7/12 super tired at work. bahhhhhhhhhh
7/11 (Sunday)
Woke up at 7, showered, grabbed breakfast, and got the bus to lindos. Lindos is on Rhodes and is about 56 km away…Turkey was 10 km from the beach outside our hotel (I wanted to paddle boat there…we had our passports).
The bus ride to Lindos was nice- amazingly all the commuting/bus rides which usually are 30 min-2 hours never seem long. It’s actually really nice to just plug in my ipod, look at the amazing views, maybe nap a little, reflect on the trip so far etc. The views are always awesome on these bus rides bc usually we end up going along the coast at some point.
Got to Lindos- climbed to the Acropolis there. The climb was nice- there were more ramps than stairs so more horizontal distance. Rhodes was generally much more European/Easter (Italian/Byzantine) than Greek. Lindos was more like a traditional Greek island in that it has the white houses etc. Lots of bougainvilleas everywhere. It was surprising there seemed to have been a lot of Swedes/Scandinavians- much more so than in any other place- so many blonds! it's like i was hallucinating draco malfoy's, also like i was hallucinating out of tiredness.
The view from the Acropolis in Lindos was gorgeous. There was a secluded cove and then of course the ocean. The ocean is so pretty! It’s really sad that it never comes out in pictures because part of the beauty of the ocean is that it’s always moving/reflecting light but because it’s so big it the changes seem really small. It’s cool. Anyway also a nice view out onto the town.
Rhodes in general (including Lindos) had a lot of medieval ruins. Around the Acropolis was a medieval wall. The Acropolis was a nice walk/view and the medieval walls were cool but the acropolis itself was not well preserved at all (most of it is a reconstruction).We stayed on the Acropolis for a while, then we went down to get lunch. We were going to beach but we decided to do a long lunch instead, enjoy the view, conversation, food, etc. We went to a roof restaurant on the third floor which had a nice view. They had a great set menu of salad, vegetable platter/lamb chops (marj/I each ordered one and split), and ice cream for 9 euros. It was yummy. We had fun chilling/chatting. Then we went back on the 1o’clock bus to Rhodes town. From there to the airport.
At the airport it sucked bc the 4:4 5 flight only had 3 seat s (there are 5 of us). We knew there was a chance not all of us were going to make it bc we have to fly standby basically since we’re going for free. Marj had to be at port at 8 so she went. And it was Ray’s friend (naz’s) last night in Athens so they went. So angela and I had to stay till the 11 o’clock flight. We went back to our hotel thinking we’d take a nap by the pool. We got there and thought it would be fun to see a movie so we walked 30 minutes to the movie theater but the only movie we wanted to see (sex and the city 2) started at 7:45 meaning we wouldn’t make our flight. Instead we had a really long/yummy Chinese dinner. I got yummy garlic prawns and demanded they add veggies (in particular bamboo/shrooms of course). We were nervous about making our flight bc the bus to the airport only left at 10 and took way longer than expected. Then at the airport we had some problems bc we didn’t get transferred to the flight and ray never gave us our ticket information/he wasn’t picking up his phone. Barely made it on, made it to Athens, took the bus, walked, made it home by 1 am. Really sad I missed the world cup finals though. Also really sad that I got minimal/non-existent sleep. It was a really fun weekend though- so it was definitely worth it.
7/10 (Saturday)
Saturday/Friday are sort of one giant day in my mind. We left at 5:20 am for Rhodes. Got to Rhodes/our hotel at 7. The trip was a little last minute so at 3 am Saturday we booked it right before we left- which obviously is cutting it close. We got there and they were like the availabilities on line weren’t right- she would have to talk to her manager at 9:30 to check. So we went to get breakfast (since I never slept and was super hungry I got a tuna crepe…so more like lunch for me). Angela/Marj/I went to sort things out at the hotel.
'Then angela napped by the pool, marj/I wandered new town and looked at stores. Around 12 we went down to the beach. Swam, joked around. I tried somersaulting in the water and asked marj if it worked. She said it looked more like a sideways hamburger or rotisserie chicken haha. We were also discussing our various tans. Marj described herself as a sugar cookie- gold on the edges and white in the middle (she's impressed she tanned at all). I described myself as "a hash brown, straight up golden." I think it's indicative that when trying to compare ourselves to something both of us pick delicious, fatty foods. Then we went back to grab lunch bc we wanted to go beaching in lindos instead that day. Lunch was delicious. I had smoked salmon on a poppy seed baguette with yogurt-dill spread, onions, tomatoes, lettuce, cucumbers, and pickles. Delicious. Food in Rhodes was MUCH cheaper than Athens/elsewhere in Greece.
Then we went to old town which was really cool. It’s an excellently preserved castle from 7 century AD I think. It's really gorgeous and fun to wander around. They had some nice exhibits on the history of Rhodes (ancient greek, medieval, crusaders, byzantine, Italian). I really love seals/crests etc. There were various crests built into the walls and they had a display on the crests that they knew who they belonged to. It's nice getting specific details about the people of a time (Krames probs is the reason I enjoy this so much, he always focused on primary materials and random people for us to learn about a period). Also coins are really cool- Liz is really into them which is nice because she can explain stuff. They survive really well and tell you about current events/what's going on at the time. The colossus of Rhodes is so sad bc it was only up for 66 years and no one is sure of what it looks like- it's one of the ancient wonders of the world.
