Season's End

Well the season has finally drawn to a close. OK, so there a just a few visitors left in some accommodations that will be closing this coming weekend, but by and large we're done and dusted.

It already seems an age ago that we spend a few nights in a hotel in Rhodes Town. In fact it was only the weekend before last. Here are a few more photos from that break...

This was a bit of a 'find'. It's a new coffee shop not far from the Cosmote office and it's very cheap. It looks like a lot of coffee shops in the UK (only with more outdoor seating!) and specialises in real coffee. On the wall inside there are probably at least twenty varieties of beans in containers from which one can choose one either to take home or have ground there and then for a drink. It's called (as the photo shows) Coffee Island.

No idea what this was about, but it was very photogenic. (click for larger view)

My better half seated up above the restored amphitheatre at the Rhodes Acropolis (formerly Monte Smith)

Every time I walk this stadium it amazes me. It's 2300 years old and when you take an eye-line along the length of each seating tier you detect a very subtle, almost imperceptible curve. The engineering involved in building this was of the highest order.

I mentioned in the previous post about the Megiston taverna in the Old Town. What a delightful taverna it is too. We'd been looking for somewhere to eat that we hadn't been before and so had been wandering for quite some time around the warren of tiny streets, looking for something that would take our fancy. I should have taken a few more notes, so no names spring to mind, but it's a family-run establishment, that's for sure. As usual the man who was waiting tables approached us as we examined the menu, but he wasn't at all 'pushy'. In fact, when we told him we just wanted to browse the menu on the lectern out front he withdrew for a while. Having satisfied ourselves that they offered a good enough selection for vegetarians, we gave him the nod and he showed us to a table. Once we told him that we were looking for anything that didn't contain meat he immediately offered to have the kitchen rustle up a veggie moussaka if that was what we would like. As it happened we didn't take him up on it, but may well do another time.

We ordered green salad, gigantes, and several other dishes, including some definitely home-made fried potatoes sliced into ovals and sprinkled with oregano. We ate some excellent kollokithokeftedes and drank some Retsina, CAIR label, Rhodes' own. All in all we were stuffed and the bill came to just under €27. Plus they brought us not one but two freebies at the end. They brought us a slice of home-made galaktoboureko and then a plate of chopped fresh fruit. In fact they brought us three freebies, because after we'd had quite a conversation with the family about where we came from and how long we'd lived on Rhodes and all that stuff that every Greek you first meet wants to know about, they brought us a dish of smoked fish, one of their own specialities, which was rather nice and the taste put me in mind of the kippers we used to eat for breakfast when I was a lad.

I rather think that we'll be going there again next season. I can definitely recommend it. Sat at the table next to us was a couple from Finland who have been coming to Rhodes for decades. They didn't look that old, but in fact he was 50 and his wife a few years younger. They have grown-up kids who don't come on holiday with mum and dad any more. They were both keen joggers as it turned out. They'd only come to the Megiston every night during every stay for the past 15 years (may have been more. the memory's defective on that score) hadn't they, and Dimitri, the rather rotund chef and 'father' of the restaurant, has actually visited Finland and had his photo taken with the basketball team that the Finnish hubby was involved with. Such stories, of course, abound all over Greece.

Returning to the subject of the season ending, it's almost frightening now how fast the years are ticking by. We're now in our 13th year here and, as I reflect on the fact that the bee eaters have all now flown south, along with the swallows, martins and swifts, I also notice how the deer (see photos below) and the birds of prey have returned to our valley. It's only my theory, not based on any actual knowledge, but I reckon that many species that are indeginous to Rhodes move to higher altitudes once the summer comes upon us. Thus they find slightly cooler temperatures and probably more verdant vegetation (or more abundant insect life) on which to feed. But this past week I've seen blackbirds aplenty, many of which are using our plant pot tray on the floor of the car port to drink and bathe, plus jays and robins. We never see robins during the high summer. This year we've seen precious few raptors in the sky above the house too, but just lately they've been in evidence once again. I'm always certain of buzzards, but the smaller birds of prey, like hawks and falcons, well they do present me with some difficulty. I can't tell the difference between them. I always used to know kestrels when we saw them in the UK, but here, well, all I know is that they are hawks or falcons.

Since we've had a couple of rain days in the past three weeks the garden has been completely rejuvenated. The roses are putting on fresh new ruby-red leaf growth. the gazanias are coming into flower again, as are the lantana bushes. Several of our yucca have produced gorgeous great white flower heads and the geraniums are starting to look like they're going to survive. Well, most of them. Hummingbird moths are hovering and inserting their amazing probosces into flower after flower.

Here's another bunch of photos from the last few days...

Perfect temperatures this time of year. Upper 20's in the day time. You can do stuff outdoors!

Me and her at the La Strada restaurant on Kiotari beach. Late afternoon.

I absolutely love the light at this time of year. All that humidity is gone and everything is sharp and clear. Light fluffy clouds are nice to look at. After all, for months we hardly see one.

View from the front terrace of the house out though the garden gates. We never tire of looking at that green, wooded hillside across the way.

A palm in the garden of the Rodos Princess Hotel.

Nice homely touch at the La Strada.

Sunday afternoon at the Il Porto, Kiotari.

The deer are back in our valley. This handsome fellow allowed us to get quite close while walking back up our lane the day before yesterday.

Same chap as above.

Ditto

Me and her. La Strada wall. I used my nifty little bendy tripod for the camera.

Well, the winter's tuning up. bring it on. Lots of free days to work in the garden, stroll out for a coffee, gather wood for the log-burner during cozy nights. I do love the roll of the seasons. 

It's just that they tend to roll a little too quickly!