Friday 21 March

Friday 21st March – we spent two days just hanging round the hotel…well I did anyway, Judith went for an early morning run two days along the beach front, went swimming in the indoor pool (and got white finger) the water was chilly, and had a deep muscle massage. Meanwhile I avoided the chilly winds and sat in sun wherever I could find it.

But today we joined a coach tour down the west coast of Rhodes which then took us into the central hills and mountains to a few of the small villages. We visited a Greek Orthodox Church and had fresh orange juice in the village of our tour guide’s grandparents. His grandfateher was the priest of the church and teacher at the local school. The school is now a museum of village life.

We then moved on to another village where we had lunch at a taverna and then walked off our lunch through the village to the bus parking.

Our next stop was at a former Italian sanatorium built about 1938 which is being converted into a children’s summer camp and it had a huge fountain.

Next stop was by afresh water spring near a monastery, which isn’t open on a Friday sadly.

The mountain tops are rocky and some are bare. We drove through a forested area which was burnt badly 2 years ago, We stopped by an animal sanctuary to see the small deer that are the symbol of Rhodes. They will eventually be released back into the forests. The valleys are deep and they grow food for the local grocery stores and hotels. It helps provide employment for the local villagers.