CVMRC 9th Annual Model Railway Exhibition

Culm Valley Model Railway Club 9th Annual Model Railway Exhibition.

Mandraki Harbour

The medieval windmills in Mandraki harbour in Rhodes

The Fort of Saint Nicholas that guards the Mandraki harbour

The Fort of Saint Nicholas that guards the Mandraki harbour

The medieval windmills in Mandraki harbour in Rhodes

The cats of Mandraki harbour in Rhodes

The Palace of the Grand Master and the Market (Nea Agora) from Mandraki harbour

Lindos

The views in Lindos are beautiful

Lunch at the Village Café Lindos

View towards St Paul's Bay

Some beautiful corners in Lindos, but again stuffed with tourists and tat

And why do they sell football shirts everywhere you go?

Acropolis of Lindos

Another day in Rhodes Town

The beach on the western side of Rhodes Town was always too windy

... and too shingly and the sea always too lively.

But on the eastern side, it was too peoply.

Hippokratous Square at night. The restaurants too touristy.

Finally, a decent dinner at Filippos restaurant in the old town.

Yes, I feel like I'm whining by this point, but Rhodes just wasn't doing it for me.

Palace of the Grand Master

They have managed eco friendly candles!

Ticked off the Palace of the Grand Master, but all I was able to see was some parts of the ground floor. As with many historical places, I can hardly expect the builders to have considered people with disabilities and mobility problems, but I did feel that some effort could have been made to make it a little bit more accessible since. The steep stone staircase didn't even have a handrail, so it was completely unusable for me. And I could almost accept that if the attitude had been better. I think that's probably what shocked me most about Rhodes: that warm hospitality that Greece is so good at was transparently missing here. 

Medieval City of Rhodes

Rhodes Liberty Gate

Little flower arrangement in the moat

Tat, tat and more tat

Views from the Roloi Clock Tower

Another ferk around the Medieval City of Rhodes and really trying to like it, but I just could never warm to the place. You can't see most of it for the tourists and the tat, which I would tolerate IF it were actually Greek products, but so much of it was items that I'm familiar with as coming from Chinese sellers on Ebay, only more expensive of course. I'm glad I've seen this history, but I did feel like it was overly exploited and lacking in soul. The best place we found, I think, was the Roloi Clock Tower, for the views, the free drink and the WiFi.

Monte Smith

View over Rhodes Town from Monte Smith

View from Monte Smith with Turkey in the distance

Acropolis of Rhodes, shrouded in scaffolding.

The tourist train leaves right outside Aktaion and it seemed the ideal way to get up Monte Smith for those of us to old and knackered for the climb. 

Aktaion Rhodes

View out of Aktaion towards the harbour. Perfect spot for lunch or afternoon coffee and cake.

Any clues why we liked Aktaion?

View out to Mandraki Harbour

Mandraki Harbour

Symi

The typical view of Symi

Sitting in a cafe waiting for the boat

The best part of this holiday was Symi and meeting Adriana Shum.