Rhodes – the brilliant boundless sea
“I’m shameless creation — I’m sending a kind girl to where I myself wasn’t, and even with a child on the dreariest island of Greece,” I reproached myself, making a plan for excursions to Rhodes to my colleague, checking with guidebooks and a road map. Two weeks in her absence, I did not find a place for myself, and when we met again, I looked away from her face, covered with fresh tan, uncertainly asked: “Well, how was your vacation? Not very terrible? “The answer discouraged me:” Thank you very much! It was an excellent stay! I found the best place on earth. ”
Completely intrigued, all I had to do was check out what was behind this answer: the true truth or a courtesy. Less than a month after the conversation, I, armed with my own card, went to Rhodes …
First impression: the island is not deserted, as I originally thought, but rather the opposite – most of it is immersed in greenery. At least that’s how I saw him in the window. Later, having traveled all over the island in a rented car, I finally became convinced of this: Rhodes is not deprived of vegetation.
Seven Springs – Butterfly Valley – Ostrich Farm – Eleus – Dacha Mussolini
To feel the beauty of being on an island, it is imperative to explore its interior, which is rich in unique landscapes and untouched virgin nature.
The mountain reserve “Seven Sources” is, firstly, healing invigorating water from springs, and secondly, the legendary attraction of rejuvenation and cleansing – everyone who wants to lose years and “wash away” sins is recommended to walk ankle-deep in spring water through dark narrow 186 -meter tunnel. For claustrophobic sufferers, I suppose, it is not very pleasant entertainment, therefore, in the park’s entertainment complex, there is a tavern and a small zoo with a terrarium and peacocks.
On the east coast near Afantou there is a pointer to the Valley of the Butterflies. The rarest species of these insects appears after June 15-17 and breeds for 70 days. By mid-summer, tiny red-and-gray bloodworms practically dot all growing trees and precipitate rocks. So write guides.
The Valley of the Butterflies is indeed a national treasure (it is a natural reserve along the river that dried up by the summer) and attracts a huge number of visitors. For 5 euros you run along a narrow path, and you are on the route along a crowd, overlooking the neighborhood. Butterflies of the same species stuck to the trunks of the trees and sit still without moving. If you imperceptibly beat a lot on a tree, they will soar all at once and it will be fun and festive, and then the trip will surely justify itself, but you can’t knock at all – a reserve. Among the attractions of the Valley are also: at one end of the path there is the Kalopetra monastery, at the other – the museum of natural history (for an amateur).
Ostrich farm is located a kilometer from the Butterfly Valley down the road to Theologos. Admission – 4 euros per adult, 2 euros per child. At the entrance, bags of dried corn are sold, euros for a package. It is recommended to take a couple of packages – inside is full of living creatures, just two packages at all will disperse. Ostriches – archaic birds, a little younger than dinosaurs. According to the encyclopedia, their brain has a smaller eye, which does not prevent them from grabbing food from packages of curious onlookers. Well, then ostrich cages – fallow deer, goats, funny jumping for food from enclosures, ridiculous bleating sheep, wild boars, kangaroos and, finally, the favorite of visitors – a camel, who alone meets visitors in a low pen and delicately takes soft food from the hands .
In the central part of the island among the thickets of fragrant thuja the cottage Mussolini is lost – an Italian health resort of the thirties of the XX century. Mussolini had never been here before, but the Greek imperious elite did not deny himself the pleasure of staying in this paradise. Unfortunately, at present the building is an abandoned wreck with broken windows and rickety shutters.
In contrast to the broken house – not far from the cottage of Mussolini, the picturesque village Eleusa pleases its guests with well-kept houses and a pond with a fountain and huge fish.
Rhodes – Lindos – Faliraki
Rhodes is one of the most beautiful cities in the Mediterranean, where a cosmopolitan polis intertwines with the picturesqueness of the Middle Ages and the traces of ancient times. Most excursions in the city start from Monte Smith Hill and visit the Acropolis, where the Pythian Stadium is located, where games in honor of Apollo, the ancient oratorian tribune and the ruins of the Temple of Apollo of Pythian were held.
One of the main attractions of Rhodes is the well-preserved medieval center with the Palace of the Great Masters of the Knights of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, who came here from Cyprus at the beginning of the XIV century. and after a series of fierce battles under pressure from the Turks retreated from here to Malta at the beginning of the XVI century. In the ancient part of the city, narrow crooked streets, knightly buildings of 15 centuries, Byzantine churches and Venetian squares, a synagogue and mosques have been preserved.
