Note: if any of the links on this page don't work any longer, I'd be grateful if you would let me know. It's a virtual impossibility to keep up with all of them - thanks.
This page changes all the time as I add new stuff and remove obsolete stuff. It's a good idea to check it regularly for the changes.
The sections are in no particular order, but so far they are:
• Other Blogs and books about Rhodes (the "books" bit is new, but I shall expand it)
• Photography/weddings
• Good Greek and Rhodean Sites
• Music
• Miscellaneous (Inc health and fitness issues)
Please (I'm asking nicely), if you do communicate with any of the sites linked below, tell them how you found them, thanks. Scroll down to find each section...
"Our Big Fat Greek Life" is a blog by someone living in Afandou, a bit further north from us here on Rhodes. Looks like a nice blog though. Click this link to go see.
If you like "Ramblings From Rhodes", then you'll love Amanda Settle's blog too:
http://www.amandasettle.com/
Probably a must-read for Rhodes fans is this:
Richard Clark has written a number of very good books about Greece and her islands, but this one, since it's about his impressions of Rhodes, ought to be on your Kindle!!
Click the image to go the the Amazon page for the book. It is available as a paperback too.
Richard is also a member and contributor on my Facebook group about Greek-themed books, A Good Greek Read.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
James Collins is a prolific writer based on Symi and Neil Gosling a superb photographer. Their blog Symi Dream is just about all you need if you're a Symi fan. If you aren't, then read it and you soon will be!!
The Island Bus is a blog about a documentary made on the Island of Tilos. Looks good from the trailer.Great idea.
If you're into all things Greek, then another blog you'd be sure to enjoy is:
http://octopus-in-my-ouzo.blogspot.gr/
It's run by Jennifer Barclay, another writer who lives on Tilos.
Ian Smith also lives on Tilos. His blog's called "When the Wine is Bitter". He's witty and very entertaining.
If you live in Britain and love to walk, you simply must follow this blog, by Griff from Suffolk. The next thing he'll have to do is turn it into a book. Very highly recommended!!
http://griffmonster-walks.blogspot.com/
...And now he's started one about walks on Rhodes too:
http://rhodeswalks.blogspot.com/
Not strictly a blog, but definitely worth a mention, if you live in the UK and want to get some ideas for some simply amazing walks in Wales, check this out:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/nature/sites/walking/
The host of the show is Wales' "National Institution", BBC weatherman Derek Brockway, who takes you on some fabulous walks, showcasing the wonders of the Welsh countryside and coastline. The website has tons of stuff, including maps of the walks and photos to whet your appetite for strapping on those boots, slinging the old rucksack on to your back and setting off singing, "Fol de ree, fol de rah..."
http://pruningsfromthevines.blogspot.com/
Kostas Koufos runs Exquisite Island Weddings, Greece. They have a very nice website here: http://exquisiteweddingsgreece.com/rhodes/index.php
And, what about this folks... The view rivals Santorini, well almost!!
https://www.ktimalindos.com
Their Facebook page (has better photos at present).
The cover to the one about the Dodecanese islands is shown here (right).
Very interesting site about all things Greece:
Go Greece Your Way.
This bloke's got a good humorous writing style. He's made the move out to Greece like us - http://rob-johnson.org.uk/
You can also listen to some pretty amusing podcasts right there on the site. Seems that, rather than spending his time bashing his keyboard into submission, Rob J. records his posts and you can put your head back, sip your hot cocoa, listen and dream of Greece!!
A really excellent site about moving to anywhere in Europe - http://www.movemeabroad.com/im-moving-to/greece/
The above link takes you to the Greece page. But you can navigate to wherever you want using the links on any page.
Oct. 2013. Just discovered this site - Kiotari.eu, don't know how long it's been there, but it's all about the real Kiotari. Please do check it out.
A really nice boat for a day cruise, or hiring for a special event, is the Magellanos.
