Rhodes - Old Town

Our second Greek island: Rhodes. The island is called “the sun island”, because there are hardly any days when the sun doesn’t shine. Even Greeks flock here from the mainland to holiday. Coming from windy Santorini (that had turned very chilly during our stay), we were relieved to find that Rhodes still had sunny skies and 75 degree weather. In early November. We wished we had come earlier.

Rhodes is the biggest of the Dodecanese islands. The population of Rhodes Town alone is several times larger than all of Santorini. We were expecting many similarities between the two Greek islands, but were surprised how different they were scenically. Santorini was covered in little white-washed houses clustered on top of high cliffs. Now we see flat and definitely not white. Rhodes has an “old town” that is built inside ancient castle walls, complete with arrowslits for defense, non-functioning drawbridges, and a dry mote around the wall. The old town is littered with old canon balls the size of basketballs. It’s the oldest inhabited medieval town in Europe. Within the town are the ruins of the Temple of Venus, which dates to the 3^rd century BC. The homes, shops, and restaurants are block buildings, several stories high, built out of matching tan stones to blend in with the castle and walls. Many of the small streets and lanes in the old town do not have names, so getting a little lost is easy. The cobblestone streets look like they took way too long to make, and are not traveled by car. At times, it seems there are more cats living in the old town than humans. 

Our week in this old quiet town was perhaps the most laid-back week yet. Since we had already experienced Greek culture for a bit, there was no shock with language, food, and customs. There was also not much to see outside of the small old town, so our days were long. The old town was deserted since it is mostly a place for tourists. The shops that lined the main street of the old town sold classic Greek items like leather sandals, sea sponges, shells, and blended spices labeled "moussaka" and "Greek mix for lamb". They bustled for a couple hours in the morning when cruise ships dumped a bunch of old white people, then closed up early (before 3pm). 

We stayed in a homey family-owned hotel nestled in the quiet medieval town. Since the summer has passed, we were the only guests in the hotel for the entire week (besides one night). An elderly husband and wife ran the place, and we heard them chatting in the kitchen every morning and passed as they ate their dinner in the cozy kitchen (which always smelled delicious). The walls in the kitchen had displays of family pictures. Sometimes their grown kids came by and a curly haired grandchild played in the bright yellow courtyard. What a great retirement project—to run a small hotel. Every morning, the wife made us coffee and gave us a slice of home baked cake or bread with jam. Near our table in the courtyard, hung a glass blue eye that wards off evil, according to Greek legend. Our room had a back door that opened into a charming little backyard. The couple had laid mini golf green on the entire lawn. In the center was a picnic table with benches. Surrounding the premises were dozens of plants, flowers, and pots. Tucked in among the greenery was a mish-mash of figurines from nude statues to stone bunnies, from stone fountains to Snow White and the seven dwarfs. We spent a few afternoons out here drinking tea, reading, or cross-stitching (yes, I bought cross-stitching supplies and made my first cross stitch using a free rose pattern off the internet! I couldn’t put it down for days until it was complete, and haven’t picked it up since). The day we left Rhodes, they were cleaning out the hotel and closing up for the winter.

- Julia

Travel Day review

At the risk of being honest, here's what I thought of my Hallmark movie The Town That Christmas Forgot. My biggest concern was not really the actors or the script - it was something a lot more obvious.

How do you make a feature-length movie that is set in a remote mountain town in the dead of winter, in a blizzard, on an extremely low budget and a 12-day schedule. And how do you do it in the heat of a summer day in southern Ontario? Some 1-hr TV episodes take longer and have budgets10 times as much.

Well, somehow they did it. The opening shot is an SUV driving through snow-capped mountains with some digital snow blowing by. And it worked just fine. Remember this is a Hallmark movie and the Hallmark audience is there for the story and the heart.

And on that beat, it works quite well, the cast is good, particularly Stephanie Belding, who has a million dollar smile, a producer friend said she should be a star. And Rick Roberts who plays the father is solid and fatherly, yet we see another side of him during an almost fatal accident. Lauren Holly, of Picket Fences fame holds up her end as the only "Hollywood star" in the movie.

