Rhodes

May 23rd-30^th2012

At 4.45 am  I was forced to abandon my slumber to be ready to leave, to arrive at the airport by 7.30am. Uncharacteristically the streets and the underground were virtually devoid of people, a pleasant change. We arrived, sought out our tickets, then a keenly awaited cappuccino at the airport. The airline provided no grief with regard to the guitar, so it was taken on board with no fuss. We were seated next to 70 year old Welsh Tilly, who kept us entertained and laughing for the first two hours, until we had to move as the seat refused to go up. This was incredibly fortuitous as the legroom proportions kept us sardine-like in our seats, and the new seats were at the emergency exit, hence spacious. A relief!

We all piled off the plane and were allocated buses or taxis to take us to our accommodation. The first drop off was for an older man, and we all breathed a sigh of relief that it wasn't our hotel, as it was in the middle of nowhere, with no one in sight, looking far gloomier than the website had depicted. In fact it was one of the places I'd considered booking...We drove round, up narrow alleyways, sometimes having to back the bus to make way for oncoming cars. Gradually the numbers dwindled, and we waited, wondering what our hotel would really look like, hoping that it would somewhat resemble what the website had promised.

Sea view from our balcony- magnified

Ours was the final drop off, and Hotel Solemar was lovely, clean, spacious with friendly staff, better than how it looked on the website as the hotel and grounds weren't as large as the wide angled lens suggested, and to my mind the pick of the bunch. At reception we were provided with details of our 'all inclusive' deal...had we liked we could've had beer, wine and local spirits and food all day, not that we did! From our balcony there was an expansive view, including a very small view of the sea, if you suspended yourself at a 90 degree angle at the far end of it.

View to rear of hotel from balcony

The meals were exceptional- buffet style, with incredible choice. At breakfast time we wandered in, and were greeted with the choice of cooked tomatoes, boiled eggs, baked beans, omelette, bacon, toast, croissants, ham, cheese, yoghurt, fresh dates, tinned peaches and fruit salad, biscuits..and the choices varied from day to day. Lunch and dinner comprised of 4-5 choices of main meal. One day the lunch choices were roast chicken, fish, shepherd's pie, pork, stir fry, chips, vegetables...salads, tzatziki (my favourite for every meal), olives, sensational feta...ice cream, two or three other desserts and fresh fruit. The food was all fresh and well cooked. Around the pool there was also chips or pizza available all day, though I'm not sure how anyone could have managed this as well. We preferred the sea to the pool, so the pool didn't feature during our stay.

Prior to dinner on the first day we had drinks at the bar, all included in our tariff, and I sampled three of the cocktails with names like 'Midnight Blue', 'Amore', but they were far too sweet for my palette ( fortunately). Generally a few beers before dinner was our routine, though one day we tried gin and tonic. The spirits provided are 'local spirits' and it tasted like rocket fuel, though the effect wasn't potent, We didn't order it again!

Our shingle beach



Distant Turkey from our beach



Our beach...complete with sun beds, umbrellas and changing room

On the first morning I purchased 'sea booties' as the beach is mainly pebbles (referred to as 'shingle'). Once a few metres into the water the sea bed is sand, but getting in and out was difficult without them. Luckily the beach nearby wasn't well populated as the tourist season has just started, so we had the luxury of beach beds and umbrellas for most of our stay. The water was glorious, and it was such a luxury to lie on the sun beds reading and listening to waves lapping the shore.

We ventured to Rhodes town, enjoying the stunning harbour and old Rhodes town, and an iced coffee in the old town, opposite the mosque. The bus from outside the hotel took us there in about 10 minutes. We enquired about boat tours to Symi and Lindos, but in the end we were happy to enjoy the sea where we were.

Fountain old Rhodes town

Close up of fountain panel

View of harbour from Old town

Minaret

Beautiful bouganvillea

Two cats oblivious to the warning on the gate!

Rhodes Harbour

Entrance to Rhodes New market

With reluctant hearts we left. It had been a holiday in the true sense as we were totally looked after, and all we needed to do was to relax, read and enjoy the sea, with the world of ipads, netbooks and the internet far far away in London.