Click the photo below to go to the website, which is superb.
An extremely exhaustive site about all things Rhodean, which also carries lots of info about the Dodecanese islands and Greece in general, is this one: http://www.rhodesgreeceguide.com/
It's run by a dedicated Grecophile and will take you rather a long time to trawl through, there's that much stuff on there to browse!
Jan 2013. Just found this site below, well, actually a local friend Gianni put me on to it.
It's called - Secret Rhodes.
It's primarily in Greek, so you click at the top of the homepage to get English (although that link above should take you to the homepage in English anyway). The English is so bad you'll fall about at times, but it nevertheless looks like a very nice informative site and doubtless will grow with time.
A very nice private site about the Greek Islands. Still going through all the pages, but it's very good!! Click the graphic below...
I don't live very far from Lardos, and it's a nice lively village, even in winter time, check out: http://www.rhodes-lardos.co.uk/
http://www.rodosnightlife.com/ - An encyclopaedic site about this wonderful island, from serious clubbing to the best places to eat or hang out.
http://www.rhodesguide.com
http://friendsofpefkos.ning.com/ - If you like Pefkos, you must join, it's as simple as that!
http://www.rhodes-pefkos.com - Very nice site about Pefkos. Ever expanding. Lots of really good info for Pefkos visitors.
http://symidream.com/wp/ ...the daily blog from Symi in Greece
News | Articles | Photos | Updates | Information
http://www.symivisitor.com/
http://www.greekofile.co.uk/ A must for all Grecophiles! Check it out.
http://www.livinginrhodes.com/Home.aspx
http://www.discover-rhodes.com/ - Just found this one (Dec 16th 2010), excellent!
http://www.justlanded.com/english/Greece
http://www.rhodes.gr/en/ The official site of the Rhodes local authority/municipality
Are you into walking holidays? This is a lovely site to check out -
http://www.walking-rhodes.com/
http://www.mypefkos.com/
This site is very new and some links don't seem to work yet. But it may be a good idea to bookmark/favourite it for future reference. It's the site which has that rather huge colour advert on the wall as you come up to Pefkos "Top" from Psaltos [Navarone] Bay.
If you're a Halki Fan, just came across this one (Nov 2012) Click here for Halki Visiting.
http://www.haraki.co.uk/ - This is a great little site run by a UK Haraki enthusiast. There's loads of very useful info about one of the best places on Rhodes, His "Accommodation" page (under the tab "Flights/Accommodation") is especially good and packed with really excellent stuff like even the names of the people who run the rooms or apartments, e-mail addresses, phone numbers, in fact everything you'd need to arrange your own bespoke holiday in Haraki.
https://www.facebook.com/RyanAirRhodesGuide
Nice starting point for visiting the island: http://www.rodosisland.gr/en/see-do-rodos.asp
Impress Holidays - unbeatable prices for airport transfers in brand new minibuses.
A Good Greek Read on facebook
John Manuel, the Published Works on Facebook
MUSIC...
Keith Christmas -
An extremely good singer songwriter, doing largely his own acoustic blues & contemporary songs. Often a good free download or two available on this site too. If you do find his music to your taste and contact him at all, I'd be grateful if you told him how you found him. His recent album "Crazy Dancing Days" is a true tour-de-force of lyric writing and acoustic guitar playing. Check his Facebook page for updates.
There are some good videos of Keith playing some of his new songs on his "Keith Christmas Music" Facebook page too.
This page changes all the time as I add new stuff and remove obsolete stuff. It's a good idea to check it regularly for the changes.
The sections are in no particular order, but so far they are:
• Other Blogs and books about Rhodes (the "books" bit is new, but I shall expand it)
• Photography/weddings
• Good Greek and Rhodean Sites
• Music
• Miscellaneous (Inc health and fitness issues)
Please (I'm asking nicely), if you do communicate with any of the sites linked below, tell them how you found them, thanks. Scroll down to find each section...