There were changes in the script, but mostly due to budget constraints; I had characters searching for a lost man in the wilderness, they couldn't do this on their budget, as it was filmed on hot summer days in Hamilton.

Instead they opted for a mining accident with two characters; a great idea -- it's all interior and thus, they saved money. And ultimately,the scene was about the same thing as my original scene.

The production design is really well done, even on a light budget, down to the moo-moo creamers on the table. In case you're not old enough, those are coffee cream holders in the shape of a cow and you pour cream through the cow's mouth. I grew up with these items in cafes and wrote it into the screenplay.

You'll notice not a lot of exterior shots, and when they do one, it's usually a very limited angle of the entrance to a building, very few dollies if any.

And again, remember this isn't a $100 million Tim Burton movie; it's Hallmark and they do family, albeit probably a 1950's family. But more than a million people will have seen this movie by the time Christmas rolls around, and that's a million people who have seen my work.

Are there things I didn't like. Sure, but not many. There were some awkward edits which I attribute to the director simply not having much time to do more takes or reaction shots. And sometimes the whole town is represented by 3 or 4 actors, larger groups would cost too much, but every movie has these problems.

The worst part of the movie: The constant titles on the screen advertising movies and the hideous "30 Days" to Christmas balloon on the bottom right of the screen. At least they didn't have news headlines running along the bottom.

Bottom line from the producer; "it works because it has heart".


(Mon: Back to Casualties)

The Haute Kim Kardashian Lip by Eryn Renee!

The Kim Kardashian lip is the haute new way to pucker up. Kardashian reportedly wears Mac’s “Angel” and Nar’s “Turkish Delight” to achieve her pinky lips. When I wanted to achieve a similar lip, I consulted Atlanta-based celebrity makeup artist and esthetician Eryn Renee, known for her application of extreme and individual lashes.
 
Eryn Renee used various shades of nude with a medium brown lip liner to achieve my Kardashian-inspired lips. Focusing on a three-dimensional contrast, she applied Mac’s “Siss” as my base and “Myth” on the inside of the lip. To get this look, it took less than a minute.

She also added individual lashes to draw attention to a darker eye, but stopped short of giving me the Kardashian signature smoky eye… we’re saving that for another post.

Haute Tip: Use Two Faced Lip Insurance to keep the lipstick in place.

Do you love the Kim Kardashian nude lip?

Scooters & Santorini

We felt very lucky to spend our one month wedding anniversary in Santorini. To celebrate, we rented a scooter so we could explore the island. Donning my red helmet, I wrapped my arms around Yuriy, held on tight, and enjoyed the breeze and views. We drove from the capital city of Fira (where we were staying overnight) to the other bigger towns on the island, including Kamari and Oia. The landscape is bare, except for wild clumps of cacti and occasional olive trees. Santorini is one of only two hot desert climates in all of Europe. All over the island, churches are easy to spot with their bright blue dome roofs. We stopped at a small bakery for baklava and chocolate, then headed up to check out the highest point of the island, a lone mountain in the middle of the desert. One side of the island’s coast is full of steep rocky cliffs, and the other side is lined with red, white, and black beaches (the colors are attributed to the volcanic activity). The towns around the beaches were utterly deserted since the busy summer season has long passed by this point. Outdoor tables and chairs were stacked, windows and light fixtures wrapped in plastic. Sand has covered the patios and won't be swept until next spring. We took a break at Vlichada beach to sit on the rocks by the marina and walk along the black sandy shore. Yuriy made me try driving the scooter with him in the back, and I'm glad he did, because it was unbelievably fun. The little sucker went up to 70kph (although I stuck around 30). 

The last stop on our scooter was Oia, the most beautiful town and best spot on the island for sunsets. The town is situated on the northern tip of the island. The houses and shops hug the edges of the cliffs, as if to get as close to the water as possible without falling off. We sat on a ledge and watched the white buildings turn golden from the setting sun. We certainly were not alone; Oia sunsets are no secret. Regardless, I still felt at peace.

- Julia


Next up: Rhodes, Greece