RHODES: A Complete Greek Experience

“You want to spend two weeks on Rhodes?” my Greek friend asked. “You’ll go out of your mind.”

- Victor Block

Those words made me conclude that I had made a mistake, but it was too late. Airline tickets had been bought, hotels had been booked.

Fast forward two months. After taking the trip, I agreed that I had been wrong. I should have stayed on Rhodes much longer.

Hearing the word “Greece” usually conjures up images of whitewashed villages gleaming in the sun, seas that range in color from light turquoise to dark blue and archeological sites which trace the roots of much Western civilization.

Rhodes has it all, conveniently packed into an area only about five times the size of the city of Shreveport. The entire island is an outdoor museum of reminders of peoples who have passed through. They included the seafaring Phoenicians, Persians, the Roman Empire and Ottoman Turks.

The city of Rhodes itself is perched at the northernmost tip of the island, at the place where a settlement was established more than 2,400 years ago. The old walled section is the largest inhabited Medieval town in Europe. Its ancient buildings and fortifications manifest an authentic atmosphere of the Middle Ages.

The Street of the Knights is lined by former residences and leads to an imposing fortress-like palace. Hippocrates Square, the main shopping area of the Old Town, is lined by stone buildings that today house bustling restaurants and bars.