Other Blogs and books about Rhodes...
"Our Big Fat Greek Life" is a blog by someone living in Afandou, a bit further north from us here on Rhodes. Looks like a nice blog though. Click this link to go see.
If you like "Ramblings From Rhodes", then you'll love Amanda Settle's blog too:
http://www.amandasettle.com/
Probably a must-read for Rhodes fans is this:
Richard Clark has written a number of very good books about Greece and her islands, but this one, since it's about his impressions of Rhodes, ought to be on your Kindle!!
Click the image to go the the Amazon page for the book. It is available as a paperback too.
Richard is also a member and contributor on my Facebook group about Greek-themed books, A Good Greek Read.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
James Collins is a prolific writer based on Symi and Neil Gosling a superb photographer. Their blog Symi Dream is just about all you need if you're a Symi fan. If you aren't, then read it and you soon will be!!
The Island Bus is a blog about a documentary made on the Island of Tilos. Looks good from the trailer.Great idea.
If you're into all things Greek, then another blog you'd be sure to enjoy is:
http://octopus-in-my-ouzo.blogspot.gr/
It's run by Jennifer Barclay, another writer who lives on Tilos.
Ian Smith also lives on Tilos. His blog's called "When the Wine is Bitter". He's witty and very entertaining.
If you live in Britain and love to walk, you simply must follow this blog, by Griff from Suffolk. The next thing he'll have to do is turn it into a book. Very highly recommended!!
http://griffmonster-walks.blogspot.com/
...And now he's started one about walks on Rhodes too:
http://rhodeswalks.blogspot.com/
Not strictly a blog, but definitely worth a mention, if you live in the UK and want to get some ideas for some simply amazing walks in Wales, check this out:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/nature/sites/walking/
The host of the show is Wales' "National Institution", BBC weatherman Derek Brockway, who takes you on some fabulous walks, showcasing the wonders of the Welsh countryside and coastline. The website has tons of stuff, including maps of the walks and photos to whet your appetite for strapping on those boots, slinging the old rucksack on to your back and setting off singing, "Fol de ree, fol de rah..."
http://pruningsfromthevines.blogspot.com/
I like to follow Andy's blog and he very kindly follows this one, so I have reciprocated the link. In fact Andy's blog is the "Ramblings From Rhodes" of the Grande Champagne in France!! Andy has now re-located to Devon, in the UK. But he's still running the blog and always writes interesting stuff, peppered with very good photography too.
This guy (Simon), who looked like a reject from a Motorhead audition (I reckon you'll have a sense of humour Simon!!), came on one of my excursions during summer 2012. We had a long intelligent chat about all kinds of stuff whilst on the crossing back from Halki. He's a freelance writer and there's quite a bit about Rhodes among his recent posts. His puns (in the titles) are worse than mine though!! I do rather like his style though, so here's the link:
http://shipscooksstuff.wordpress.com/
This guy (Simon), who looked like a reject from a Motorhead audition (I reckon you'll have a sense of humour Simon!!), came on one of my excursions during summer 2012. We had a long intelligent chat about all kinds of stuff whilst on the crossing back from Halki. He's a freelance writer and there's quite a bit about Rhodes among his recent posts. His puns (in the titles) are worse than mine though!! I do rather like his style though, so here's the link:
http://shipscooksstuff.wordpress.com/
PHOTOGRAPHY/WEDDINGS...
Kostas Koufos runs Exquisite Island Weddings, Greece. They have a very nice website here: http://exquisiteweddingsgreece.com/rhodes/index.php
And, what about this folks... The view rivals Santorini, well almost!!
https://www.ktimalindos.com
Their Facebook page (has better photos at present).
GOOD GREEK & RHODEAN SITES...
Dieter Graf, from Germany, has published what look to me like some excellent walking books about the Greek islands. Take a look at his page about these booklets on this link.
The cover to the one about the Dodecanese islands is shown here (right).