After old town we wandered around then headed back. Had a really nice 3.5 hour dinner. Our restaurant was basically on the water. We saw the sun set over the coast of turkey from our restaurant- it was amazing, unbelievably gorgeous. We also had a really good conversation. We discussed our favorite Disney princesses, movies, lord of the rings, and harry potter- basically all of my favorite subjects. By this time I was legitimately falling asleep (whenever we sat down/were waiting I actually fell asleep. even on the bus from the airport to the hotel which was 20 minutes i slept...i started regaining consciousness and was like why is my mouth wide open...oh i fell asleep...haha). So though we had wanted to go out in rhodes a) I physically couldn’t b) we had to wake up for the 8 am bus to lindos. So I went to sleep at 11.Friday blends into Saturday bc I didn’t sleep. Went to work. It’s both good and bad because work has really picked up with the client workshops so I haven’t really had much time for my daily NYT readings. So sad. Went to work, did lots of work. I felt bad because to make it to Epidaurus I had to leave at 4:15. But Maria was super nice about it. She even took my laptop home so I wouldn’t have to carry it to the theater. Rushed to get a cab- almost got run over (the car stopped less than a foot way). It was my green to walk and I was halfway through the road when this car just turned. So terrifying. Anyway 2 cabs were like don’t know where the bus station is/wont’ take you there. Finally a third guy took me there. The bus station is the biggest one in Athens so don’t know why they wouldn’t know. Also it’s annoying bc the address is 100 kiffisou and there are about 4 of those in Athens…so just knowing the address didn’t really help. Anyway got to the station- the last bus left at 5:15. Angela almost didn’t make it- we had to hold the bus for her. Liz/Angela/I went to Epidaurus (2/2.5 hour bus ride). The bus took us right to the theater.
The theater was gorgeous. They don’t have random touristy stuff around it like you would expect- so it’s just open fields, a museum, café, and snack stand. We got there and got hot dogs for dinner which were really good. It was funny they took a baguette- put it on this sharp metal stick basically to create a hole. Squirted mustard/ketchup down the hole and jammed a hot dog in there. Creative and effective. Went to get seats. It’s free seating in the upper tier and tickets for the play there for students were only 10 euros (in the upper tier). We had a really good view though- right in the center. And the acoustics are AMAZING. The theater is giant- according to Wikipedia it seats up to 15,000 people. And it was built in 4th century bc (expanded a bit in roman times). What’s amazing is that from the upper tier we can hear every word, crystal clear. There aren’t any microphones either. It’s interesting how the acoustics work- when the guys backs turned obviously we couldn’t hear as well. Also the woman spoke in a really low voice and I think that’s bc since the plays were all male in the past the acoustics were designed for male voices. Even low her voice wasn’t as loud (bc it’s both harder to project for her/still wasn’t as low as a guys). I was proud of this theory haha. What’s crazy is despite the seats being a little run down/aged they were still great and they still served the acoustical functions. We sat in front of a group of kids from England who just graduated high school/were going to college. One was going to oxford for classics- she and liz got along. One of the guys was really nice/funny- he’s pre-med/wants to do doctors without borders in Africa next summer. Also a little Indian girl but she was into theater- SHOCK. Anyway, encounters like these are always fun because you just get to chat/meet people/swap stories etc.
The play was cool too- I’m very proud of myself for being able to follow/remember Oedipus fairly well. Even the major dialogues I remembered vaguely. The setting was nice- they had two white piece of wood for people to walk through (also the original arches/entryways on the side), a white raise platform, and several chairs for the chorus. I didn’t’ like some of the decisions (the costumes were definitely not correct) and the chorus sang (scholars don’t agree on whether they did), and they made the chorus a bit too dramatic. They’re supposed to be elderly/respectable statespeople but they had dramatic music and poses/scrambled around the stage and moved the blocks. I didn’t quite like it- thought it took away from the play. But it was really cool still. Also the stars overhead were perfect and gorgeous- recognized the dippers, orion (i've always been good at this because taarini ie snuppy once told me she could always only find orion because of the three stars in his belt...ever since i've had the same problem haha), and various other constellations. We think we've been able to see what we've concluded is Venus most weekends here (we saw it in Mykonos, Rhodes, at the theater etc) At one point we heard a plane which was really sad but otherwise the theater is far enough removed that we didn’t hear cars/anything modern basically.
Got back from the theater at 2 am, packed, and then left at 3 am for the airport. Hence I was falling asleep all Saturday bc I didn’t sleep at all. So far I’ve had five nights of 3 hours of sleep or less. So sad. It’s having to take these /6 am flights that kills me. Oh well definitely fun- because I can sleep in dallas if I want but can’t see Oedipus in Epidaurus there! GO BIG OR GO HOME. A lack of sleep is a sign that I'm truly going big
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