November 26th, 2009

On Rhodes (in Greek Rodos) we went to see the old village of Lindos, an enchanting honeycomb of white flat-topped houses with narrow winding alleys. Standing over Lindos village is an ancient acropolis (Greek for high city) quite a climb up. On the hillside we had to traverse women who had draped the stones in table cloths and were accosting the passing tourists. It was in Lindos we first really noticed the number of feral cats - all very cute but not managed.

A theme here and elsewhere was the Greek complaint about how their treasures had been pillaged by foreign barbarians. (Barbarian is derived from the Greeks slandering non-Greeks as just saying "ba ba ba".) The Greeks came over as a proud lot, it is true I admit European culture is inspired by Graeco-Roman. Statues were missing from the Lindos acropolis which are now in various museums.

We were also taken to a pottery demonstration (some nice pieces but expensive and not useful.) That was a pattern of the tour excursions, the guides letting their friends have a chance at fleecing the foreign tourists. The Lindos tour also included a wander round a Crusader castle in Rhodes town, impressive in its way.