Very interesting site about all things Greece:
Go Greece Your Way.
This bloke's got a good humorous writing style. He's made the move out to Greece like us - http://rob-johnson.org.uk/
You can also listen to some pretty amusing podcasts right there on the site. Seems that, rather than spending his time bashing his keyboard into submission, Rob J. records his posts and you can put your head back, sip your hot cocoa, listen and dream of Greece!!
A really excellent site about moving to anywhere in Europe - http://www.movemeabroad.com/im-moving-to/greece/
The above link takes you to the Greece page. But you can navigate to wherever you want using the links on any page.
Oct. 2013. Just discovered this site - Kiotari.eu, don't know how long it's been there, but it's all about the real Kiotari. Please do check it out.
A really nice boat for a day cruise, or hiring for a special event, is the Magellanos.
Click the photo below to go to the website, which is superb.
An extremely exhaustive site about all things Rhodean, which also carries lots of info about the Dodecanese islands and Greece in general, is this one: http://www.rhodesgreeceguide.com/
It's run by a dedicated Grecophile and will take you rather a long time to trawl through, there's that much stuff on there to browse!
Jan 2013. Just found this site below, well, actually a local friend Gianni put me on to it.
It's called - Secret Rhodes.
It's primarily in Greek, so you click at the top of the homepage to get English (although that link above should take you to the homepage in English anyway). The English is so bad you'll fall about at times, but it nevertheless looks like a very nice informative site and doubtless will grow with time.
A very nice private site about the Greek Islands. Still going through all the pages, but it's very good!! Click the graphic below...
I don't live very far from Lardos, and it's a nice lively village, even in winter time, check out: http://www.rhodes-lardos.co.uk/
http://www.rodosnightlife.com/ - An encyclopaedic site about this wonderful island, from serious clubbing to the best places to eat or hang out.
http://www.rhodesguide.com
http://friendsofpefkos.ning.com/ - If you like Pefkos, you must join, it's as simple as that!
http://www.rhodes-pefkos.com - Very nice site about Pefkos. Ever expanding. Lots of really good info for Pefkos visitors.
http://symidream.com/wp/ ...the daily blog from Symi in Greece
News | Articles | Photos | Updates | Information
http://www.symivisitor.com/
http://www.greekofile.co.uk/ A must for all Grecophiles! Check it out.
http://www.livinginrhodes.com/Home.aspx
http://www.discover-rhodes.com/ - Just found this one (Dec 16th 2010), excellent!
http://www.justlanded.com/english/Greece
http://www.rhodes.gr/en/ The official site of the Rhodes local authority/municipality
Are you into walking holidays? This is a lovely site to check out -
http://www.walking-rhodes.com/
http://www.mypefkos.com/
This site is very new and some links don't seem to work yet. But it may be a good idea to bookmark/favourite it for future reference. It's the site which has that rather huge colour advert on the wall as you come up to Pefkos "Top" from Psaltos [Navarone] Bay.
If you're a Halki Fan, just came across this one (Nov 2012) Click here for Halki Visiting.
http://www.haraki.co.uk/ - This is a great little site run by a UK Haraki enthusiast. There's loads of very useful info about one of the best places on Rhodes, His "Accommodation" page (under the tab "Flights/Accommodation") is especially good and packed with really excellent stuff like even the names of the people who run the rooms or apartments, e-mail addresses, phone numbers, in fact everything you'd need to arrange your own bespoke holiday in Haraki.
https://www.facebook.com/RyanAirRhodesGuide
Nice starting point for visiting the island: http://www.rodosisland.gr/en/see-do-rodos.asp
Impress Holidays - unbeatable prices for airport transfers in brand new minibuses.
A Good Greek Read on facebook
John Manuel, the Published Works on Facebook
MUSIC...
Keith Christmas -
There are some good videos of Keith playing some of his new songs on his "Keith Christmas Music" Facebook page too.
