We heard a lot of good things about a little beach town 55 km south of Rhodes Town, called Lindos. So we decided to catch a bus and spend the day there. The drive there was breathtaking in itself-- we passed lots of little towns, mandarin orchards, olives being picked (this was the harvest time for olives), and beautiful scenery of the sea. Lindos is a very popular tourist spot in the summer but when we arrived there it was practically empy, there were only 4 other people on the beach with us. Although the sun was out, the water still felt a little chilly, it took awhile before we got the courage to finally jump in. It was quite the experience to swim in a sea with views of a historic castle from the water. We didn't swim for long but we enjoyed reading on the deserted beach for a bit before heading off to explore the town.
The Acropolis of Lindos sits on top of the highest point in Lindos overlooking all of the town. We unfortunately didn't have a chance to go in because it closed much earlier then we were expecting. But we had a great time walking around it's walls and the cliffs that it sits on. A little history for you: the Acropolis was fortified successively by the Greeks, the Romans, the Byzantines, the Knights of St. John, and the Ottomans. The original Temple of Athena Lindia, at the top of the hill, was constructed in the 8th or 9th century BC. It was destroyed by fire 500 years later. The temple that now stands on top of the hill was built in the 4th century BC. There is also a little bay on the south side of Lindos called St. Paul's Harbor (the name comes from the legend that St. Paul's boat landed here during the Apostle's visit to Rhodes).
Most of the shops and restaurants were closed by 4 PM and hardly anyone was out but we did find a cozy restaurant where we had dinner. We also tried traditional Greek yogurt with honey and walnuts for dessert, it tasted amazing, and that's coming from a guy who doesn't really like dessert. From there we caught our bus back home to Rhodes; tired and with a little tan. It was a good trip.
-Yuriy
