travel - Lindian Village

TRAVEL
PARADISE RHODES
O
ur waiter, Panos, topped up the ouzo
glasses around the table. Again. It was,
he insisted, a Greek tradition to drink
ouzo with lunch. I looked doubtfully
at my second tumbler of the fiery spirit.
This seemed an awful lot of hard liquor for
a hot afternoon.
“It has medicinal properties,” Panos urged.
“It absorbs the pain of toothache, bruising,
swelling. If the local boys get hurt playing
football, they soak an ice-cold towel in ouzo
and hold it to the wound.”
Is that so? I have a hunch that drinking the
ouzo is a more effective way to dull aches
and pains.
However, I was in Rhodes to
explore Greek culture, so why
argue? If it’s the custom to fall into
an ouzo-induced slumber before
sunset, it was only right I do so.
This immersion into local life
was all part of my stay at the
Lindian Village hotel. While
all-inclusive resorts are popular in
Rhodes, keeping tourists by the
pool doesn’t do the local
economy many favours. To tackle
this problem, Lindian Village’s
exploring programme encourages
guests to get out of the hotel and
YOU CAN FIND THE
SECRETS OF LIFE
THROUGHOUT
THE CENTURIES
in touch with the island’s heritage, history
and, I was happy to note, food and drink.
My first day on the island paired me with
local tour guide Lefty. His task: to show me
the secrets of Rhodes Old Town. One of
Europe’s best-preserved medieval cities, it
has a raucous history that spans Byzantine,
Roman and Hellenistic periods and
occupations by the Knights of St John, the
ruthless Ottoman sultan Suleiman the
Magnificent, and, from 1912 until the
Second World War, Italy.
Lefty was an endlessly entertaining guide.
Without him, I would not have noticed little
Laura Chubb soaks up
the sun in the largest of
the Dodecanese islands
details of the town’s cobbled nooks and
crannies – the high stone arches built
between buildings in narrow passageways
which have survived earthquakes or the
bullet holes riddling an old church that were
made by Nazi machine guns.
Lefty showed me a 16th-century Ottoman
mosque, Hellenistic archways and the ruins
of a 14th-century church, all within 15
metres of each other. The town’s history is so
lengthy, and its previous occupants so
assorted, that it is a living museum of
astonishingly disparate historical hallmarks.
“There are so many layers of culture here,”
Lefty said. “You can find the
secrets of life throughout
the centuries.”
While much of the Old
Town’s charm seeps through the
crumbling buildings and quiet
corners of its shady alleyways,
we took time from exploring to
have lunch in the bazaar. There
is an irresistible buzz to these
crowded shopping lanes, where
visitors surge in search of
souvenirs and a bite to eat.
We tasted a gyro – which is
pronounced “yeer-oh” –
Greece’s most popular fast
SATURDAY MAGAZINE 67
Ten things you must do in Rhodes
1 Don’t leave
Rhodes without
visiting the
medieval Old
Town. Spend
some time
exploring its
labyrinthine
streets and secret
corners, then
have lunch and
shop ’til you drop
in the bazaar.
WAY TO GO
Laura stayed at Lindian Village, which
has rooms starting from €130 per room,
per night based on two people sharing.
This rate includes bed and breakfast.
Visit www.lindianvillage.gr for more
information. Return flights to Rhodes
with easyJet start from around £293
(www.easyjet.com).
68
SATURDAY MAGAZINE
The acropolis
of Lindos,
above; a fishing
boat in the
bay; one of the
Old Town’s
bazaars,
below
2 While you’re in
the bazaar, stop
by Palladion (8
Aristotelous
Street) for a
scoop of pistachio
gelato – with no
colours or
preservatives, the
flavour is natural
and delicious.
3 Don’t miss out
on gyros, the
Greeks’ favourite
and extremely
tasty fast food.
4 A day out on
a fishing boat is a
favourite local
pastime. Lindian
Village and local
operators run
fishing trips
where you can
learn how and
what to reel in
– and your catch
will be cooked by
a professional
chef at the end
of the day.
5 Try the island’s
many types of
ouzo. It comes in
various cloudy
and clear varieties
and goes down
more smoothly
when you mix it
with water.
6 Go to Lindos
and get a
workout climbing
up to the
acropolis. Then
drink, eat and
shop in the shady
streets below.
7 Pack your
swimsuit when
you head to
Lindos and on the
way back take a
dip in St Paul’s Bay.
The crystal-clear
water is great for
snorkelling.
8 Make sure you
sample the local
wine – Rhodes
is home to
lots of boutique
producers.
9 Time to feel
pampered and
rejuvenated. Try
a treatment with
traditional Greek
ingredients, such
as a soothing
Greek yoghurt
facial at The
Asian Spa and
Ayurvedic
Retreat at
Lindian
Village.
10 Climb up
to the Castle
of Monolithos
– in the village
of the same
name – a
dramatic,
craggy ruin
on a
100m-high
rock. The
views from
up here
are really
breathtaking.
PHOTOGRAPHS: ALAMY; GETTY IMAGES
food staple which is best ordered with
everything – a satisfying heap of chips, red
onion, tzatziki and charred pork stuffed into
flatbread.
Seduced by sunny skies and sparkling sea,
I craved a lazy day in the hotel. Lindian has
been built to resemble a Greek village,
complete with sugar-cube villas, winding
lanes and its own church.
At a cooking class by the pool, I learned to
make a mean moussaka. This was followed
by wine tasting on the beach. Greeks are
incredibly proud of their ancient wine
heritage – the earliest evidence of Greek
wine dates back 6,500 years – and the area
boasts several boutique producers.
On my last day, I taxied to neighbouring
Lindos. It proved to be a grand finale.
Towering above the town on
a cypress-smothered hill sits the acropolis,
an ancient citadel littered with the sandhued ruins of columns and staircases from
years BC.
Just as thrilling as clambering around this
archaeological playground are the views –
a jaw-to-the-floor blue St Paul’s Bay on one
side and a scrum of whitewashed cube
houses fanning across the rocky brown
mountainside on the other.
This, I thought, is surely one of the
greatest sights in Greece. And, I strongly
suspect, far better than that seen by many
visitors to Rhodes – the view from their
hotel pool.