OTHER BANDS/ARTISTES I'D RECOMMEND FOR AGEING HIPPIES OR GUITAR FANS...
http://stevenwilsonhq.com/sw/ - Looking for a very creative musical experience?
http://www.riversideband.pl/en/ - Ditto. These guys are from Warsaw!
Nikos Portokaloglou is kind of a Greek Paul Weller. If you can handle the lyrics all being in Greek, but want to hear some excellent acoustic/electric rock music, check him out. Highly recommended.
http://jbonamassa.com/ - Guitar rock is alive and well folks and it's called JOE BONAMASSA. Not only does he play like all the old heroes, he sings like the great Paul Rodgers. He's so talented it makes you sick. For my money, the best blues/rock guitarist on the planet right now.
A brilliant young British blues-rock guitarist, who's going to be huge!!! BEN POOLE BAND. He's played Rhodes Rock a couple of times now and blows everyone away.
Basilis Papakonstantinou - This guy is I guess about my age, plays excellent rock, varying from acoustic power ballads to out and out prog rock epics. His acoustic guitar is often a Takamine, which my friend Mike in South Wales tells me is a seriously good instrument. Basilis looks a bit like Ken Dodd it's true (You'll only get that if you're British!), on a bad hair day!! But he's huge here in Greece and - as is the case with Nikos Portokaloglou above - if you can handle the words being in Greek, give this man's music your ear and you won't be disappointed. Check out this video for an example of his stuff.
Just found this: http://www.clarefree.co.uk - She sounds good to me. Great blues guitar music.
http://www.thebohemians.com/ - This Queen band has blown away the Rhodes Rock audience three times. I have to say, one of the best tribute bands you'll ever see.
If you're a band or artist and want a place to either rehearse or record, then you can do no better than: http://www.namrecording.com/
This studio is just outside the pretty village of Holt, in the West Country (England) not far from Trowbridge. It's run by my old friend of many decades Nick Allen, whose mum is Greek. She was a close friend of my late mother-in-law.
If you're in any doubts about the place, just click on the clients page. People Like Robert Plant, K.T.Tunstall and Hawkwind can't be wrong, eh?
If you're going to Southern Rhodes, check out our friend Roland's website. He and his wife Sabine run a watersport centre in Kiotari every season and they'll always tailor an activity to your bespoke needs. They're really lovely people and we can't recommend them enough. Their website is HERE. There's also a link on my "Play, eat, visit" page.
To find out how to make a very good frappé (Iced coffee) click here!!
Nice break in a Cornwall beauty spot? go to: http://www.quayhouse.co.uk/index.html. Stay in a gorgeous converted grain barn not far from Padstow in Cornwall. Highly recommended. Run by our close friends George and Allison Hatcher. Just tell them where you heard of them please!
A really good independent American author [and grecophile] whose books knock "Gone With the Wind" into a cocked hat, Celia Hayes
Worried about diabetes? Andrew Owen is a personal friend of mine who actually cured himself of type 2 diabetes. Read his new book. His name above is the link.
Pregnant? Want to see your baby before you meet him or her? Check this out...
If you need advice about what to do with your millions (!!!), this company is run by a very close personal friend. They are the real McCoy when it comes to honesty and will help sort out your financial situation from health insurance, through mortgages to investing your ill-gotten gains!!! Once again, tell them where you heard about them please!
My sister, who now lives in deepest Wiltshire in the UK after a spell in Bermuda, is a watercolour artist. She'll paint your pet, your house, or indeed anything else you'd like a watercolour of!! Her blog is "A Brush With Whimsy." She can work from a photograph which clients can e-mail her as JPG files if they so wish.
Incidentally...
Save yourself a lot of time and the risk that your "IN" box on your ISP's server may be full when someone wants to send you a real message!! Check it out first on hoax-slayer then trash the thing.
http://www.riversideband.pl/en/ - Ditto. These guys are from Warsaw!
