Greece

After leaving Israel on Tuesday, we had a day in Athens and are now in Rhodes.  Tomorrow we leave by ferry for Turkey, where we'll be staying in Torunc (a village some way out of Marmaris).

by ferry

The Acropolis in Athens was interesting, though surprisingly badly kept.  The Parthenon is heavily supported by scaffolding which hugely diminishes the effect - and the Acropolis Museum is only half-open.  Walking in the Plaka was fascinating for the sheer scale of the horrible souvenirs.

 

We are staying at a very cute little hotel in Old Town Rhodes.  The Old Town is surrounded by a wall built by the Crusaders and there is a huge Crusader fort here.  The town is absoutely overrun by tourists, many of whom are extremely pink englishmen and women who start drinking beer by 11 in the morning.  I had a huge culture shock on our first day here when we visited the main beach.  A long expanse of ugly pebbles, completely filled with umbrellas and fat, half-naked europeans slowly baking themselves.  And the restaurant touts are particularly irritating.  Yesterday we visited Lindos, another town on the island.  It was pretty much a smaller version of Rhodes Town although with a nicer beach.  We have had some excellent greek food though.

 

Today we visited the beatiful (and beautifully restored) sixteenth century synagogue and new Jewish museum.  There was a Jewish community here for millenia, until it was wiped out in the twentieth century by immigration and the Nazis.  1600+ Rhodes jews were deported to Auschwitz.