the latter has a Jack Russel terrier and his name went by so quickly that we were either going to be calling him Stale Toast or Russel. He chose Russel.)
We wound through the island hearing history and lore and stopped briefly to take a moment with a view of a tiny, tiny church on a steep, steep hill seemingly in the middle of nowhere...but isn't it always seemingly in the middle of nowhere that one generally finds God because there is less competition? This church is a site of pilgrimage that is walked by women experiencing difficulties in pregnancy.
They come here to pray to the Worthy Mother that they have a child or that they have a healthy child or that they experience fewer difficulties in their pregnancies. It is sometimes comforting just to know one is heard, but it is said that every woman who makes the pilgrimage has her prayers not only heard, but answered; this makes the long, difficult climb worth the effort.
After more bends and hills we topped a rise in the land that gave us a view straight out of a story book: The acropolis of Lindos rises like a jewel held in place by the close-gathered white houses at its base and the whole arrangement is set in rocky, rolling hills that give way to the blue sea.
This was about the time that Liberty announced she was not climbing another endless set of stairs to see a ruin.Period. When Russel suggested we could be carried up by donkeys, Lib relented and - accompanied by the strange sounds the donkey herds made harassing us up the acropolis - we were free to watch the landscape unfold below us until we reached the top of the acropolis to explore the ruins and only be able to grin at the beauty below us.
The walk down from he acropolis took us through narrow, winding, sometimes-covered streets lined with houses and shops and paved in elaborate patterns of smooth pebbles standing on end.
After the fashion of every wonderful thing in Greece, a meal awaited us:
Abanthe is a fish tavern near Lindos with a crisp, sleek white-and-blue design (the blue and red fish indicating the mens' and womens' rooms caused a chuckle) and a reputation for excellent fish.
We were allowed to the cooler to choose our lunch which was so fresh their eyes were still plump and clear and they were still slick from the sea. We had a fish called Rofos that lives among rocks and must be shot to be killed making it scarce. The flesh of the Rofos was tender, mildly flavored and bright white with a network of delicate black veins. The fish was prepared by bringing a stock of greens and vegetables to a boil, dropping the fish in to steam and taking the water off boil letting the heat slowly cook the fish for an hour.
As we waited for our fish, we had chick-pea fritters, hot freshly grated garlic on green beans, grilled sun-dried octopus with a balsamic reduction, a large salt-cured fish grilled and wonderful with ouzo, fired potatoes, dolmades (different here in being cooked with dill and lemon and stuffed with rice and mincemeat) and a salad of peppery roquette, cured peppers and olives unique to this village.
When the fish for the main course arrived we were all quite mellow with food and drink (Costas did say, "Here in Greece you are a little dizzy all day.") and Costas and Russel decided that TJ and I should have the delicacy of the fish eyes. It was not just like chicken and had a bit of a crunchy collar from the socket, but the taste was interesting enough and the Rofos was incredible.
A swim in the sea after lunch guaranteed that we didn't sink into a nap (Lib and I having a bonding moment in the changing hut). On the drive home - with Tonya, Liberty and Russel in that order in the middle seat of the vehicle - Liberty suddenly perked up looked sharply at Russel and asked (regarding a smell):
"Is that your gum?!"
Russel: (Looking frightened and rapidly spitting out the open window) "No!"
Amid roars of laughter we were pulled over by a policeman proving a point: One in one million speeding drivers in Greece does, indeed, get a reprimand.
All in all, a very memorable day.
(Steven Magstadt)
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