Nikos Portokaloglou is kind of a Greek Paul Weller. If you can handle the lyrics all being in Greek, but want to hear some excellent acoustic/electric rock music, check him out. Highly recommended.
http://jbonamassa.com/ - Guitar rock is alive and well folks and it's called JOE BONAMASSA. Not only does he play like all the old heroes, he sings like the great Paul Rodgers. He's so talented it makes you sick. For my money, the best blues/rock guitarist on the planet right now.
A brilliant young British blues-rock guitarist, who's going to be huge!!! BEN POOLE BAND. He's played Rhodes Rock a couple of times now and blows everyone away.
Basilis Papakonstantinou - This guy is I guess about my age, plays excellent rock, varying from acoustic power ballads to out and out prog rock epics. His acoustic guitar is often a Takamine, which my friend Mike in South Wales tells me is a seriously good instrument. Basilis looks a bit like Ken Dodd it's true (You'll only get that if you're British!), on a bad hair day!! But he's huge here in Greece and - as is the case with Nikos Portokaloglou above - if you can handle the words being in Greek, give this man's music your ear and you won't be disappointed. Check out this video for an example of his stuff.
Just found this: http://www.clarefree.co.uk - She sounds good to me. Great blues guitar music.
http://www.thebohemians.com/ - This Queen band has blown away the Rhodes Rock audience three times. I have to say, one of the best tribute bands you'll ever see.
If you're a band or artist and want a place to either rehearse or record, then you can do no better than: http://www.namrecording.com/
This studio is just outside the pretty village of Holt, in the West Country (England) not far from Trowbridge. It's run by my old friend of many decades Nick Allen, whose mum is Greek. She was a close friend of my late mother-in-law.
If you're in any doubts about the place, just click on the clients page. People Like Robert Plant, K.T.Tunstall and Hawkwind can't be wrong, eh?
MISCELLANEOUS...
If you're going to Southern Rhodes, check out our friend Roland's website. He and his wife Sabine run a watersport centre in Kiotari every season and they'll always tailor an activity to your bespoke needs. They're really lovely people and we can't recommend them enough. Their website is HERE. There's also a link on my "Play, eat, visit" page.
To find out how to make a very good frappé (Iced coffee) click here!!
Nice break in a Cornwall beauty spot? go to: http://www.quayhouse.co.uk/index.html. Stay in a gorgeous converted grain barn not far from Padstow in Cornwall. Highly recommended. Run by our close friends George and Allison Hatcher. Just tell them where you heard of them please!
A really good independent American author [and grecophile] whose books knock "Gone With the Wind" into a cocked hat, Celia Hayes
Worried about diabetes? Andrew Owen is a personal friend of mine who actually cured himself of type 2 diabetes. Read his new book. His name above is the link.
Pregnant? Want to see your baby before you meet him or her? Check this out...
If you need advice about what to do with your millions (!!!), this company is run by a very close personal friend. They are the real McCoy when it comes to honesty and will help sort out your financial situation from health insurance, through mortgages to investing your ill-gotten gains!!! Once again, tell them where you heard about them please!
My sister, who now lives in deepest Wiltshire in the UK after a spell in Bermuda, is a watercolour artist. She'll paint your pet, your house, or indeed anything else you'd like a watercolour of!! Her blog is "A Brush With Whimsy." She can work from a photograph which clients can e-mail her as JPG files if they so wish.
Incidentally...
Before you click "forward" and send some dire e-mail warning about a virus that'll lick your HD clean, why not check it out here: http://www.hoax-slayer.com/
There's a search facility on the home page and you'll soon find out whether that rather threatening, melodramatic message you've just found in your "in" box is genuine or not. Usually they aren't, they are just rubbish which wastes everybody's time and clogs up the internet with totally unnecessary gibberish!!! What do you mean, "You obviously feel strongly about this John?!"
Check back regularly as new links are added and some occasionally expire.
